OQO: Too Little, Too Late

A few years back, the handheld world was alive with rumors of a magical device. "It's a full Windows computer in the form factor of a PDA!" "It runs for 8 hours on a single battery, but is more powerful than the average Windows laptop!" "It can make toast, butter it, and apply the peanut butter if needed!" Well, this device - long considered vaporware for its long pause until appearance - has finally been shown at CeBit: OQO. PocketPC Thoughts has gotten their hands on a prerelease model and has posted their own thoughts on the once-gushed-over device.





The gist of the review is that while the idea was revolutionary, the implementation is very much evolutionary. The keyboard is your typical thumbboard, the battery life is about 2 hours (like a typical laptop), and the form factor is very much like a small tablet pc. The OQO may hit the sweet spot for a few on-the-go professionals, but for the rest of us the almost-$2000 price tag will push us towards either a PDA or a small laptop to fill the needs OQO might tempt us for. Too bad. A year ago, it might have been the "next big thing."