10/14/2020
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`Pen Computing Magazine: A detailed look at Microsoft's Tablet PC project
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`THE MICROSOFT TABLET PC
`
`A detailed look at Microsoft's proposed Tablet PC (July 2001issue)
`
`Flashback to 1992-1993: The pen computercrazeis at its height. GRID, NEC, Momenta, NCR, Compaq, Samsung, Toshiba,
`IBM, Dauphin and others are all marketing pen computers running Pen Windows. Thetarget is the consumer, and the hype
`saysthat the pen will largely replace the keyboard.
`
`(CPU)--more on eachoftheselater.
`
`Flashforward to 2001-2002: Is it going to happenall over again?It lookslike it might. Microsoft is in the process of defining
`the Microsoft Tablet PC platform hardware specification, along with a pen-interface layer that will sit on top of Windows XP
`Professional. Theinitial target is corporate users, "knowledge workers with a productivity focus." Five big OEMs have signed
`up to build Tablet PC products. Microsoft is starting to crank up the hype engine, but so far the mediais resisting.
`
`History
`
`In August 1999, when Microsoft announced ClearType, they also announcedthat they plannedto create their own tablet "for
`computing, communicating and reading electronic books." To bolster the project, Microsoft brought in (among others) Chuck
`Thacker, a legendary computerinnovator. While at Xerox PARC, Chuck wasthe chief designer onAlto, the first personal
`computerto use a bit-mapped display and mousefor userinterface. Mr. Thackeris also the co-inventor of the Ethernet local
`area network. His currenttitle at Microsoft is "Distinguished Engineer, Emerging Technologies Group." Clearly there's a
`heavyhitter at the core of this project!
`
`In June 2000, Bill Gates demonstrated the very first prototype of the Tablet PC during the unveiling of Microsoft's .Net
`strategy. However,as it was such aninsignificant part of the overall presentation, it received essentially zero press coverage.
`
`Next, during his Comdex keynote in November 2000, Gates demonstrated an ID-enhanced
`prototype of the Tablet PC (beneath the dolled-up housing, the hardware wasbasically the
`sameasit was in June). Gates positioned the productas "a full-function Microsoft Windows
`operating system-based PCincorporating the convenientandintuitive aspects of pencil and
`paperinto the PC experience." What aggravated a lot of people in the pen computer
`business(including Pen Computing's editor Conrad Blickenstorfer--see his editorial in the
`March 2001 issue) was that Gates presented the Tablet PC asif it was a brand-new
`concept. It wasasif the last 10 years of the pen computing business had neverexisted.
`
`Press and analyst reaction to Gates' Comdex demowasnotvery positive. Largely it boiled
`downto "beenthere, tried that, need a keyboard." In a column written for ZDNet news
`(extracted and summarized below), John G. Spooneroffered the opinion that for the Tablet
`PC to be successful, it would have to offer substantially more than today's notebooks:
`
`
`
`"Hopefully the Tablet PC will offer a multi-modal user interface that combines input from
`voice recognition and handwriting recognition with the option for a keyboard and mouse. If the Tablet PC is the device that
`SS the "knowledge worker"will be carrying around in 2003, it must be significantly different from my IBM ThinkPad 570
`-
`notebook. There is no reason for me to give up my ThinkPad for anything at all unlessit's something that's significantly
`all fomputing
`cheaperorsignificantly easierto use. If Microsoft nails the user interface on the Tablet PC,this device will take off and
`nobodywill look back and wishtheystill had their old ThinkPad. You and | will give up our notebook PCsfor Tablet PCs,
`whichwill be much easierto live with and will easily take penned, spoken or keyed-in commands. Anything less is doomed to
`failure" WinHEC 2001 Microsoft revealed a lot about the Tablet PC hardware in March at WinHEC 2001. WinHEC, the
`annual Windows Hardware Engineering Conference, is where Microsoft updates OEM hardware engineers anddriver
`developers (more than 2,200 of them this year) on the strategies, roadmaps and technologies for future PCs. In his keynote
`at WinHEC,Bill Gates again showeda prototype of the Tablet PC. Mostof the Tablet PC demo wasfocused on how easyit
`is to use ink in a new note-taking application that Microsoft will offer. Actually, the application, temporarily called "Microsoft
`Notebook,isn't new atall. It's an enhancedversion of "InkWriter", a program originally written by "Aha Software,” a company
`that Microsoft bought outright in 1996. InkWriter was shrink-wrapped pen software that was enjoying modest sales success;
`when Microsoft bought the company, the product disappeared from the marketplace.
