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Fancier notebooks are on the way
Leading suppliers will add alarms and other snazzy features.
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October 28, 1998 by Ephraim Schwartz |
From...
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(IDG) -- Segmentation in the mobile PC marketplace will reach a fever pitch in 1999 as top-tier notebook vendors look to offer innovative services and products.
Compaq Computer will work directly with corporate customers to load their configuration data and store hard drive images in depots around the globe. The prefabricated drives can then be deployed to customers in 4, 12, or 24 hours, said Ted Clark, vice president of marketing at Compaq. "A one-size-fits-all strategy is not the wave of the future," Clark said.
The PC giant will also use Smart Card security in notebooks so that a system cannot be accessed without it. Compaq will incorporate proximity alarms in some notebook systems. Users will carry a device that, for example, will alert them at airport check-in if the distance between the carrier and the notebook exceeds a certain limit. In addition, Compaq will offer more rugged systems for salespeople who are constantly traveling and subjecting their notebooks to greater stress.
IBM will also focus on security using a similar Smart Card system as well as fingerprint technology for access to the data on a mobile system.
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In 1999, Big Blue will change the form factor of its ultrathin ThinkPad 560, reducing the thickness to less than 1.2 inches and increasing storage capacity to more than 6GB. The screen size will increase to 13.3 inches.
Toshiba will take the lead in 1999 in developing a local wireless technology known as Bluetooth. "With Bluetooth, anyone can setup an eight-computer, ad hoc, peer-to-peer network," explained Warren Allen, senior product planner for Toshiba's Irvine, California Computer Systems Group.
Looking to the future...
Beyond next year vendors are looking at unique features such as "heads up" displays, foldable screens, and solar-powered notebooks.
Developed by the U.S. Air Force for its jet fighter pilots, heads up displays project a screen image onto a user's glasses. Combined with wearable PCs hooked to belts, they could allow a truly mobile workforce.
Solar power is yet another mobile technology moving a bit closer to reality. Lightpoint Systems is currently developing solar technology for beepers, handheld PCs, and eventually notebooks, according to W. Parke Cole, company president.
Notebooks with solar panels incorporated on the back of the lid would generate 65 milliamps and run the hard disk or floppy drive, saving the main battery supply for running the system. The first products to use the technology will include Nokia smart phones, early in the first quarter of 2000.