Photos: 2nd generation UMPCs at CeBIT

Samsung Q1 Ultra
Samsung clearly took criticism of the Q1 to heart, as a display on its exhibition stand listed the main gripes, along with a summary of what the Q1 Ultra delivers in the way of redress. Here's our take on Samsung's list.

Too low resolution
Both the Q1 and the Q1 Ultra have 7-inch screens, but the Ultra boosts the resolution up to WSVGA (1,024 by 600) compared to the Q1's WVGA (800 by 480). The screen is a definite improvement.

Too short battery life
The Q1 Ultra's standard Li-ion battery delivers a claimed 3.5 hours of uptime, compared to the Q1's three hours — not a huge advance admittedly, but better than nothing. With the optional six-cell extended-life battery fitted, Samsung claims you'll get nearly seven hours, which is almost a full day's work.

Inconvenient input method
The most obvious addition to the Q1 Ultra is a Qwerty keypad, split between the two sides of the screen, towards the top. This makes typing much easier than it was with the Q1's pair of on-screen keyboards (regular Tablet PC and semicircular DialKeys). You can still get an optional USB keyboard if the Ultra's keypad doesn't come up to scratch.

No mouse
The Q1's approximation of a mouse mode involved holding down the Menu key on the right-hand side with one thumb while manipulating the mini-joystick on the left-hand side with the other; mouse clicks required the use of a third AutoScaler button. The Ultra simplifies things by allowing you to switch the mini-joystick in and out of mouse mode and providing left and right mouse buttons. You can also, of course, use the stylus and touchscreen.

Short range wireless solutions only
As a mobile device, it was mystifying that the Q1 lacked a SIM card slot — something that the Ultra puts right with HSPDA and WiBro support (WiBro is a Korean version of WiMAX). As before, Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) and Bluetooth (2.0) are present.

Too heavy
The Q1 Ultra shaves 87g off its predecessor's 777g weight, which is noticeable. It's also a little slimmer (22.9-23.9mm compared to 24.5-26.5mm).

New factory install options available on the Q1 Ultra include a fingerprint reader and a dual-mode camera (1.3 megapixel for image capture plus a 0.3megapixel webcam for conferencing). Accessories include a navigation pack (car cradle, car adapter, GPS receiver, maps), an external optical drive and the aforementioned six-cell battery. The Ultra comes with 1GB of RAM, which is required to get reasonable performance from Vista, whereas its XP-based predecessor had 512MB on board as standard. There were no details on pricing or availability for the Q1 Ultra at the time of writing.