Seeing the Future at CES 2007 - The Other Kind of Portability
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I mentioned that there were two forms of portability on display at CES this year. I've pretty thoroughly described the kind that lets you take your files from gadget to gadget, but I haven't touched on the other kind - namely, the portability of those gadgets themselves. Big TVs are fine things, but more often than not it's the little things that techies crave.
Visitors to the Intel booth saw a whole category of these little things on display with a table full of ultra-mobile PCs. Intel is now pitching these to the education market among others. That makes perfect sense if you think about it; after all, one of the biggest complaints about UMPCs is that their keyboards are so small only children could be comfortable typing on them. Intel displayed both working prototypes and models that are shipping today.
One really nice-looking one comes from Seamless Internet. The S-XGen features an eight-hour battery, a 4-inch TFT 470 x 280 resolution monitor/touchscreen, a 20 GB hard drive, and weighs just under a pound. But it's the device's design that's the real winner: the keyboard folds in half, and the screen folds on top of it, so that it can offer a nearly full-sized keyboard when in operation, and fit in a pocket when it's closed. It also features a camera and cellular wireless technology built right in. Some commentators have reservations about the screen's resolution, but it certainly looks drool-worthy from here. For those who need to know, it runs Windows CE 5.0 and costs $1,400.
One prototype planned for the teen market also featured an innovative design. The "Pony" actually comes in two pieces; the keyboard attaches to the device with magnets. One observer suggested that the keyboard could act as a wireless remote control when the UMPC is being used for entertainment purposes, such as listening to music or watching videos.
Now that I've finished touching on the broad themes of the show, in my next article, I'll cover as many of the different toys and gadgets that appeared at CES as I can find (both the hits and the misses). You'll find some real winners I didn't have the space to mention here, so you won't want to miss it!
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