Microsoft has several WinHec announcements this morning:
* Bill Gates will be showing off a paper-thin concept Tablet PC. Nothing like this is pratical today, but in the world of patents it’s critical to think through the design issues of a computer like this before you get boxed out by the competition. Some other details: 7″ by 5″ and one to two pounds, WiFi, camera, microphone, flash memory (no hard drive) and an all-day battery. Hmmm, sounds bigger than the reported thickness of a sheet of paper–especially at one to two pounds. We’ll have to see what it really is.
* A notebook with an auxiliary display on the outside of the case–for checking email and so forth without having to turn the computer completely on. In the past this has been suggested as a feature for Tablets PCs too.
* In this past quarter Tablet PC sales have increased 64% over last year’s quarter. Yes, SP2 has been a big help as well as better hardware from the OEMs.
* A PC design contest to encourage new Longhorn-inspired designs. Hmmm. Not so sure about this one. Does this mean manufacturers are cautiously stepping along with Longhorn and they need a nudge?
* And here’s a report that a new Tablet PC will be shown with a “sliding cover.” This should be interesting–something other than a clamshell design.
* Announcements of 64-bit versions of Windows XP Professional and Windows Server 2003. Excellent. This means a computer could have up to 128 GB of memory. Who needs a hard drive? A driveless computer would make an ideal Tablet PC. One less moving part–one less inefficient power (and space) hog. Of course, the processor and display are huge power consumers too. I haven’t seen any WinHec references to innovation here. I guess that’s Intel’s job.
that was ‘paper like’ not ‘paper light’ or ‘paper thin’ 😉