OT Windows XP in a tiny package
18 minutes ago
By Dean Takahashi, Mercury News
For Jory Bell, creating a handheld computer that uses the full Windows XP (news - web sites) operating system isn't a matter of if, but when.
As chief executive of San Francisco-based OQO, Bell has been trying for four years to create such a handheld. Now he says the product will be launched in the fall.
The company's 30 employees have produced several prototypes of its "ultra personal computer" that takes Windows into its final frontier in a handheld, where full PC compatibility could give it an advantage over rival Palm and PocketPC handhelds.
"People tell us they want mobility, and they want Windows compatibility," Bell says.
But Windows XP wasn't meant to be used in anything smaller than a laptop computer. And that means OQO had to do a lot of custom engineering to create its device.
Several other companies, including Tiqit, have struggled trying to achieve the same goal. OQO's crew included engineers who designed Apple Computer's well-received Titanium laptops. It also had investors that included former executives from Microsoft and Transmeta and venture capital backers such as Azure Capital, Wasserstein Ventures and AsiaTech. OQO has raised more than $17 million to date.
OQO came up with its first handheld PC in 2002. Now it has a better design with better screen resolution. Bell says the designers built in a flexible microcontroller that allowed them to eliminate a lot of chips used in laptops.
The OQO machine is fairly powerful for a handheld. It has a 1-gigahertz Transmeta Crusoe processor, a 20-gigabyte Toshiba hard drive that is 1.8 inches wide, a Silicon Motion graphics chip with 8 megabytes of video memory, 256 megabytes of main memory and WiFi wireless networking. The machine has a keyboard that can be pressed with thumbs.
The device is expected to sell for under $2,000. Bell says OQO plans to sell direct to consumers via the Web and through a small direct sales force.
Contact Dean Takahashi at dtakahashi@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5739.
