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CES 2006:cPC Dualcor
A new ultraportable Windows XP notebook.
It looks like a PSP but this is Dualcor's cPC presented last week at the 2006 CES.
The cPC is a direct concurrent for the OQO.
Like the OQO, it is a Windows XP Tablet Edition 2005 notebook with an Intel-compatible CPU.
Like the OQO, it has been designed by a San Francisco startup.
Unlike the OQO, the cPC also integrates...a PDA operating system (Windows Mobile 5.0) running on a PDA CPU (Intel's Xscale).
In practice, both OS run at the same time and share the screen. You may switch from XP to Windows Mobile via a software button and the change happens instantaneously. If connected to an external display, you may run one OS on the external screen and another one on the on-board screen.
Impressive specifications:
-163 x 83 x 30 mm, 550 grams
-1.5GHz Via C7-M CPU (for Windows XP TabletPC Edition 2005)
-400MHz Intel XScale PXA263 CPU (for Windows Mobile 5.0)
-1GB of DDR2 RAM
-40GB hard drive (accessible by both OS. Seen as C: by XP, seen as a network drive by the PocketPC OS)
-1GB of NAND flash memory
-800x480 262k colours 5" touch-sensitive display made by LG
-data input via a stylus or the trackstick plus the mouse buttons on the front of the computer
-headset connector, stereo headphones connector
-Compact Flash type II slot
-mini VGA port (up to 1600x1200 external resolution), 3xUSB 2.0 ports
-speaker, microphone
-comes with a full-size stowaway keyboard (no built-in keyboard)
-adjustable display-angle docking system
-both OS share the same Microsoft Outlook repository (no sync needed)
-WiFi 54g
cPC running under Windows Mobile 5.0
Why two operating systems?
The concept behind the two OS is to spare a lot of power by switching as often as possible to Windows Mobile 5.0 and only using XP when it's really needed for full scale softwares. Running it as a PDA allows many more hours of battery-powered operations.
In order to increase the use of the PDA side of the cPC, the same MS Outlook repository can be accessed by MS Outlook and PocketOutlook, no sync should be needed. The user could read the incoming e-mails on the PDA and decide to go into XP only when he wants to perform extensive editing of a mail inside MS Outlook.
The 40GB hard drive (FAT32 formatted) is also shared. It is XP's main drive (C:) and the PDA-side will see it as a shared network drive.
The other advantage of integrating Windows Mobile 5.0 is to add mobile phone functions to the PDA in the future: the next model would eventually integrate 3G.
Other versions are on the design boards:
-a cheaper/thinner cPC using a single system-on-chip processor
-a larger cPC using a 7" display
cPC vs OQO
It is still too early to perform side-by-side comparisons between the cPC and the OQO Model 01+ but we can already point out the main differences:
power
The 1.5GHz Via C7-M will perform faster than the OQO's 1GHz Transmeta Crusoe 5800 CPU. Especially with 1GB RAM available while only 512MB are fitted into the latest OQO.
size & weight
At 550 grams, the cPC is 40% heavier than the OQO. It's also 3cm thick and 16cm wide. That's a noticeable volume while the OQO is closer in size to a PDA.
keyboard
The cPC comes with a detachable stowaway keyboard but no built-in keyboard. Therefore it relies on the handwriting capabilities of Windows Mobile and XP TabletPC Edition.
The OQO has a built-in mini qwerty keyboard, complete with numeric keypad, that slides under its screen
power comsumption
The cPC's dual OS offers interesting possibilities for power saving which allow it to run a full working day on a single battery but only if using it as a PDA most of the time and booting XP only when the PDA OS is not enough.
The OQO can be used for 2-3 hours on a single battery, running XP.
This figure depends on the intensive use or not of the web via WiFi or Bluetooth connections.
The OQO can also be set to hibernate mode , i.e. by programming its power button to trigger the hibernate mode, and back to full operating mode quite fast in +/- 10 seconds, a near-PDA behaviour.
price
The cPC will cost around USD1500 (+sales tax), not cheap but comparable to the OQO.
The best mix? Future will tell
The cPC is the most powerful PC of the sub-7" category. Having a dual CPU system in order to extend the computer's autonomy is an innovative feature.
The future addition of a 3G model will be extremely important for the cPC's success.
The main drawbacks are the size of the cPC and the fact that, as you keep integrating systems, the obsolescence of one sub-system may turn the whole machine obsolete. This will be crucial once the next cPC integrates 3G: what will happen if you wish to switch from 3G to Wimax? Only using an external Wimax phone as modem will do.
The alternatives: 3G smartphone/PDA/modem & OQO or the cPC PDA/PC
On the other hand, the OQO's very small footprint makes it the most pocketable option and it's possible to surf right now via a 3G phone used as a Bluetooth modem. Do you need to drop 3G in favour of Wimax? Change the smartphone/modem and keep the OQO. It's also a less bulky solution.
But it's a significantly slower PC.
Different solutions for different targets:
Buyers looking for the smallest possible XP notebook, wishing to have all their documents with them all the time and eventually using 3G right now via a cell-phone's modem would be looking twice at the OQO.
Those needing a very small powerful machine for Powerpoint presentations or specialized uses like outdoor scientific data gathering or computation will be very interested byt the cPC.
The cPC should be available in March '06. Watch this space!
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