No One Really Knows What the new Third Category of Device Might be

Over a year ago, Jeff Hawkins, Palm's co-founder, had made references to his company's plans to create a third product category that's neither a handheld nor a smartphone. We never heard more about this, although the rumors did fly. During an interview with PalmAddicts, Hawkins was asked about this mysterious category, and he responded by saying: We're going to be announcing something?but I won?t tell you what it is?we will be launching this year, not in the distant future. I?ll give you a much bigger hint: I?m going to be speaking at Walt Mossberg?s D Conference in May. It?s a high-end industry conference. Anyway, I?m going to be giving a talk there, and that would be something for the Palm fans to keep a close watch on. Hawkins gave no additional details. What Will This Mystery Device Be? In a 2005 interview with the Portland Business Journal, all Hawkins would say was: I always think of mobile computing as personal computing. This long-term vision has led us through everything -- first the organizers and now through the smart phone space. It's like everything a personal computer is. Continue down that path. What are the implications of a world where everyone has a super high-speed Internet connection in their pocket and many gigabytes of storage, super-fast processors, audio, visual and multimedia? What are the consequences of that? How will that change computing when you have all that stuff available to you all the time? I try to think into the future. That's how we come up with new products. So I'm not going to tell you what it is, but it's following the consequences of mobile computing.