Interesting
-Will
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=581&u=/nm/20020206/tc_
nm/tech_ibm_portable_dc_1
IBM to Unveil Index Card-Size Computer Prototype
Wed Feb 6,12:16 AM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp.'s research
division says it has developed a prototype of a portable computer
module that is the size of a small pad of paper and has the computing
power of a typical notebook or desktop computer.
The portable computing device, which IBM Research will unveil on Feb.
11 at a technology conference in Phoenix, Arizona, includes 128
megabytes of dynamic random access memory, a 10-gigabit hard drive
and a microprocessor -- which is the brain of the computer -- that
runs at 800 megahertz, or 800 million cycles per second.
"We've taken the PC down to where you can take it home and finish
your work," said Kenneth Ocheltree, manager for next generation
mobile at IBM Research.
Code-named "MetaPad", the module is 5 inches long, 3 inches wide and
about three-quarters of an inch thick. The module fits into a larger
accessory piece that features a small, flat screen on front and is
about 6 inches long, 4 inches wide and 1 inch thick.
The index-card sized module can also be plugged into a docking
station for a personal computer, enabling the user to move all of his
or her information and applications from one location to another. It
runs Microsoft Corp.'s Windows XP operating system.
Ocheltree said IBM doesn't have specific plans to sell the prototype,
which could be ready for market in few years. IBM is talking to
computer makers and customers about how it could be used, he said.
"We're trying to understand how people would use it and interact with
it," Ocheltree said.
Ocheltree said some possible uses are in areas like medicine,
international customs, and airline and hotel check-in. He said IBM is
working on how wireless technology could be used with the device.
Companies like Palm Inc., Handspring Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd.
all make pocket-sized computers with various degrees of computing
power that handle anything from calendar functions to e-mail
transmission. PC makers Hewlett-Packard Co. and Compaq Computer Corp.
also make handheld computers.
Rapid growth in the handheld market has slowed amid the overall
economic downturn as consumers have tightened up on spending, and the
industry is increasingly introducing wireless devices for
communications.
IBM, with a $5 billion research and development budget in 2001, does
everything from exploratory research to application development,
working in computer science, material science, mathematics and
physics. For example, it has worked on making semiconductors smaller
and faster.
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