ECS latest to show off Origami UMPC

No longer are we being teased like gormless idiots with Origami marketing hype – the real-world tablets are arriving, and this one from ECS is the third we’ve seen.

Following the grand entrances of the GPS-loaded Asus R2H and Samsung Q1, the H70 brings a new trick to the Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) party – a 1.3MP camera.

Its weight of 830g means it’s something of a house-brick in digicam terms, but there’s plenty of other functionality to make it worthwhile building up your forearms.

Like all self-respecting UMPCs, it has a 7in WVGA (800x480 pixels) screen and the wireless combo of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. You also get the choice of a pacy 1Ghz Intel Pentium processor or value 900Mhz Intel Celeron brain, and a 3-in-1 card reader should mean it’s a multimedia gannet.

Interestingly, the H70 gives us the first inkling of a UMPC’s expected battery life – it’ll go for 2 hours out of its docking station, which is a bit rubbish considering some ultraportable laptops last twice that long. It also means those marketing visions of beaming mobile workers breezing around Wi-Fi cafes all day without charging their mini-tablets might be a tad optimistic.

Still, we’re prepared to give the reborn tablet concept a fair hearing once we’ve actually held one outside of a trade show.

The H70 should be available between April and June this year, although the price is yet to be set – keep an eye on ECS’ UK site for more details.

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