Technologies highlight for 2008

Ultra mobile PC will be something to watch out for in 2008, at least that is what BBC sources predicted. Yay! That's good news for me - meaning, UMPC will get cheaper (will it?). There are in fact five technologies that may push forward during 2008. Google's Gear or Microsoft's Silvelight - all about web-to-go. How many times are we dampened when we are on the go, without the ability to surf the web. Though wi-fi is prevalent, it's not all and everywhere free at the moment. Well, 3G might be something to look out for too, if you ask me. But back to web-to-go, it's more about allowing work to be done on web applications and functionality offline - technologies able to take rich web content and make it available offline. Of course, 2008 may also see high speed broadband over long distances (WiMax) take off. With mobility, sees VOIP in the mobile arena too. Using your smart phones and UMPC for VOIP. IPTV - just maybe. It seems that the telephone and the television will breakthrough into the internet arena but which first, we shall see.

Partial sources: BBC

Ultra mobile PC - UMPC

I blogged about hubby wanting to get that HTC before. It was a HTC TyTNII he wanted. However, when we returned to Singapore last week, he got himself a HTC Touch. HTC TyTNII has more functions such as 3G+wi-fi and GPS that the Touch does not have, but hubby said he would not be need these functions at the moment anyway - and so he opted for the cheaper gadget that has functions such as wi-fi. The difference in price is almost SGD500! TyTNII about $1200 while the HTC Touch was about $500. I was tempted but I am still thinking if I should get a UMPC instead. Hmmm.....I don't think either the Touch or TyTNII would be blogger-friendly - well, I need to be quick and fast in incorporating photos in my blog + writing. Now, Asus Eee PC or KOHJINSHA UMPC? Asus Eee PC is about SGD$598 - almost half the price of KOHJINSHA or more than half the price of Fujitsu UMPC. The catch - the Asus Eee PC runs on Linux and not the typical Windows OS that I am used to. Thinking...thinking...thinking....

Anyway, the Asus Eee PC is out of stock from some stores based in Funan. According to store owners, Asus Eee PC usually runs out of stock two weeks after stock is replenished. Now, does this spell something good? :P

More thinking now...since I'm back in Taiwan again and won't be getting THE UMPC that I want. But I'm quite sure I want a UMPC rather than a PDA phone. A UMPC that fits into my handbag!