Sep 19, 2008

Tech - Now,a ladies purse-sized PC

HONG KONG: A couple of days ago, Hewlett Packard unveiled an ultra small notebook PC, encased in a gleaming red peony flower pattern that was specially created by New York-based China-born designer Vivienne Tam.

While the company was not ready to reveal the specifications of the machine that will be in stores later this year, it was sized like an average ladies purse. It fell in the category of the ultra mobile PC (UMPC), which typically sports a 7-inch screen and is likely fuelled by Intel’s new chip for mobile Internet devices, the Atom – or one of its upcoming competitors.

“The notebook PC is a true reflection of the needs of a modern woman, who cares about fashion but is also passionate about her technology,” Ms. Tam said. She wanted to create a PC notebook that would appeal to women of all ages, ethnicities and income levels across the globe.

Inspired by the designer’s signature “China Chic” style, the PC comes with an embroidered protective sleeve and the peony motif spills inside all over the keyboard.

The Asia-Pacific head of the Personal Systems Group for HP confessed to a blinding flash of knowledge: “I realised almost half the world’s people were women,” See Chin Teik said at the company’s annual media and analyst showcase here.

More pertinently, 58 per cent of online shoppers were also women. Going beyond a PC as a bold fashion statement and accessory, HP has in other ways too woken up to the importance of packaging: The just-launched range of entertainment notebook PCs are offered in a suite of what it calls “Imprints” – swirling colours and designs, which one can match to the design of a Photosmart multi-function printer. Beneath the “cool” cover, lies the notebook.

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