What Is New

Whether you refer to small PCs with batteries Ultra-mobile PCs, ultramobile PCs, mini tablets, or UMPC, this category packs innovation into a little bundle that you can carry with you.  Between Intel and VIA designing special chipsets and processors with better power management, rotational hard drives dropping in price, and the popularity of small display sizes in consumer products we've seen the sub 2lb PC market start to expand. The innovation doesn't stop with chipsets and processors though. We're seeing touch screens on more PCs. You can tap your way around web pages with your finger or a stylus. When you're using a full Windows OS with browser, you can run Flash and Silverlight based web apps, read and write PDFs, and even use a full productivity application suite. You can use these little PCs as a companion or as a simple PC system.

Is a product still in the UMPC category when a rotational hard drive is replaced with solid state drive? What about when the screen is just a regular display and doesn't have touch? Or how about when the operating system is mobile or limited? Why or why not?

Are you one of the lucky designers or developers attending Mix '08? Mix is more than a "web conference." It's been a great place for people to talk about interactive design.

This is the first year that I won't be attending Mix. That said, I couldn't stay away from peeking at the sessions list. In addition to the keynote, which I hope I can view online later, these two sessions would make my session list.

When Mom's Motion Computing LE1700 Tablet PC arrived at the end of December, it was the first of a new set of PCs finding their way into our family.

Have you noticed the new face to the Windows Vista Developer Center? Thanks for the update, Eliot.

Classroom Presenter 3 was released by University of Washington's Center for Collaborative Technologies. This presentation tool can be used in classes by teachers and students.

Lenovo is sponsoring a second annual conference on 1:1 computing. This year it will be at Forest Ridge School in Bellevue, WA. John Phillips updates people on his blog, where he also shares how Forest Ridge uses Tablet PCs, OneNote, and various other products in the classroom. He says to stay tuned for more information. Can't wait.

When: April 7 and 8, 2008

Where: Forest Ridge School in Bellevue, WA

Loren posted some of the photos from the Tablet PC & UMPC Community Gathering at CES 2008.