0Q0 gets more funding, but is its device ready to help defend us?
San Francisco's OQ0, maker of a micro-sized Windows personal computer (click on image to enlarge), said it has raised $20 million more in venture capital funding. But question is, has its latest computer improved any since our colleague Mike Langberg slammed the original version last year after its much delayed release? And should it be used for our national defense?
If you see the specs on the newest version of the device, called the "01+," there are a few things that stay the same as...
the original "01". It still has a tiny screen, with a 800 X 480 pixel display, tiny keyboard, weak 1GH processor, and still priced at $1,899, all of which Langberg said were reasons the device didn't measure up. Back then, a year ago, he called it "unusable, overpriced and underpowered." OQO has upgraded a few features, such as doubling the RAM to 512MB. But coming a year after its original version, you'd sort of expect that. So we'll be interested in hearing what Langberg has to say.
Noteworthy, too, is the company's customer base. If it is as bad as Langberg warns us it is, should we be concerned that the nation's governmental agencies that are among those showing the greatest interest for this product, and that it is already a "key component" being used for national security projects?
Indeed, this latest round of financing was led by the Washington D.C.-based Paladin Capital Group, which specializes in defense investments. According to the release: "Paladin invests in companies that can play an important role in protecting the nation's critical infrastructure with a focus on companies whose solutions are capable of having an immediate impact. The firm's management includes the former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the former Director of the National Security Agency (NSA), and the former Deputy Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Paladin Principal Niloo Howe, who will join the OQO Board of Directors, commented, 'as the only pocketable fully functional Windows XP PC on the market, the OQO ultra personal computer is already a key component in a variety of Homeland Security projects. We see tremendous potential for OQO in the government sector, in addition to the broader enterprise market.'
Though we should point out, OQO has a nice little quote from the omnipresent Rob Enderle, Principal Analyst for the Enderle Group, in its press release announcing the "01+." Enderle says: "The OQO remains one of the most unique personal computers on the market and is proving to be valuable in industries such as healthcare and public safety...In a world of otherwise similar products the OQO stands out as unique, amazing, and incredibly useful". That's quite an endorsement, but a bit different from our own Langberg's view. Hmmm.
http://www.siliconbeat.com/cgi-bin/mt331/mt-tb.cgi/890
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> our colleague Mike Langberg slammed the
> original version
Having just read Mr. Landberg's original review, it strikes me that he probably isn't part of the target market for a device like this. Does it surprise him that there are some ease-of-use issues in a tiny computer? Is he not equally bothered on a "regular" computer by apps that require one to constantly move his hands from the keyboard to the mouse? Did he explore whether the browser supported dynamic font sizing to make the text more readable? For my own part I was not surprised in the least by any of the shortcomings he enumerates. Seems to me this is just the price one pays for a fully functional computer that fits in ones pocket.
> OQO has a nice little quote from the
> omnipresent Rob Enderle
No reasonably well-versed person should be at all surprised that an infamous Microsoft flack approves of a rather unique device that sells more Microsoft products.
> should it be used for our national defense?
IMHO no device that runs a Microsoft operating system should be used for our national defense. But the fact that DHS is using the device does not necessarily imply that it is being used in situations that would require a high degree of security. Even if it were, it would be no more or less secure than a full-sized computer running the same OS or applications.
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meanwhile:
and
http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news.php?newsId=1972
$20M buys a lot of $100 laptops.
venturecapitalcrimes on November 17, 2005 9:48 AMComment link
