I wouldn't say that it's the year of the UMPC at Computex, but it's certainly more widespread than last year - and there is more of a variety of styles and designs. There are some that are designed for vertical markets (not mainstream consumers), some with slide out qwerty keyboards and still others that are a little more like a really, really small notebook than the UMPC designs I have seen before.

One such design is featured on VIA's booths, with an identical model on FIC's booth. I first saw a prototype for this unit in the VIA offices back in March. The design is similar to an ultra-portable notebook, with a full keyboard (although smaller than normal size of course). Next to the screen is an area for different modules to clip in. So far there is a clock/date sort of module (not my personal favorite) that seems to be the default option. There is also a little VOIP phone and a GPS module - both very useful indeed. VIA has now issued a Press Release about this design. It's called the VIA NanoBook.

"The VIA NanoBook is powered by the ultra low voltage 1.2GHz VIA C7-M processor and delivers up to 5 hours of battery life. Powered by a choice of Microsoft Windows XP or Windows Vista Basic operating systems, it comes with host of advanced features, including a full keyboard, a crisp 7” WVGA screen with touch panel, up to 1GB DDR2 SDRAM, and a minimum 30GB HDD, as well as 802.11g WiFi, Bluetooth and Ethernet support, plus a DVI and two USB 2.0 ports." It weighs less than 850g.

First to market with a solution on the NanoBook reference design will be Packard Bell with the EasyNote XS. It doesn't feature the clip in modules. It's all black and it feels like a quality build, although it's still very light. You can read the rest of VIA's Press Release here.