`
`After Bill Gates' keynote at WinHEC,Microsoft held a lunchtime press briefing on the Tablet PC. Attended by more than 75
`journalists, the briefing was the very first time the press has had an opportunity to ask questions about the Tablet PC. Alex
`Loeb,Microsoft's General Managerfor the Tablet PC, hosted the briefing. On the podium were representatives from Compaq
`and Fujitsu, two of the five OEMs whohave announcedthat they have signed up to build Tablet PCs (the others are Acer,
`Sony and Toshiba). Also on the podium wererepresentatives from six technology vendors involved in the developmentof the
`Tablet PC prototype: FinePoint Innovations (pen-input subsystem), Flextronics (prototype design and assembly), Phoenix
`(legacy-free BIOS), Silicon Motion (video controller), Silver Cloud Manufacturing (anti-reflection LCD filter) and Transmeta
`
`www.pencomputing.com/frames/tablet_pc.html
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`PeeToyg
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`Pen Computing Magazine: A detailed look at Microsoft's Tablet PC project
`
`Again the press and analyst reaction was not very
`positive. In a story in PC Week, one corporate IT
`managersaid that the Tablet PC wasnotatall
`compelling: "My companyhas several thousand
`laptops. We have found our staff to be quite productive
`with their laptops, so there is no reason to change."In
`the samestory, an IT consultant was quoted as saying,
`"Handwriting recognition, which is simply not a
`compelling feature for us, does not have a goodtrack
`record. It will take far more than this to make us think
`aboutgiving up our laptops." Jerry Kaplan, the founder of Go and a pioneeroftablet
`computing, was quoted in a Business Weekstory as saying, "It's likely to be a
`compromisedlaptop and a compromised pen machine." David Coursey, executive editor of
`ZDNet's AnchorDesk, published what were probably the most damming comments.
`Extracted and summarized, his comments were asfollows:
`
`
`
`
`
`"Playing with the Tablet PC prototype [at WinHEC] was a depressing reminderof things
`I've seen before. The recognizerin the Tablet PC didn't comeclose to reading my
`i
`handwriting, even when | wrote characters that everyonesitting around the table could read. A general purpose, "pen-based"
`computerthat can't read my handwriting is a violation of the social contract. The prototype | played with--admittedly an early
`one--wouldn't have convinced meto build the Tablet PC, but then I'm not five desperate PC hardware companies."
`
`AnchorDeskhasa "TalkBack" message forum. Of the 150+ messages posted after David Coursey's two stories on the Tablet
`PC, about 35% werein favor of the Tablet PC and 65% were against. The main themes expressed in the messages were as
`follows:
`
`Typing is much faster than handwriting
`Everybody's handwriting is deteriorating because the keyboard dominates
`Handwriting recognition has to work on a pen tablet, otherwiseforgetit!
`Pentablets are fantastic in vertical applications, particularly healthcare
`A pentablet must have voice recognition to be really useful
`
`After the press conference, there were two technical sessions on the Tablet PC at WinHEC. Alex Loeb gave a session on the
`Tablet PC strategy, and Chuck Thacker gave a session onthe technicaldetails of the Tablet PC prototype. The slides from
`both sessions werestill on the Microsoft website as of the beginning of May (see www.microsoft. com/winhec/winhec2001).
`Mostof the remainderof this article deals with information presented or discussed in those two sessions.
`
`Why now?
`
`One question that everyoneasksis, "Whyis Microsoft trying to create pen-based computers again, and why now?"
`Microsoft's answeris because technologyallowsit, i.e., because laptop hardwareis finally ready for the product. Microsoft
`points to the significant improvements that have been made since 1992 in CPUs (lower power, higher performance), LCDs
`(lower power, higherresolution), batteries (lower weight, higher capacity), digitizers (lower power, higher performance),
`memory, wireless LAN network infrastructure, etc. Microsoft also points to improvement in handwriting recognition, speech
`recognition and font readability (ClearType), and promises a "new UI designed for pen input and easy navigation."
`
`A cynic would say that the reason Microsoft is trying to create pen-based computers now is because the PC marketis soft
`right now, and they're looking for every possible wayof selling OS licenses (as David Coursey implies in his comment about
`"five desperate PC hardware companies"). But as waspointed out earlier, Microsoft actually started the current Tablet PC
`project in 1999, long before the current downturn. A more rational reasonis that Bill Gates truly believes that the Tablet PC is
`a sort of "holy grail," and he really has picked nowasthe timeto try again just because laptop hardwareis in fact much more
`ready thanit was in 1992. So with that as a reference point, let's circle back around and take a deeperlook at the Tablet PC.
