HP: What your home office will look like in 2012

HP has unveiled its vision of the future in a travelling roadshow which offers a glimpse into the technologies we will be using in five years time.

At the centre of HP's dream is the Personal Wireless Hub, which is a device you carry around with you and is designed to connect all of your wireless activities -- from your home Internet connection to your mobile. It's part-Bluetooth headset/part-personal router, and will come as either a watch or some other small device you carry in your pocket.

The other devices on display all fed information from this hub and included lightweight tablets, foldable digital paper and even a coffee table that doubles as a display.

Phil Devlin, HP's Asia-Pacific product marketing manager for mobile systems, showcased the future technologies last week at Home nightclub in Sydney.

Paul Robson, group manager of product marketing for HP's personal systems group, opens the showcase with a look at HP's past inventions, including the first scientific calculator and the iPAQ.

Surrounded by silvery bodyguards, "Neo" (HP's Phil Devlin) talks up the future of networking and personal devices.

HP's Personal Wireless Hub is designed to act as a centralised router for all your wireless needs, and will adapt to your surroundings from work to home -- it will also tell the time.

Though the Personal Wireless Hub could be a watch, Phil Devlin said it could also take the form of any portable item.

The Coffee Table of Dreams: slot your PDA, tablet or notebook into the wireless dock and play checkers or even read the newspaper on the tabletop -- all through the power of touch.

Notebooks of the future will have translucent screens and laser keyboards which, according to HP, will make them more "inclusive" and portable.

HP's tablet is a "thin client" which streams information via your Personal Hub, and is also incredibly lightweight.

Digital ink in a new form -- using a laser projector you are able to write directly on the tabletop, and the projector will display your maddened scribblings in laser form. All text will then be transmitted to your laptop or tablet.

Phil Devlin displays the flexible media mat, which connects to your network via the wireless hub.

The rollable -- though not yet foldable by 2012 -- HP Media Mat.

Your digital wallet will enable moneyless transactions via RFID, and also allow you to write your shopping list in advance.

At the end of the day, plonk your Personal Wireless Hub down on this wireless recharge shelf which will replenish your watch's battery by inductive technology.