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I am sure we will be hearing a lot about ultra mobile personal computers (UMPC) over the next couple of weeks, but for now Samsung leads the market so are the ones to beat. Their new newest addition to the range not only sets the bar that little bit higher for the competition but due to its high-performance value coupled with its ultra-portable and ultra-sleek design, the Q1 Ultra Premium UMPC was named a 2008 CES Innovations Honoree.

Very much focussed on the commercial market the Q1 Ultra Premium delivers enhanced performance, extended battery life and superior text entry.

Driven by 1.33GHz ULV Intel Core Solo U1500 Pentium CPU running at a clock speed of 1.33 GHz, along with 1GB of high-speed DDR2 system memory the Q1 is a high performance device with full PC functionality. It weighs less than 2lbs and has a 57.7 watt hour Lithium Ion polymer 6-cell battery that will provide up to 7.5 hours of battery life. Other features include an 80GB 1.8-inch ultra-small hard disk drive, fingerprint reader for advanced system security and an SD/MMC 2-in-1 memory slot a 1.3-megapixel webcam, along with a high-performance dual-array microphone.

It is based on the Microsoft Windows XP Tablet Edition operating system, and will be available for $1,399.

Via [Samsung]

Here is a little peep show of the Samsung Q1, ultra-mobile PC. As we previously said our hands on time at Digital Experience was limited but still enough to offer a brief overview. The device is feature rich. Between the large touch screen to the processing specs to the OS, the Q1 can do what you need. There is an onscreen thumb keyboard as well as handwriting recognition and an onscreen QWERTY keypad for use with the stylus. The main issue is where the unit fits in amongst thin and light 12-13” laptops, PDAs Smartphones, the Sidekick, Sony’s UX, and other mini PCs. The Q1 won’t come close to fitting in a pocket nor in many pocketbooks. Heavy users have been offering nothing but accolades (besides the 3.5 hour battery life) for the Q1 and claim that they will never use a laptop again. Anyone else have any thoughts?

Check out the peep show.

To go along with our written coverage of Pepcom’s Digital Expereince here is a nice peep show of some gadgets that we got to touch with our sticky BBQ figures.

Sprint Sanyo 6600 Katana - This will be Sprint’s Vision handset while the Samsung A900 is the Power Vision slim-phone. It was thin, light, and had a great screen. Thinness for the masses!

Read on for images and our feelings of the Samsung Q1, Nokia 770, E62, Bluetooth headsets, TomTom GO 910, and more.

Samsung Q1 - This was our first hands-on experience with the Q1. Though our time was limited and the devices is feature rich I could tell that given the time, this would be a product that would make my laptop obsolete. While it takes up about as much space as my laptop, it is certainly a bit more portable, offering many of the same features.

Nokia 770 Internet Tablet - This version of the 770 has new software that included Google Talk, integrated Google search, an onscreen thumb keyboard and much more. We are looking forward to spending more time with the unit in a full Gadgetell Review in the coming weeks.

Nokia’s Blackberry killer, more officially known as the E62 was on show as well. It is almost as thin and light as the Motorola Q, but runs a version of their Symbian OS. The keypad was a nice size, which is key. It will be interesting to see how these new non-RIM models fair against each other (Treo, Q, E62). We are also looking forward to a review of this handset.

Here are some Nokia Bluetooth headsets to go with your new slick phones. Specifically the micro-sized BH-800 and its slightly bigger brother.

HP’s laptops - HP took the guns to the gun show by showcasing their entire line of Pavilion notebooks. I particularly liked the nc4400 12.1” ultraportable in addition to the HP Compaq tc4400 Tablet PC.

Belkin TuneStage for iPod nano - This wireless audio player can come in really handy, especially by offering the ability to hookup your nano to those sweat speakers you just bought, and hey why not go wirelessly. We can’t vouch for the audio quality yet or it’s ability to send through multiple walls (within the 30 ft. range), but I expect good things from Belkin.

Last but certainly not least, TomTom was showing off their new GO 910 navigation system. As compared to the GO 300 that we had reviewed, this new model blew it away. The screen is brighter, larger, and the system does much more. The models are not a fair comparison considering that besides the screen this model has Bluetooth, maps of the US, Europe, and Canada, 12 GB of free space, and MP3 player...you get the point, this model is loaded.

Gearlog received the Samsung Q1 over the weekend and offered their first look at the device. Remember this was the keynote UMPC (ultra mobile PC) that was code-named Origami by Microsoft.

It looks like a blown up version of the Sony PSP, except that it has a Windows XP operating system loaded. It’s too big to fit in any pocket, but it is light. Some of the things I really liked were the 7 inch screen and the sound quality of the unit. The stylus is your typical PDA stylus and uncomfortable to use after extensive periods. The touchscreen is very responsive considering it’s not Wacom enabled. The side of my hand consistently hits the screen when I write. An external keyboard is recommended. It doesn’t have built-in WAN or GPS, which were some of the cool features Microsoft was marketing. It does have 802.11AG and a built-in Ethernet port. The processing power is pretty weak for running anything other than a web browser, iTunes, or a Word document. You can only get it at BestBuy Online or CDW at the moment, and it’ll run you a pretty penny at $1,099.

The question still remains, is there a market for these units? Wouldn’t consumers rather have the full computing power of a ultra portable laptop (12") or the portability of a Windows Mobile handset? I am not convinced that there enough demand for the UMPC, which is stuck in the middle...we will wait and see.

Read [Gearlog]