FlipStart: Honey, I Shrunk the PC

What's smaller than a saucer, weighs about as much as a pound of feathers, and puts the power of a full Windows PC in your hand? It's the FlipStart PC, an ultra-ultra mobile Windows PC developed by Microsoft co-founder,Paul Allen's company, Vulcan, Inc. Vulcan is one of a number of players looking to get a toehold in the emerging ultra mobile PC market.

The new ultra mobile PCs will, each in varying degrees, offer portability, communications, office functionality, and multimedia. Unlike most others, the FlipStart has a familiar clamshell design. Psychologically, this notebook feels comfortable and familiar, just shrunken. It could be starring in "Honey, I Shrunk the PC." It can run Windows XP or Vista and can be connected via LAN, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or WAN (using the Sprint PC network). It's got an integrated camera and is powered by the Intel M mobile processor.

Part of the innovation in the design is something called an InfoPane, a low power display that operates even when the PC device is closed. So it's a PC that can act like a PDA to give you quick access to information like calendar and contacts.

The keyboard also has quick navigation keys for easy access to common apps and nine levels of zoom to help you read more easily. Vulcan touts what they call situational relevance—the notion that a PC should change functionality to adopt to a variety of mobile situations (standing, sitting, office, etc.). The FlipStart is available from Dynamism for $1,999. (Small packages do not come cheap.)

When it was first introduced in 2004, the FlipStart caused a great stir. In the three years that it took to get the product to market tiny PCs the competition is heating up. FlipStart alternatives include the OQO, Sony VAIO UX (with videoconferencing built in), Samsung's NP-Q1 (a handheld portable with good multimedia access), and Asus R2H. Devices like the iPhone and Nokia 800 take a more phone/Internet-centric approach to ultra mobility. And units like the Archos 704 Wi-Fi, optimized for the multimedia web.

In a nutshell, we're starting to see enough ultra mobile PC devices (UMPCs) on the market to break them into three broad categories: PC replacements for mobile workers, multimedia machines, and Internet surfing/phone replacements. The FlipStart sounds pretty darn good to me, but I'd love to hear about the kind of ultra portable device you'll be carrying in your pocket.