Start-up merges cell phone and PC into a handheld
It's a cell phone. It's a computer. It's the two invaluable companions of the modern executive in one. — DualCor Technologies next month will unveil the cPC, a full-fledged handheld Windows XP computer that also comes with a built-in smart phone that runs Windows Mobile 5.0.
Context & Ripple Effects
DualCor Technologies, a start-up with no prior footprint in this corpus, is preparing a January 2006 unveiling of the cPC, pitched directly at the executive who carries two devices: a full-fledged handheld running desktop Windows XP alongside a built-in smart phone on Windows Mobile 5.0.
The pitch is convergence at the hardware level rather than through a dock or accessory — both operating systems ship in one chassis. If the device ships as described, Microsoft is positioned to collect on both sides of the split, licensing Windows XP and Windows Mobile 5.0 into the same product.
First-order effects
- DualCor enters the handheld market with a device that lets a buyer replace a separate ultra-portable PC and a smart phone with one unit, putting its fortunes entirely on whether executives accept the weight-and-price trade of a dual-OS handheld.
Second-order effects
- Microsoft gains an unusual proof point: a single device demonstrating that desktop Windows XP can run in a pocketable form factor alongside Windows Mobile 5.0, strengthening the case that phone-class hardware need not be limited to phone-class operating systems.
Third-order effects
- If buyers accept converged dual-function handhelds, device makers face a structural question — whether the phone OS or the desktop OS should anchor the next generation of business devices — a line Microsoft itself has an interest in keeping deliberately blurred.
The trend: Handheld computing is moving toward single devices that collapse the PC and cell phone into one chassis, with operating-system choice becoming the battleground between desktop and mobile platforms.