It’s refreshing to see sexy design come from a company besides Apple. This beautiful piece of technology comes from a Inventec, an anonymous Taiwanese company you’ve almost certainly never heard of.

It recently won a 2008 iF Product Design Award. That award is about more than just good looks. That curvature in the UMPC’s body makes it easier for the user to see the screen while using the keyboard. On most UMPC’s (I’m looking at you OQO) when you open the keyboard you lose the proper alignment between your eyes and the screen. If you move the UMPC to fix the alignment then holding the keyboard becomes uncomfortable. The curvature in the UMPC-7-A solves this dilemma.

At first glance it seems Inventec has hit a home run with this, although the final judgment can only come after performing some real world tests. I do notice some flaws with Inventec’s marketing. To start with I really wish companies would spend more time thinking up some product names. I don’t want to tell people, “I want an Inventec UMPC7A!” Give it a name! Give the device an identity. Would the iPod still have its cult status if it was called the Apple V1-20?

The other thing that bothers me is the giant Inventec logo emblazoned across the bottom. Maybe I’m nitpicking but that logo is annoying. If you’re going to throw a logo in my face at least make it nice looking.

Now I wish I could give you a proper review of this but I can’t. For one it doesn’t exist. Okay, don’t spit in disgust yet. Since it won an award from iF there’s every reason to believe it will exist. Just wait a few months and it should hit stores. However, there’s also every reason to believe I won’t be able to afford it. Sucks to be poor.