At the Red White & Pure restaurant in Vivacity today, Fujitsu launch its first effort at the Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) market--the Life Book U1010 (previously known as the Life Book FMV-U Series)--as well as a new widescreen Life book S6410 and several model invigorated with the latest Santa Rosa stage.

The widescreen display has become accepted among business users. Fujitsu recognize this fact and has made its latest 13.3-inch business moveable adopt the 16:10 aspect ratio. Available in two versions, the Life Book S6410 basic version weighs 1.9kg and offers a strong security suite with Core 2 Duo presentation in a slim profile. Its battery life is not too spectacular, clocking in at 3 hours using the standard cell. However, its optical drive can be swapped with a second battery to ramp the runtime up to 4.2 hours. Based on the Centurion Pro platform, it has 1GB of Intel Turbo Memory to boost application speeds, though some reports have noted that the actual presentation increase is negligible.



The stars of the show were certainly the Life Book U1010 and the S6410. The former is Fujitsu's debut into the UMPC world based on the Moccasin Platform announced at the recent Intel Developer Forum. weigh just over 600g, the U1010 is a adaptable tablet PC similar to the larger Life Book P1610, only with a smaller 5.6-inch touch screen display. It runs off an Intel A110 computer which clocks in at 800MHz and offers strong data defense in the form of a fingerprint sensor and TPM security chip. We were a little skeptical over whether this UMPC would suit the mobility crowd, as its battery life of just 3 hours does not inspire enough confidence to leave your power cable at home. However, an extended four-cell battery (S$320) is obtainable to push the uptime to 6 hours. An optional port replicate (S$350) is also available for those who want additional connectivity including DVI, four USB and VGA. Already retailing in Hong Kong since June 24, the S$1,988 UMPC will be available from this week in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, China, India, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Wow factor: Fujitsu's first foray into the UMPC market, the LifeBook U1010 has strong security features and portability on its side but may be hampered by its unimpressive battery life.



Other notable frills:
*Intel A110 800MHz processor
*5.6-inch display
*1GB RAM
*40GB HDD
*Integrated graphics card
*Windows Vista Home Premium Edition
*610g
Expected: Available now
Price: S$1,988