Is ‘ultra-mobile’ the next big thing?

Samsung yesterday unveiled the latest iteration of its Q1 “ultra mobile” computer. I wish I could tell you how cool its features - which are promised here - are. Unfortunately, as is all too typical at technology demonstrations, the models they had on display at the Samsung Experience showroom yesterday didn’t work. A nervous Microsoft (MSFT) executive (the device uses Microsoft Vista and Origami software) was bragging about how wonderful it is to read the New York Times on the Q1 Ultra, only to find that it wasn’t loaded on the demo model he was using. Another one I tried to use froze entirely.

But let’s assume that the product will work as promised: wireless access to the Internet regardless of whether you’re in a hotspot; lightweight (1.5 pounds); QWERTY keyboard; Bluetooth-synched with a desktop; music- and video-capable, including video chat; long battery power; and available fully loaded for $1499. Does this really represent the next wave of mobile computing?

The company doesn’t claim that the Q1 will replace your primary computer; neither will they give sales figures, except to say that they’ve sold as many of the original model in the first quarter of 2007 as they did in all of 2006. Samsung also seems to be pushing the idea that the Q1 Ultra is good for business applications, like transmitting maps or data collected in the field. The harshters at Gizmodo have already dismissed it “as a solution in search of a problem,” an admittedly unbeatable phrase: most of what I’d want to do on the road I’d want in a smaller device, like a Treo or Sidekick, and for anything else a small but more powerful laptop.

I suspect there is a market for the Q1 Ultra, but it’s modest. The real question is: once Wi-Max and 3.5G give us wireless ubiquity, will there be important tricks the Q1 Ultra can do that a cheaper device won’t be able to? My guess is not many.