Out of the Box

Those who say that desktop operating systems are irrelevant because the Internet is the center of the computing universe are too reductive (Using Ubuntu much, Mike?). Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo is, for the foreseeable future, more of a tactical move within the fast-growing and high-stakes online advertising battle vs. Google rather than some panacea.

That said, the other day I noticed that, of the 20 applications in my Start menu, I use 14 to interact with content over a local network or the Internet. The 14 are Internet Explorer and Outlook, Firefox, TiVo Desktop, Trillian, SlingPlayer, iTunes (where I regularly browse the store), Windows Live Writer, Slacker, Twhirl, XDrive Desktop, and VPN, wireless broadband and Wi-Fi utilities, Almost all of them are either available for the Mac or have quality Mac equivalents.

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Earlier this week, I got some brief hands-on time with the HP Mini-Note. While I only typed on it for a minute or two, I came away impressed. Without question, the keyboard is a highlight of the product. It feels more than generous at 92 percent of full size. And with its flat profile and thin gaps between keys, it may be best-looking keyboards on any computer.

In fact, HP definitely has an opportunity to either shrink the keys or expand the screen to 10″ as I was surprised at how small the 9-incher seemed. The bezel, while not as big as that on the 7-inch Eee, still looks abnormally large. Also, while the screen resolution on the Mini-Note is very high for a nine-inch screen. I’ve seen some reviewers say that text is too small to read. It’s definitely small, but I wasn’t squinting. Perhaps I would on some Web pages.

While the Mini-Note is only a bit more than an inch thick, its small footprint makes it look a bit chunky. And of course the entire profile is ruined if you add HP’s extended battery, which adds what I call “the goiter effect.” Finally, while the side-mounted trackpad buttons were in an unfamiliar position at first and could turn off some prospects at first glance, using them didn’t seem awkward. I can see a lot of students falling in love with this little guy.

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HP’s much-heralded Mini-note has finally arrived and to favorable reviews.  CRN calls it “a real winner” and says that “the quality and finish is outstanding.” James Kendrick now questions whether his Fujitsu Tablet PC is worth its 3x price premium over the Mini-Note. While I’m no Tablet PC fan, I like the Fujitsu P-series and form factor, and the company will certainly feel more heat in its niche as other notebook heavyweights move in.

This segment will represent a test for Dell, which seems prepared to enter this space before the end of the year. Dell has done well in the education market (for which the Mini-Note was especially designed) with its aggressive pricing while trying to improve its design perceptions particularly as it has moved more aggressively into the hands-on world of retail. It will be challenging for Dell to lowball HP while live up to the 2133’s design expectation.

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The Asus Eee was noteworthy for its small size and low price, but it overshot on the former and underperformed on the latter. Originally designed to hit a $199 price point and bring an OLPC-like proposition to a wider audience, the first products retailed for twice that amount. Meanwhile, the 7″ screen, which helped the device reach its low price, proved cramped even for the Linux installation shipped by default.

(Note to companies playing in this space: if you want to reach a lower price point by shipping Linux on a 7-inch screen, take advantage of open source and invest some time in tailoring the applications for a smaller-screen experience. Simplify the user interfaces or buy or develop your own. Think Nokia Internet Tablet.)

In any case, Asus (and others) have clearly recognized that a couple of more diagonal inches can make a world of difference in the user experience. Including Windows for a premium will represent greater competition with budget laptops that typically have larger screens. Even at a higher price, these notebooks are more likely to open up the market for ultraportables, which are currently a very small part of the U.S. market, then set off a race to the bottom. It’s not cheap enough to be a second or third PC for many, but neither is the Eee at $400.

In terms of Asus’ planned revamp, it’s adding potential features that are starting to detract from its “volksbook” proposition. I’m less bullish on the addition of a touch screen and GPS to the Eee, although multi-touch gestures would be welcome addition (if a bit cramped on its small trackpad).

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It’s no surprise that Sony charging $50 to remove trialware from its PCs has gone over like a lead ultraportable. Sony is merely passing along the lost revenue from deals it would ordinarily strike with these providers of software and services. Still, making the tradeoff so explicit is tantamount to admitting that, not only is there no user benefit to these programs, but there is a price on the penalty of having them.

Also, one must question how receptive consumers will be to offers that they absolutely did not want on their PCs, but for which they didn’t want to pay the equivalent of five percent or more of the notebook value. Even at a lower price ($20), Sony would gather far more consumers opting in. It is a thorny time for trialware with Vista’s beefier requirements already making consumers more wary of performance slowdowns. And ultimately, it is in Sony’s interest to have more consumers who are delighted with their notebook experience. Competitive pressure may force its hand toward that.

