The part which caught my eye, unsuprisingly, is that the BBC lists Ultra Mobile PCs as number two on its list! The writer makes some fair points about several devices over the years failing to “fill the role between a PDA and a full-blown laptop” but goes on to say that devices such as the Asus EEE have caught people’s imagination like never before.
The BBC also make the good point that falling prices of SSDs are likely to push forward the UMPC genre.
Top of the BBC’s list is “The Web to Go” which focuses on taking online applications and making them available offline, such as Google’s Gears software which allows users to use services like the Zoho Office package without being connected to the internet.
That’s interesting stuff and I will be watching this area with interest. Perhaps 2008 is the year that I will do without Microsoft Word on my UMPC.
Continuing the mobile theme WiMAX and Mobile VoIP are 4 and 5 on the BBC’s list. If they’re right, this is going to be a fantastic year for the mobile worker. Armed with a UMPC, Web on the Go, Mobile VoIP and a WiMAX connection we’ll be good to go! And what can we do with our new found portability and fast connectivity…perhaps we can use the only remaining item on the BBCs list. That’s item 3; IPTV!
