International Business Machines Corp has put the guts of a personal computer into a pocket-sized module, to let users carry their data and desktop software and load them onto different display devices.
Called the MetaPad, the research device is a 252g module containing the basics of a notebook PC, including a 10-gigabyte hard-disk drive, but without a keyboard, screen, power source or communications link. The the 7.6cm by 12.7cm module could be linked to a handheld screen, desktop device, notebook computer, mobile phone or car.
IBM researchers expect to work with customers this year on pilot projects, though the company is more likely to license MetaPad than manufacture or market it on its own, IBM said. Stock exchanges, hotels and airlines are potential users, said Kenneth Ocheltree, manager of IBM Research's Next Generation Mobile program.
"It's a radically different way of doing the PC," Ocheltree said in an interview. "We want to understand how people use it and what accessories are appropriate."
Unlike handheld computers running relatively limited software such as Palm Inc's Palm operating system or Microsoft Corp's Windows CE, the MetaPad would run Microsoft's latest desktop version of Windows, called XP, and be graphics-ready.
The prototype uses an 800-megahertz chip from Transmeta Corp and has 128 megabytes of memory -- chip speeds and memory levels commonly found in personal computers.
Synchronizing various devices wouldn't be necessary, since the hard-disk drive would be portable. The module could be slipped into a small touch-screen to operate like a handheld computer, placed into a notebook computer bay or on a special cradle to run a larger desktop computer.
Using the module, a desktop would consist only of a monitor, keyboard and cradle, which would provide power and various ports for external devices.
"We're pushing the PC down into the space that has been occupied by handheld devices," Ocheltree said.
The New York Stock Exchange may test the device as a handheld computer for traders, and hotels and airlines are interested in a handheld version to help check clients in at curbside, Ocheltree said. Because the unit would be a full-fledged Windows device, it could run on many existing networks without the time and expense of writing specialized integration software, he said.
"This is the first cut," Ocheltree said, adding that the module will shrink as smaller chips are brought to market. Patents have been filed, he said. The cost of the MetaPad would likely be comparable to a lower-priced laptop computer, Ocheltree said. IBM plans to see whether Intel Corp's latest low-power microprocessors for notebook computers would work in the module as well, he said.
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