Notebook-style mobile devices based on Microsoft's Windows CE operating system could make a return to the mass market courtesy of Hewlett-Packard. Speaking with ComputerWire on a recent visit to HP's Office of Strategy and Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, center director Niklas Johnsson said it was possible that HP would re-introduce such a device into its range as a result of changing market forces and the greater ease of adapting Microsoft's latest mobile operating systems to devices of different form factors.
Today, only a few companies still sell Microsoft-powered machines in the same general form factor. These include NEC (MobilePro 900c), Psion Teklogix (NetBook Pro), and little-known Chinese manufacturer Zupera Technology (SmartBook). In mid-2002, HP introduced its final device based on Microsoft's Handheld PC 2000 platform, the Jornada 728. However, notebook-type mobile devices had already fallen from favour by this time with the rise of more portable tablet-style handhelds from Palm and various Microsoft licensees, most notably Compaq's iPaq range.
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News source: The Reg
