Chinese UMPC design runs Linux

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Feb. 05, 2007

A device manufacturing and design house in Shenzhen, China is offering an ARM-based "UMPC" (ultra-mobile PC) with an embedded Linux OS. The Beijing Peace East Technology Development Company's "H9" design features a high-quality 7-inch LCD display, GPS receiver, 128MB of RAM, and a 520MHz PXA270 processor.

The H9 appears to be a ready-to-manufacture design

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The H9 is built using an the ARM/XScale architecture, rather than the x86 architecture more commonly found in typical UMPC devices. Beijing Peace also offers an "H10" version of the device that comes with Windows CE 5.0 instead of Linux.

The H9 is based on an Intel PXA270 processor, clocked at 520MHz. It boots Linux from 64MB of NOR flash, and has 128MB of SDRAM. Like most UMPCs, it also packs a hard drive -- in this case, a 20GB unit.

The H9 has a built-in GPS radio based on a Global Locate Hammerhead chip. It appears to support network interfaces -- such as cellular data cards and WiFi -- through built-in PCMCIA and SD card slots. Other peripherals and interfaces include USB and onboard AC97 audio, with a built-in speaker and stereo I/O.

The H9 comes with a 7-inch TFT (thin-film transistor) LCD, with backlight. Although the device's data sheet does not mention a touchscreen, it seems extremely likely that the screen includes touch, given the way UMPCs and other mini-tablets are used. Hardware buttons include power and volume, along with a 5-direction navigation pad and five shortcut keys.

The H9 comes with a generous 4000mAh, 5-volt rechargeable lithium battery. It measures 8.1 x 4.7 x 0.75 inches (205 x 120 x 19mm), and weighs 17.6 ounces (500 grams).

On the software side, the H9 comes with software supporting use as a PDA (personal digital assistant), PMP (portable media player), GPS (global positioning system), and wireless Internet functions, according to Beijing Peace. Additional touted software includes:

Web browser
Multimedia player
Flash player
Photo browsing and editing software
Recording software
Multimedia file manager
Business card manager
Mobile email
Office file viewer
PDF browser

Beijing Peace is a spin-out from from Shenzhen PingZhi Electronics Factory, a manufacturer specializing in business telephones and phone equipment.

Availability

The H9 appears to be a ready-to-manufacture design available globally to resellers, OEMs (original equipment manufactures), and ODMs (original design manufacturers). Pricing and minimum order quantities were not disclosed.

Thanks to Pocketables.net for letting us know about this device.

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