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Can 3G Save The Ultra Mobile PC?

PC maker and innovator OQO seems to think so, and included EV-DO broadband capabilities in its newly available model 02 ultra-mobile PC (UMPC). Still, other UMPCs, such as this one from Samsung, have not exactly taken the market by storm.

There's no doubt that the UMPC form factor has its appeal. Including a 3G wireless WWAN radio for broadband access anywhere is the logical next step for UMPC makers. Small, lightweight devices that provide full PC functionality and fit in your shirt pocket at the same time would seem to be the Holy Grail of mobile computing. So why the heck don't we see them everywhere?

When was the last time you saw an OQO UMPC out in someone's hand? What about Nokia's Symbian-based N770 and N800 Internet tablets? While they don't run Windows, they are similar in form factor and permit for Internet surfing via Wi-Fi. Where the Samsung UMPC, called the Q1, has a slate form factor, the OQO models 01, 01+ and 02 all have a slide up screen that reveals a qwerty thumb board. It's not the easiest thing in the world to use, but having a keyboard at all makes life much easier for the enterprise user needing to edit documents or create emails, etc.

The problem is, the excitement lasts for about 20 minutes. Then you're like, "I wish I had a keyboard and mouse for this thing." Or, "I wish the screen were bigger."

Qwerty-keyboard equipped smartphones are often easier to use, more portable and provide for a relatively good mobile Internet experience.

Surprisingly, estimates say that some half million UMPCs were sold in 2006 and 2007 should see 700,000 sold. It may sound like nice growth, but that ain't a whole lot (0.35 of 1% of annual global PC sales).

OQO's decision to embed EV-DO was a natural one, and I expect they'll embed EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA before long in order to grab more worldwide market share. Still, compared with 1 billion cell phones (18.9 million smartphones in the first half of 2006 alone) and 200 million PCs, 700,000 UMPCs seems a bit paltry. Hopefully OQO's EV-DO play leads to more sales and market share for the UMPC.

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