CES and small computers...
While my OQO still hasn't arrived, I was able to borrow one from someone on the team who isn't really using his and thus I wanted to give the device a workout during an event that was in theory designed for the device. Well let's just say I had some technical difficulties with the machine which I'm working on resolve.... but at the highest level and since MSFT is paying me to evaluate the device for now I'll just say that it's an interesting companion.
But on to small computers.... There were 2 devices caught my eye, not from a mobility perspective but rather for a feature/function/size perspective for the home.
First from Aurora Multimedia was the XPC Pro. This is a PC is a full function PC with video and surround sound capabilities in a package 8.5 x 1.75 x 13 with a built in DVD drive. They were showing it off as a second PC to attach to your TV etc, but I think that there are probably some other potential usages that are pretty interesting. However don't have a clue about the performance etc, so maybe I'll get to try one out
Second was basically a complete DVD player/Stereo about the size of a car radio that can be mounted in a drive bay of a PC or used as a standalone component. This was the VPC-2000 from Asour Technology. This reminded me of the days that I worked for Compaq and we had designed a car stereo looking component in the front of the PC that did a lot of the same functions, but at the time was limited by Windows and ultimately failed since the actions didn't happen in real time. You would change the volume and 10 seconds later Windows would respond and then the volume would actually change. However in the implementation that I saw here, I thought it was a well integrated package that really does a great job at consolodating the functionality.
One other interesting product was a thing called the Pocket Surfer from Datawind. This is basically a thin client that's about the size of a checkbook but really thin and light. It uses bluetooth to your cell phone and connects to a backend server to let you browse the internet. A much larger screen than a blackberry or most of the palm or ppc devices out there so it has some interesting applicational uses.
I'll say more about my experiences with the OQO once I finish up my overall evaluation...
