IP: Antelope to build MetaPad design

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Ari Ollikainen <Ari () OLTECO com>
Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 14:50:59 -0700
To: farber () cis upenn edu
Subject: Antelope to build MetaPad design

    I posted about IBM's MetaPad back in February:
http://lists.elistx.com/archives/interesting-people/200202/msg00042.ht
ml

    Here's a company set to build a set of devices based on the
    design...

Start-up's mini-PC based on IBM design

By Michael Kanellos
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
May 22, 2002, 4:25 PM PT

Antelope Technologies will build hand-size PCs based on a computer
design from IBM as the mini-mini-mini-computer market takes shape.

The Denver-based start-up is going to build PCs that are roughly the
same size and shape as handhelds from Palm and Compaq Computer. The
design of the Mobile Computer Core (MCC), the name of Antelope's
basic computer, is derived from the Meta Pad, a hand-size computer
prototype shown off earlier this year by IBM.

Antelope is licensing the Meta Pad design from IBM but will configure
and adapt it to fit business markets and specific applications, said
an Antelope representative.

Although it is still unclear whether businesses or other customers
will take to these machines, small computing is growing, advocates
say. Earlier this year, another start-up, OQO, unfurled a PDA-size PC
that it will market toward the end of the year for less than $1,000.

Established PC and consumer-electronics giants will later this year
release two new types of Microsoft-centric devices: the tablet PC, a
full-fledged computer that resembles a portable screen and runs a
specialized version of Windows; and Mira, a portable screen that
connects to the Internet via a home PC. Toshiba and others are
expected to show off tablet PCs at TechX NY (formerly PC Expo) in
June.

Small, portable machines like the MCC or Mira are possible in part
because they use energy-efficient components that maximize battery
life and reduce the need for internal cooling devices. The MCC, for
instance, uses a Crusoe processor from Transmeta, yet does not
require a fan. The MCC also comes with a 10GB hard drive and 256MB of
memory.

Software improvements help as well. Keyboards are largely impractical
as an input device and do not come on most of these computers. The
specialized version of Windows XP for tablets--called Microsoft
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition--comes with pen input and handwriting
recognition. The growth of wireless has also created much stronger
demand for fully portable computing.

Despite some of the benefits, more novel computers won't threaten
notebooks for some time. For one thing, they cost more than regular
computers. The Antelope representative did not specify an exact price
but said one of its computers could cost $6,000, depending on the
configuration. Tablet PCs are expected to start in the $2,000 range.

Market research firm IDC said nontraditional notebooks so far account
for just 3 percent of the overall notebook market.

Consumers also haven't shown much inclination toward writing on PC
screens. IBM recently phased out its ThinkPad TransNote, a machine
that captures handwriting jotted with a special pen. Sony also phased
out its high-end Vaio Slimtop Pen Tablet PC.

Trying to capitalize on this ambivalence, Taiwan's Acer showed off a
notebook last November loaded with the tablet PC version of Windows
XP. By popping a button, consumers can make the screen pivot, and
then snap it onto the notebook keyboard to turn it into a tablet.

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                                  -- Mark Twain.
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        OLTECO                    Ari Ollikainen
        P.O. BOX 20088            Networking Architecture and Technology
        Stanford, CA              Ari () OLTECO com
        94309-0088                415.517.3519


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