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Ultramobile PC display takes cue from portable DVD player

Tom Krazit Former Staff writer, CNET News
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Google, as the most prominent company on the Internet defends its search juggernaut while expanding into nearly anything it thinks possible. He has previously written about Apple, the traditional PC industry, and chip companies. E-mail Tom.
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Tom Krazit

SAN DIEGO--Wondering if the world is ready for the ultramobile PC? The demand for portable DVD players might provide a clue.

Microsoft and Intel are promoting the Origami/ultramobile PC device as a multimedia powerhouse that's small enough to cart around. Early protoypes use 7-inch displays, which are the preferred size for portable DVD players, said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis with NPD TechWorld, at the 2006 DisplaySearch conference.

The ultramobile PC may have its problems, but watching a movie on the device shouldn't be one of them, Baker said. Portable DVD player sales are growing steadily as the cost of building a 7-inch display declined about 50 percent last year. Portable DVD player sales aren't far behind notebook PCs in U.S. retail stores, he said.

"Consumers have said, '7-inch is something I can watch a movie on,'" Baker said.

Baker counts himself among the skeptics of the ultramobile PC, saying it has been introduced with poor battery life specifications and before the content-distribution companies have figured out how to approach the market. But a full-fledged mini-PC that can do more than just play movies should appeal to people who were buying portable DVD players, once the content industry gets its act together, he said.