Update: Reversed. Blogosphere outrage FTW!

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Over at Crave, Erica Ogg notes the concern by Mike Abarry, who runs Sony’s U.S. Vaio group, about the threat of the Asus Eee, which sells for a fraction of the price of the average notebook sold in the U.S. Mike’s comments led to a broader discussion of that historically hazy device segment that fits between smartphones and laptops both in form and function. It’s also worth noting that he didn’t think the impact of cheap ultraportables would be so disastrous if they were used as secondary PCs.

In either case, I think he has little to fear from the Eee despite its initial success. Many of the early reviews of the Eee were enamored with its simple "big button" tabs, but not surprisingly you need to dig beyond that into a fairly unfriendly file manager even to move files to a flash drive. The 7" screen simply isn’t large enough to handle Web browsing or other tasks comfortably.

I see a bifurcation coming to this emerging area of inexpensive, touch-typable clamshells — computing appliances that will sell for less than $500 and function as PC complements and inexpensive ultraportable notebook PCs that sell for more. The latter class has more disruption potential for today’s notebook PC market, but really in terms of vying for dollars from other entry-level configurations with larger screens. The Eee has straddled the middle — a viable position for a category pioneer, but the heat will be turned up if HP brings the 2133 into consumer markets. Of course, cheaper wireless broadband would help both classes.

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in December, I wrote that HP was the most likely of all major PC vendors to respond to the ASUS Eee PC ultraportable notebook given its history with mobile devices such as the old 95LX and Jornada series. The detailed screen shots and specifications of the HP/Compaq 2133 have made it the device that is receiving the most Web traffic at UMPC Portal.

On paper, the 2133 looks just about perfect, addressing the screen resolution and keyboard imitations of the Eee. The trackpad buttons may be unusually placed, but they can’t be much worse than the Eee’s stealth two-button trackpad. And, look, it can balance on its corner defying the laws of physics — that’s gotta count for something. Of course, key details such as price, processor speed, memory/hard drive configuration and battery life have yet to be divulged, Rumor has it that HP will price the 2133 at a point where it is practically an impule buy, but here’s my E-Z guide to determining its potential based on price for a usable configuration:

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Ryan Block has posted about his experiences with a  shipping Optimus Maxmus and comes away frustrated by its lack of practicality. I’d gotten hands on myself late last year at the Wired Store 2008 on Greene Street . It offered a chance to compare Guitar Hero III and Rock Band head-to-head, see how well you like your Lenovo in leather, and even pick up a few free magazines.. Probably the most disappointing product I saw there was the Epson MovieMate projector with integrated DVD that was in a tiny home theater area. the speakers sounded hollow even in the small room they were set up in.

The Optimus Maximus struck me as a tank with disco lights. I too found it hard to type on but chalked it up to it being a pre-production version. Apparently, that wasn’t the cause.

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I was a fan of of the early Adesso keyboards that brought the original Microsoft “ergonomic” split-keyboard design to the Mac. Back then, the company had only a few products, but lately its gotten into all kinds of input devices, including the CyberPad A4, which uses ink capture technology that I’ve found works well on similar products.

So, I was curious to try its combo mouse and keypad, which looked similar to a product I’d read about in mid-’07. At least it looked less awkward if less functional than one full-on calculator alternative and more aesthetically inviting than another.

Unfortunately, this keypad-mouse was disappointing. Accommodating the keypad makes it huge and it didn’t move well on a glass surface. The keypad, while a little small, is fine. And the double-wide scroll wheel works OK, but it doesn’t tilt. Also, I’d like to see the cord cut, maybe with a Bluetooth version. All in all, it’s better to go with a separate keypad unless your laptop has only one USB port.

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Lifehacker has an update to its story about installing Mac OS X on a PC, creating what it calls a Hackintosh. Apple frowns on such a practice. Its tight control of hardware is part of what enables it to advance the platform with greater agility than Microsoft.

Comments to the story report generally good success with the hack. One commenter notes that he would use the technique to test-drive Mac OS X before buying a Mac.

With Apple taking the offensive against Vista, it might further entice Windows users to switch by allowing them to trial Mac OS X without having to buy into the hardware first. Like many Linux installation CDs, the Leopard trial DVD could run from the disc but not allow any modifications to the hard drive or allow consumers to save files.

On the other hand, there might of course be driver issues as well as sluggish performance coming off the DVD drive and the last thing Apple wants to convey to Windows users is a slow, unreliable experience. Insert your Microsoft OS joke here.

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