Hardware InkShow: Fujitsu U1010
I've pushed the envelope and burnt the candle at both ends this week to bring you, yesterday's "The Shift" video, and today's video of what we lovingly term The Stormtrooper! Both were promised and as such both were delivered.
Context & Ripple Effects
GottaBeMobile's Hardware InkShow series returns to the ultra-mobile space it last examined in its Asus R2H usability walkthrough from November 2006, this time putting the Fujitsu U1010 — nicknamed the Stormtrooper — on video. The review lands mid-ramp for Fujitsu's 2007 mobile push, which included the Lifebook T8140 convertible with an SSD and claimed 11.3-hour battery life and the March shift to flash storage across new tablets for durability.
The device also arrives weeks after Fujitsu celebrated the world's slimmest waterproof mobile phone, underscoring that the company is competing on smallness and design across its handheld lineup rather than raw spec sheets.
First-order effects
- Buyers shopping the pocket-sized UMPC segment now have a Fujitsu alternative to the Asus R2H, judged not on benchmarks but on real-world handling via the InkShow's video format.
- The U1010's reception feeds directly into Fujitsu's positioning of its 2007 tablet line as lighter, longer-running, and more durable than predecessors like the T4220 with its roughly three-hour battery.
Second-order effects
- Rivals in the UMPC category are pushed toward the same differentiators the review highlights — weight, keyboard/input ergonomics, and flash-based durability — as video-first reviewers make those traits visible to buyers.
- Flash storage suppliers gain another demand channel as Fujitsu extends SSD adoption from its T-series convertibles into its smallest form factors.
Third-order effects
- If miniaturization plus solid-state storage keeps proving out in reviews like this one, the ultraportable segment consolidates around durability and all-day battery as table stakes rather than premium options.
- Video-first device reviews of this kind shift evaluation criteria away from spec sheets toward usability, pressuring vendors to seed early units with independent reviewers before launch.
The trend: Ultra-mobile PCs are converging on small, flash-equipped, design-led form factors, with independent video reviewers shaping how buyers judge them.