jkOnTheRun exclusive- details emerge about the DualCor cPC
The DualCor cPC has captured the imagination of technophiles and geeks since word of this unusual device was given by CNET this past week. The idea of having a handheld that can run Windows XP for normal computing tasks yet switch …
Context & Ripple Effects
Two days after CNET's first word of the DualCor cPC on December 16, 2005, jkOnTheRun is publishing exclusive detail on the same device — a handheld pitched as running full Windows XP yet switching into a phone-style mode. The sequencing matters: an enthusiast blog, not the startup itself, is becoming the primary channel for what the cPC actually is.
The story sits at the intersection of two 2005 currents: ultra-small x86-compatible hardware and the growing habit of gadget blogs breaking news that mainstream outlets like CNET seed and then chase.
First-order effects
- Buyer expectations for the cPC now form around jkOnTheRun's account rather than DualCor's own messaging, giving a small startup's unproven product early credibility — and early scrutiny — through an independent voice.
- Microsoft gains another datapoint for Windows XP being demanded on non-traditional small form factors, outside its usual laptop-and-desktop licensing lanes.
Second-order effects
- If the cPC ships as described, established handheld makers face pressure to explain why their devices need two products where one dual-mode machine claims to do both, forcing either competitive responses or dismissals they will be measured against.
Third-order effects
- The pattern — one pocketable device straddling phone and PC operating modes — points toward erosion of the boundary between handheld and computer categories, with the open question being whether startups like DualCor define it or incumbents absorb it.
The trend: Mobile hardware is converging toward single dual-mode devices that collapse the phone and PC categories, with enthusiast blogs increasingly setting the terms of how such hybrids are first understood.