S-XGen handtop: 2003 design, 2007 price
The S-XGen UMPC wannabe by Seamless Wi-Fi made its first ripple in the handtop pond back in September and it’s set to make a notable splash at CES next week. Its flip-out keyboard design, reminiscent of the Samsung SPH-P9000, didn’t catch my eye back then because, frankly, isn’t it rather unattractive? Something about it looks cheap and outdated to me (more pics here).
Well, a press release quickly eliminated any notion of "cheap" I had, as the 20GB, 256MB RAM, Windows CE 5.0 device is priced at $1400. It also has a 4-inch (470 x 280) TFT touch screen, Intel PXA 270 Xscale 520 MHz processor, webcam, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and triband GSM connectivity. Relatively standard stuff these days (though you don’t often see an ethernet port or 8-hour battery life), if you ask me.
Some might even call its specs substandard. And to them I would say that the S-XGen’s insides are actually a very nice match to its rebadged concept PDA outside. The design did win an award at CES in 2003, after all.