2004-12-02

OQO - first impression

One of the attendees at tonights WE-DIG meeting was using an OQO device, this was running Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Office, and other desktop applications, the device is not much bigger than a Pocket PC [4.9 inches long, 3.4 inches wide, .9 inches thick], and weighs only 14 ounces, has a touch screen (with stylus), the screen seems to be running at 1024x728, battery life is somewhere in the region of 2–3 hours.

 
The OQO model 01 ultra personal computer (uPC) is a fully-functional Windows XP computer. The OQO has a 1GHz processor, a 20GB hard drive, 256MB of RAM, a color transflective display, and integrated wireless, as well as Fire Wire and USB ports.

From the image above you can see that the screen slides away from the keyboard, slide the screen “shut” and use some of the handwriting recognition systems or on-screen keyboards listed on the jkOnTheRun site and you have something similar to a Pocket PC which runs full Windows XP applications, the line between desktop and mobile devices appears to be blurring around the edges.

I’d be interested in trying one of these for a couple of weeks to see how usable this is and whether I’d prefer to carry one of these or a Pocket PC device – which would you choose, and why ?

– Mike

[Via Microsoft WebBlogs]