CommunicAsia 2008 - Elead’s Noahpad

by atticus ~ June 20, 2008

Definitely one of the most unique UMPCs around, Elead’s Noadpad makes a surprise appearance at CommunicAsia 2008 under Garmin’s booth to showcase Garmin’s navigation software.

The Noahpad features two large touch sensitive buttons that serve as both the touchpad and keyboard. Typing on the Noahpad is actually not as bad as it looks. On my first attempt, I managed to type hello cloudbookumpc.com without any mistakes.

To see the various interesting functions of the Noahpad in action, check out the video below. It looks like it’s going to take some time to learn the different touchpad shortcuts.

Noahpad’s website over here contains more information on the UMPC. A list of Noahpad EL-460 specifications is shown below:

Display 7″ LCD panel with LED backlight
CPU & Chipset VIA Eden C7 -1.0G / CX700
Operating System Ubuntu 7.10, Windows XP Compatible
Input Device Noahpad ™ KB and Noahpad ™ MS，a new revolution input device
Ethernet Communication Ethernet 10M / 100M USB to RJ45 dongle
WLAN 802.11g Turbo wireless LAN USB adapter, Standard IEEE 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth V2.0, 3G / 3.5G Antenna support
Memory 512 MB (DDR2)
Storage 1.8″ IDE HDD 30GB
Card Reader SD card reader
Camera 300K pixel
LED Status Indicator Power-on / Suspend, Battery Charging/full / low, Bluetooth, Wireless indicator, Number / Capital / Scroll Lock
Audio Build-in Microphone and stereo speaker, Microphone / earphone jack
Battery 4 Cells；3900 mAh for machine inside, 4 Cells；10000mAh for external machine
Weight 0.8 kg

Apparently, Elead has already put a price tag on the Noahpad EL-460. It’s priced at NT16,500 (USD543). A slew of Noahpad accessories llike shoulder belt and car charger are also available from the website. If you register as a member of their website, you would be able to gain access to Noahpad’s WinXP drivers.