All in one pocket: iPhone weds cellphone, camera, iPod, Internet
Friday's debut of the Apple device is part of a trend of being able to carry all the power of a computer in your pocket.
from the June 28, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
North American Van Lines, a relocation company, sends assessors out to clients' homes with an iPAQ, a handheld device made by Hewlett Packard. The assessor enters into the iPAQ all the items to be moved along with weight and space estimates. The device can calculate the total charges, snap photos of unusual objects, and provide instant copies for the client with the help of a portable printer.
"Before it was done with carbon paper and calculators," says Nick Frischer, managing director of the Boston office. "The productivity is day and night. The time savings alone can be invested into developing a relationship with the person who is moving and instantaneously show the consumer their pricing options."
CSX, the freight railroad company, now sends out track inspectors with an ultramobile PC from the San Francisco-based company OQO. The device, called the OQO-02, is a fully-functional Windows PC that weighs less than a pound and measures 5.6 inches by 3.3 inches – small enough to fit in a pocket. It retails for $1,499 and up.
According to Intel, by 2010 at least 10 percent of the total global PC market will be ultramobile PCs.
But several companies have offered extremely lightweight laptops in the past and found potential customers skipping over them in favor of two devices, one for their pocket and one for their desk, says Ken Dulaney, a Gartner analyst. That may be partly because consumers don't want to work on screens less than 10 inches and thumb on tiny keyboards, say analysts.
The OQO-02 can be docked into a standard keyboard and monitor. Advances in microchip technology and wireless networks have made it possible to offer a pocket-sized product with enough connectivity and battery life – approximately three hours of continuous use, says Bob Rosin, an OQO spokesman.
"Once you have your computer with you all the time, you can never really go back," he says. "You become so accustomed to looking up a map or looking up an e-mail that someone sent you a few days ago. It brings an immediacy to whatever you are seeking."
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