by Ilya Gavrichenkov
08/22/2008 | 03:26 PM
Japanese Fujitsu announced a new UMPC that has every right to be placed into the mini-netbook category. It is FMV-BIBLO LOOX U/B50N. The device features traditional notebook design, but is equipped with a 5.6-inch screen and weighs only 565g. However, it is fast enough to offer good performance in Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1.
The notebook is based on Atom Z530 processors working at 1.6GHz frequency and features 1GB of DDR2 SDRAM. Miniature 5.6-inch screen uses economical LED-backlight and supports pretty impressive resolutions up to 1280x800. The base configuration also includes a 60GB 1.8-inch hard drive. There will also be optional configurations with 100 and 120 GB HDD or 64GB SSD.
This notebook supports all necessary interfaces, such as USB 2.0, IEEE1394, WiFi IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. There is also a card reader available. With a doc-station you can also get a Gigabit Ethernet connector, D-Sub connector for external monitor and three additional USB 2.0 ports.
FMV-BIBLO LOOX U/B50N measures 71x135x26.5-33mm. It is equipped with a 2900mAh battery that should run for about 5.3 hours on average. An optional 5800mAh battery will provide up to 11 hours battery life.
Fujitsu FMV-BIBLO LOOX U/B50N should start selling in Japan in the end of August. The price of this new solution will be around $1200. Unfortunately, they are not planning to distribute it outside Japan.