One of the “lighter” sessions at TechEd 09 was based around the changes and future of mobile PCs. The session covered the past, present and future of mobile computing – the definition of mobile computing here being anything capable of running a desktop operating system (i.e. not a phone or PDA).
The Past
The session covered the history of mobile computing beginning with the 
Osborne 1 in 1981, and moving to the last decade where laptops consisted of 25% of all PC sales in 2000 and outsold desktops in 2003. It covered some of the attempts of more portable computers in the past, and why they had failed, the reasons being:
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- The input methods were ambiguous. Some of the devices needed a stylus and had a keyboard, some required a stylus and had no keyboard. Some only had a keyboard, and some had a split keyboard. Some of the devices had just a touch screen. This left users losing confidence on their ability to use the devices.
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- Brightness of the screen. As these devices were portable, people started using them outside and viewing the screen became difficult.
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- Battery Life. The battery life in the past was poor and this meant people ended up tethered to power sockets.
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- Heat. A lot of the devices managed heat poorly causing them to get dangerously hot and have high failure rates.
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- Weight. Obviously this was, and still is, a big concern for portable computers.
The Present
The session then discussed the current technologies, and outlined some of the new features that Windows 7 introduces including multi touch (as seen on the 
HP Touchsmart), improvements on the tablet input panels and the ability for OneNote to search handwriting. We were also shown some of the more successful portable devices on the market currently such as the Viliv S5 and S7 and the Gigabyte Touchnote along with the myriad of NetBooks now on the market.
The Future
Moving to the future, some very interesting developments were previewed. Some of these were obviously quite a way out, and others here already. Some of the videos got the imagination going though! Here is a selection of the technologies discussed: