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Originally published on 02/18/2002
At Demo 2002 in Phoenix last week, IBM Research showed off the Meta Pad, an interesting modular computer. It's a small, 9-ounce box with PC guts (no screen or keyboard) that IBM envisions being shuttled between docks at home and office, or plugged in to a small touch-sensitive screen to serve as a handheld. While this concept solves the desktop/laptop synchronization problem by replacing two PCs with one, it's also a completely new model for mobile computing, and IBM has no plans to take this experiment to market.
Then there's IXI Mobile, which has a different modular concept. IXI's core product is an Altoids-tin-sized, featureless box that contains a small computer, a cellular phone/modem, a Bluetooth transmitter/receiver, and batteries. Through the Bluetooth connection, your other electronic devices (phone handset, PDA, watch, camera) use the box for computing, data sharing, and communicating over the cellular network.
Devices connected to the IXI core can be very small and low-powered -- basically just input/output devices with Bluetooth radios. The prototype products I saw (the core, a phone, and a PDA) were small and gorgeous. The keyboard-and-screen PDA unit was much easier to pocket than any existing keyboard-equipped device, including Danger's (IXI is "in discussions" with this company).
There's a lot to be said for off-loading the expensive and power-hungry cellular connection from the handset, especially since devices other than phones should be able to use such a connection. However, as with the Meta Pad, IXI is based on an unproven usability concept, so marketing and user education will be a big challenge. And a two-box cell phone makes one more thing to forget to grab when you're leaving the house.
IXI has raised $12.5 million; Draper Fisher Jurvetson is a key investor.
- Rafe Needleman
email: rafe-needleman@catchoday.com
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