Microsoft Corp. gave a behind-the-scenes peek Wednesday at technologies the software company is looking to include in future versions of Windows designed for mobile PCs. Darin Fish, business development manager within Microsoft"s Mobile Platforms Division, described the disclosure as a "work in progress." Fish said "no final decision" has been made whether there will be a mobile version of Longhorn, Microsoft"s next-generation operating system, or whether the technology will simply be part of the company"s Tablet Edition OS.
Fish hinted, however, that the capabilities of the tablet and notebook PC would converge, however. In 2004 and 2005, for example, so-called "pen and ink" (also called "electronic ink") technologies would become prevalent in both notebook and tablet PCs. "Do they buy a Tablet PC or this other notebook PC?" Fish asked. "You don"t make that tradeoff. You buy this great notebook PC with pen and ink," using it as a notebook PC with a keyboard where appropriate, then swiveling the display and writing on it with a stylus in other situations, he said. The Acer C100 family, for example, can be used as a "convertible" Tablet PC. The line has already become blurred by some market analysts. Gartner Inc., for example, has estimated that 47 million "mobile PCs" will be sold in 2004, rising to 71 million by 2007.