`
`Whatis it?
`
`Fundamentally, the Tablet PC is a notebook(laptop) without a keyboard. It's not a WebPad, as some of the membersof the
`pressstill seem tothink,it's a full-scale PC with a rotating hard disk. If you take any of today's very thin andlight, high-end
`notebooks, rip off the keyboard, flip over the screen and add a digitizer, you've got whatis basically a Tablet PC (except for
`some minordetails, such as not being legacy-free). If you take the Fujitsu Stylistic 3500 and substitute an active digitizer for
`the passive(resistive) digitizer, again you've got whatis basically a Tablet PC.
`
`Microsoft is positioning the Tablet PC as "the evolution of the laptop." You have to admire Microsoft's ability to do product
`positioning. Whetheryoulike them or not, they're capable of turning out some good marketing verbiage. Microsoft people at
`WinHECoften repeated the following phrases to describe the Tablet PC, almostin unison:
`
`¢ Combinesthe simplicity of paper with the power of the PC
`¢ Combinesthe rich features of a notebook with the simplicity of a pen
`¢ Anatural form of computing
`¢ An adaptable, ergonomic form factor
`
`As notedearlier, theinitial target market is corporate users, "knowledge workers with a productivity focus.” Microsoft
`envisionsthe typical user as a "corporate corridor warrior," someone whospendsa lot of time away from their office in
`meetings with other people. Note the distinction between "corridor warrior" and "road warrior." Microsoft isn't trying to replace
`the notebooks you seeusedin airports the world over; they're trying to replace the pads of paper you see used in meeting
`rooms the world over. There's a subtle difference. In Alex Loeb's WinHECsession, she explained all about how using a
`
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`Pen Computing Magazine: A detailed look at Microsoft's Tablet PC project
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`laptop in a meeting is "rude," about howit takes energy and focus to use, which decreasesthe user's eye contact with others
`at the meeting.
`
`For anyone who's been in the vertical pen tablet business anytime in the last 10 years (e.g., at Fujitsu), this is old news.
`Microsoft seemingly presentsit asif it's brand new information. Actually, what's happeningis that Microsoft is simply applying
`good marketing skills to the pen tablet. Relatively few vertical pen tablet companiesarticulate the message about laptop
`versustablet usage very clearly. This is because either (a) it's such common knowledge in markets such as Sales Force
`Automation thatit's just taken for granted, or (b) the companyis selling pen tablets into vertical markets that don't involve a
`lot of face-to-face meetings, such asUtilities.
`
`Regarding whether Microsoft will eventually try to sell the Tablet PC to consumers, all they'll say is that they expecttheir
`OEMsandISVswill expand the market focus beyond the original target. You can see from someofthe things that Microsoft
`people say about the Tablet PC, however, that they're edging towards a more horizontal view. For example, Chuck Thacker
`observedin his session that "getting comfortable" with any device is the key to absorbing information from it. When he asked
`how many audience membersprinted a 1-3 page documentrather than reading it on their PC screen, the majority of the
`audience held up their hands. Chuck argued that a tablet presents a more natural reading environment--you can hold it in
`your lap with your feet up on the coffee table, or you can comfortably read in bed withit. That's probably true, as long as
`you're not using the pen to do anything more thancircle things or make minor annotations.
`
`Ink, not handwriting
`
`This leads directly to a key element of Microsoft's Tablet PC positioning -- they are significantly de-emphasizing handwriting
`recognition. The reason seemsto be that they're afraid it won't work well enough. During the press briefing and the WinHEC
`sessions, Microsoft took great pains to emphasize the inherent value of ink. Microsoft people often repeated the following
`phrases, again almostin unison:
`
`A tablet makes ink rock
`Ink is the focus, not handwriting recognition
`Ink is a first-class citizen
`Ink as ink
`
`ram
`F
`(
`| inkwith, ink, |
`49
`|
`| 2
`|. a ata
`oe
`
`hice
`
`Charlton Lui's Tablet PC demo during Gates' WinHEC keynote focused almost
`entirely on the manipulation of ink. Only once ortwice did he show actual
`recognition, and then it was post-processing ("re-purposing text" in Microsoft-
`speak)of existing handwritten text, which he already knew would be recognized
`with 100% accuracy. Some of Microsoft Notebook's ink-managementcapabilities
`that Charlton demonstrated included the following:
`
`that will be used in the Tablet PC. It may seem hard to believe that handwriting recognizers (an esoteric technologyif there
`
`Moving ink words as though they weretext
`Searching blocks of handwritten ink for a specific word
`Bolding individual words and phrasesof ink
`Scaling entire blocks of ink
`Delayed or background recognition [See "Think with Ink" screenimage]
`
`Microsoft's position on the value of ink is actually pretty reasonable. Consider the typical person whotakes notesin a spiral-
`bound papernotebook during a meeting. They don't always type up the notes and format them into a Word document
`immediately after the meeting. Many times (more often than not), they just leave the notesin ink format. They can refer to
`them and usethem asis. Similarly, when they annotate something or draw circles and arrows,it's useful in that form.
