Will the new Microsoft mini PC take over from MP3 players and mobile phones?
As the new Microsoft mini PC hits the market should MP3 player and mobile phone makers be afraid of losing the market?
The new mini PC from Microsoft, nicknamed “origami” for now was shown off at a technology trade show in Germany on 9 th March '06. The end-product name for the computer has not yet been finalised, as “origami” is a nickname used by engineers during it's development. The new computer is due to hit the shelves in April, and is expected to rival apple Mac's IPod amongst other things.
The new computer is a hand held PC in the similar shape of Sony's P2P games console. The PC is as powerful as a desktop PC, with a whopping 60 gig hard drive. It has an 18cm touch-screen, and is 1.5cm thick and weighs around 1 Kg. Running a full version of windows XP this computer will have all the media capabilities of your home PC: therefore this new gadget will be able to run your favourite media player for games; as well as movies.
The PC also has connection capabilities for keyboards, digital cameras, and mobile phones; leaving the speculation: how long before the mini PC and Skype ( http://www. skype .com ) rival mobile phones too. The question here may be: will the big phone companies like Sony Ericsson ( http://www.sonyericsson.com ) give Microsoft the reign to enter their marketplace. With Microsoft being such a major conglomerate surely the big phone companies will do everything in their capability to keep their market Microsoft free.
With this new ultra high tech piece of machinery Microsoft are also set to make a serious challenge to the PC market. This brilliant strategy by Microsoft allows Microsoft to hit three of the world's biggest markets (PCs, mobile phones and MP3 players) in one foul swoop.
Can anyone stop Microsoft? The only company I can see making any challenge to Microsoft at the moment is Google – will we become a two company controlled world in the future – let's hope not…
