Sony Rumored to Be Developing New Ultra-Portable PC

Ed Hardy · 07-21-2005, 10:13 AM

Sony is supposedly working on a tiny new laptop that will include a keyboard but will also be able to be used as a tablet.

Read more at http://www.brighthand.com/article/So...del?site=Other

Timothy Rapson · 07-21-2005, 12:32 PM

What does the new Nokia 770 lack to compete in this arena. It has a big enough screen, a processor (although the wrong one for XP) RAM, ROM, memory card slot WiFi. I think it even has the touch screen.

It lacks a hard disk and a tiny keyboard. So do a lot of PDAs but, not XPs. The XPs need a keyboard.

Could a Nokia update to $500 hold XP?

Ed Hardy · 07-21-2005, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Timothy Rapson
Could a Nokia update to $500 hold XP?

You'd have to add lots more RAM and an internal hard drive in order for the 770 to even begin to run XP.

I don't know what the 770's processor speed is, but people complain about the slow performance of XP on the 1 GB Crusoe chip, so the 770's would doubtless have to be bumped up a lot.

To run all this power-hungry equipment, Nokia would almost certainly have to add a much bigger battery.

In short, you'd have to virtually redesign the 770 in order for it to run XP.

Timothy Rapson · 07-21-2005, 02:19 PM

So, you agree on the processor and hard drive. I also mentioned a keyboard and you added a bigger battery.

Do those things add $650-1650? to the price?

Like I said, they both have processors, RAM, ROM, sound, screens, batteries, etc.

I just don't see the difference in price. I expect that one day we will see pocketable computers running full XP.

The market will then include,

1.Desktops- cheapest, most powerful and expandable
2. Laptops- a little more expensive, lower powered, little less expandable

And

4. Phones- which will do most of what 5-10 year old computers and 1-2 year old cameras and music players could do.

What about that space in between numbers 2 and 4? Well,

3....if someone can get a pocket computer to sell for a decent price and run XP they will be in that slot. If not PDAs will live there.

Or maybe I am full of bologna and Apple will make iPods that rule the desktop, laptop, phone, photo, and music/video world. Wonder how Apple white would go with my letter carrier uniform? The blue of my Zire 72 was not bad before it all wore off.

k2stingray · 07-21-2005, 11:23 PM

From the article,
"He envisions a relatively inexpensive device will be just a bit larger than current handhelds ..."

I guess if you have BIG and DEEP pockets like Bill then the planned device would be ideal.

For many of the rest of us the price & size of currently available PPC's is likely better.

NickC · 07-22-2005, 03:57 AM

I really don't see why the emphasis is on these things having to run a full version of Windows or other bloated OS. The ideal device would be a portable lightweight touchscreen with wireless communications to a central computer. The storage and processing would be done by the computer and the screen would just be I/O. Perhaps some limited synchronised storage could be present for PIM type data as with current PDAs.

This could easily be achieved at present using WiFi (e.g. terminal services client on current PPC) for use when at base, and in the future with broadband wireless when out in the rest of the world.

This would eliminate some of the security problems as the data is all held back at base, would reduce the weight of the device as it would be all solid state, would be instant on and have reduced power needs. You could even take a different sized screen depending on the requirements at the time.

I'd rather see development time pushed this way than trying to shoehorn an inappropriate OS (Windows, Linux, etc) into a smaller device.

pixelator · 07-22-2005, 05:24 PM

The whole point of running a "bloated" OS on a device this small is so you can get all your normal "bloated" desktop apps and resources onto as pocketable a config as possible.

"Bloated" is as much a configuration as it is an OS trait. Users who load their systems with tons of startup apps and resource-sapping items will be running a more slothful and complex environment than someone with a barebones XP installation with nothing added.

The same will be probably doubly true for handhelds with microsized hardware and subsequently reduced horsepower. The trick will be to only put what you absolutely need on such a device.

Trust me, be it PalmOS, Linux, WinCE.NET or WindowsMobile, you can "bloat" just about anything if you load it down with enough tweaks, hacks, apps and startup functions.

NickC · 07-25-2005, 03:26 AM

The point I was trying to make is that the bloat can be on the connected remote machine, leaving the handheld device to operate as a window to the applications and data and hence become what a portable device should be - lightweight, flexible, and portable. The backend machine can be as big, powerful, and bloated as you like.