`Microsoft Notebook's capability of searching and manipulating ink makesit even more useful. Ink doesn't always haveto be
`transformedinto data.
`
`But ink usage aloneis simply not enough to make a successful pen tablet. When asked directly about handwriting
`recognition, Alex Loeb said "Microsoft has state-of-the-art handwriting recognition, butit's still not perfect and it may not work
`for you. So the Tablet PC is not being presented as a handwriting recognition machine, but instead as a product where the
`emphasisis on ink."
`
`Microsoft's recognizer
`
`It's unfortunate that Microsoft is so nervous about handwriting recognition. The Tablet PC softwarewill include a very good
`recognizer-probably the bestonethat's currently available anywhere. Let's take a closerlookatits origins.
`
`Microsoft has had a small team of engineers working on handwriting recognition continuously since the early 1990s. Their
`first product was the less-than-stellar MARS recognizer (Pen Services 1.0, 1991), followed by the improved GRECO
`recognizer (Pen Windows2.0, 1995). Windows CE 1.0 shipped in 1996 in the US without any recognizerat all. In 1998,
`Windows CE 2.0 came with a recognizer, but it wasn't based on the Microsoft core product. Although Microsoft was working
`on a version for CE 2.0, it was notfinished in time, and so they substituted CIC's Jot recognizerat the last minute.
`
`In September of 1999, Microsoft acquired the right to use the intellectual property (source code)of Calligrapher, without
`acquiring the product or the companyoutright - an indication that for once, Microsoft didn't buy something in orderto kill a
`rival. Theinitial use of Calligrapher was in Windows CE 3.0 (released in 2000 as the "Pocket PC"). While CE 3.0's primary
`recognizer wasthe onethat the recognizer team couldn'tfinish in time for CE 2.0, Calligrapher (renamed "Transcriber") was
`also included as an option.
`
`Next, Microsoft "blended" Calligrapher with the Microsoft core recognizer technology to form the basis of a new recognizer
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`ever was one!) from two completely different companies could be blended successfully, but in fact, it has been accomplished.
`The general subject is called "reco fusion" in academic papers on the subject.
`
`Thefirst release of the new recognizerwill be in theinitial release of WindowsXP.Thiswill be the first recognizer for
`Windowsreleased since GRECOin 1995. The hardware required to use the recognizer in theinitial release of Windows XP
`will be a Wacom graphics tablet or equivalent. The interface to the recognizer, while different from that for Pen Windows, will
`be documented sothird parties can replace the Microsoft recognizerwith their ownif desired.
`
`The bottomline is that the combination of the last six years of Microsoft core recognizer developmentblended with the well-
`accepted Calligrapher technology should yield a world-class handwriting recognizer for the Tablet PC.
`
`Software architecture
`
`The Tablet PC software platform is based on WindowsXPProfessional (only!). Microsoft has no plans to make anypart of
`the Tablet PC software backwards compatible to any flavor of Windows 9x. The core of the software is an add-onlayerthat
`sits on top of XP. Since XPis currently scheduled to appearin retail stores on October 25, 2001, and the Tablet PC is a 2002
`product, the add-onlayerwill not be available with theinitial release of XP. Microsoft says that the add-on layerwill initially
`only be available to OEMs, butthat this strategy will be re-evaluated afterthe first year, when upgradesstart to become an
`issue.
`
`Thelogic is that the user shouldinitially get support for any custom or special hardware directly from the OEM. If the Tablet
`PC hardware becomes widespread and common, then Microsoft may include the add-on layer and hardwaredrivers for most
`existing products directly in the OS. This is similar to the way things work today. If you purchase a special piece of hardware
`such as a USB fingerprint reader, you generally must obtain a driver from the manufacturer of the reader. On the other hand,
`if you purchase a "generic" piece of hardware such as a network adapter, the driver is already included in Windows.
