Via Origami beats Samsung Q1 to market + includes GPS module
Published on May 26th, 2006 in gps navigation, umpc
Via has beaten Samsung to market with its Origami ultra mobile PC, with the Pace Blade Easy Book E7 now available in the UK.
But despite expectations that it would be much cheaper than Samsung’s Q1, its price will be just £49 less.
The low-drain C7-M processor should have allowed the Pace Blade UMPC to be sold for a much lower price than Intel-based models like the Q1.
Speaking in the UK, Colin Brix, Via’s chipset platform group international marketing specialist, commented: ‘We sell the chips cheaper [than Intel]. Whether [manufacturers] want to save that cost and pass it on to customers - that’s their choice.’
At Winhec in the US, Charles Holthaus, who worked for chip designer Centaur when it was taken over by Via, disputed Intel’s figures for the performance per watt of its mobile processors.
The Via Origami shown at Winhec, branded Tablet Kiosk Eo in the US, sells for $850 (£490), including a satellite-navigation module, a price that could put it in competition with high-end PDAs as well as traditional notebooks.
But in the UK the same model - under the Pace brand - costs £750, and does not come with the GPS module. The Samsung Q1 will sell in the UK for £799 when it comes out on 1 June.
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