Hmm - this should cause the shorties to work over time.
NY Times March 20 article: see below
March 20, 2000
PATENTS
A Computer Brain in Your Pocket
By SABRA CHARTRAND
f you could take the central processor out of your computer and slip it in your pocket, you might have the ultimate in portability: a lightweight, digital brain, full of memory, storage and processing power, that could be carried everywhere.
But in practice, all you would really have are dead chips and a tricky reinstallation problem -- unless a new patent belonging to Xybernaut Corp. becomes reality. Then all you would need to bring the processor to life would be electricity and a few pieces of hardware, like a monitor.
Xybernaut says those other pieces could be anywhere, any size, any configuration. You would simply slip the processor into place and connect it to external hardware and your computer would be with you once again.
The concept is similar to that of laptop computers that function with desktop docking stations, but in this case the portable unit is simply the brain of the computer.
So far, the inventors have not built even a prototype. But they predict that one day people will carry their computer core around and dock it with keyboards and monitors, televisions, cell phones and other types of electronic systems to turn them into functioning computers.
"As an analogy, General Motors makes a V-6 engine that gets inserted into different types of cars," said Michael Jenkins, vice president and chief technology officer of Xybernaut in Fairfax, Va. "The core computer is kind of like the engine inserted into a car, and the enclosure is the car body or model type the engine is put into. The core computer is a computing engine that has everything necessary to operate except a monitor and power source."
Xybernaut already holds several patents for wearable computers, and Jenkins said he hopes the first portable core will be available within two years. The patent covers a computer's "mobile core unit and an enclosure capable of enclosing and cooperating with the core unit." Although Jenkins said his company had not settled on a processing standard, the patent says the invention "has all of the components of a general purpose computer."
He said the core would cost less than $1,000 and come with 128 megabytes of RAM and two gigabytes of storage (though he acknowledges that those specifications could change quickly).
It would be smaller than current hand-held electronic organizers, with a connection port on one side to link it with hardware like a monitor, keyboard, mouse, serial or parallel ports, disk drive, speakers or printer. Otherwise the core would be sealed to prevent tampering.
It would be useful only after it is inserted into what Jenkins calls an enclosure.
"The enclosure carries all things intended to interface with the outside world," he explained. "You can have an enclosure like a desktop. Effectively it's a shell. You plug the core into it and it operates the way a desktop would operate if it had a processor."
So a day in the life of a future Xybernaut core owner might go something like this: He would pop his computer core into his laptop shell to work at home in the morning. As he commuted to work later, he could transfer the core to the dashboard of his car and dictate e-mail or receive directions from navigation software. If he rides the bus, he could attach the core to his cell phone and turn it into a computer. Then, once in the office, he would insert the core into his desktop shell.
"The difference is, I may have a 21-inch monitor at the office, a 15-inch monitor at home and a 6-inch monitor in the dash of my car," Jenkins said. "But it doesn't matter. We can start building enclosures specific to the applications or functions you want to achieve. You can now start to carry around your computing environment and have things just the way you like to see things operate.
"If I'm a fan of Windows NT, then I can have a core with Windows NT," he explained, "regardless of the device I plug it into, regardless of where I am."
Jenkins imagines that a Xybernaut core owner who travels on business might be able to plug the core into an electronic piece of furniture -- a digital end table, say.
"It tells the hotel what room temperature I like," he said, "and tells the hotel my schedule of meetings so the hotel can be proactive and ask if I want directions. This pops up on the TV screen. It knows I like Chinese food, so it gives me the names of Chinese restaurants in the area and rates them. It could manage all the things you're interested in but don't have the time or inclination to do yourself."
Jenkins acknowledged that a great deal of compatible hardware would have to be produced (like those end tables). In the meantime, he said, Xybernaut is discussing licensing arrangements with makers of desktop and laptop computers. He and his co-inventor, John Moynahan, received patent 6,029,183. |