`
`If you've been aroundthe penbusinessfor a while, this architecture may sound suspiciously like Pen Services in Windows
`for Pen Computing. It is andit isn't. Pen Services wasalso a layer on top of Windows, but Pen Services wasa "hack" while
`the Tablet PC layer uses standard Windows NT/2000 architecture. Pen Windowsrelied heavily on undocumented entry
`points into Windows9x for its connection to the OS. The Tablet PC layer uses what's knownas "Input Method Editor" (IME)
`architecture, whichis the wayall input devices of any kind get information into Windows NT/2000. Asa result of Pen
`Services’ back-door connection to the OS, there were places in Windows9x where youjust couldn't use the pen--for
`example, to handwrite a URLin Internet Explorer. According to Chuck Thacker, the Tablet PC's use of IME is “perfectly
`standard" and this kind of problem will not occur.
`
`This standardization could conceivably have aninteresting side effect. Suppose that Microsoft doesn't "nail the User
`Interface," and in fact comes up with something that the market completely rejects. Since the interface to the OS is
`(supposedly)totally standard, it's theoretically possible for a third party to create an equivalent layer to replace the Microsoft
`offering. Whether this is likely to happen ornot is debatable.
`
`The good newsthat results from using the standard WindowsNT architecture is that "all Windows applications can be used
`with a pen on the Tablet PC." Both Alex Loeb and Chuck Thackerrepeated this statement several times during their WinHEC
`sessions.
`
`scratch (doing something yourself is how you really learn what's what!).
`
`
`
`Changesto the Windows XPcore required by the Tablet PC were very few--the only
`things added were support for the pen, support for the hardware buttons on the
`tablet, and some enhancements to ACPI. The Tablet PC layerwill include the
`handwriting recognizer, support for ink, pen applets required to configure and control
`the system, one or more on-screen keyboards, a gesture manager, a “text input
`processing" (TIP) module, and the user interface. Software to support speech
`recognition may also be added, but nothing more than a passing mention was made
`of this at the WinHEC conference. User interface Almost no information has been
`released on the details of the actual pen userinterface (separate from the Microsoft
`Notebookapplication). Generally it is supposed to befairly simple,utilizing basic
`click, hold and select functions. Gestures are used to perform various actions. For
`example, to do a right-click with the pen, the user makesa gesture and then selects
`"right-click" from a pop-up menu. It is not knownif user-defined gestures will be available. When asked whythe pen barrel
`button wasn't used to perform a right-click, as is the case on somevertical pen tablets, Chuck Thacker said, "We don't use
`the pen barrel button because people generally can't useit."
`
`Anyone who's used Pen Windowsknowsthe feeling of frustration and even anger that can occur when you can't get the
`system to do what you want, either because recognition fails or because the pen doesn't act the way youthink it should or
`seemserratic. The new Tablet PC pen userinterface is described by Microsoft as "providing a graceful falloack when things
`fail, and allowing easycorrection." It remains to be seen whatthis really means.
`
`Aboutthe prototype hardware
`
`Microsoft built the Tablet PC prototype as a "proof of concept."It's not a "reference design,"i.e., it's not intended asrigid
`guidanceordirection to the five OEMs. Microsoft built it because they needed some hardware on whichthey could test
`system and application software, test and optimize software-hardwareinteraction, work through major laptop-oriented
`hardware issues, explore the ergonomicsof a pentablet, and test usability and features with customers. Microsoft is not
`going into the hardware business--that's why they have OEMs. Whydidn't Microsoft use the existing Fujitsu Stylistic 3400
`pen tablet, which is probably the best on the market, instead of inventing their own? Mostlikely because Microsoft didn't
`wantto get too close to any one of the five OEMs, and because Chuck Thackertruly wantedto build a pen tablet from
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`Asof the beginning of May, about 40 prototypes have beenbuilt. According to Chuck Thacker, Microsoft plans to build a total
`of about 300. The prototypeis just that, a prototype. It's not really a practical product. For example, there's no external
`accessto the battery or the hard disk, no internal modem and no DRAM expansion capability. Most notebooks today haveall
`of these features and more. Theprototype is simply a demonstration of what's possible today, with emphasis on makingit as
`thin as possible, to help people get the concept.
`
`Building the prototype
`
`Hllegontl
`
`CPU
`
`iEo
`—
`Lax tsreniie
`
`scenes
`‘cess
`
`According to Alex Loeb,the prototype started with a schematic drawn by Chuck
`Thacker. Next, Microsoft hired Flextronics, the second-largest contract manufacturerin
`the US, to build the prototypes. This entailed doing the mechanical design, laying out
`=
`the PCB, doing heat analyses, etc.--all the things you haveto do to build a complex
`swe
`product from scratch. Flextronics is, by the way, the companythat builds mostof the
`#889)
`“asjjuna Handspring Visor PDAs; Solectron, the #1 contract manufacturerin the US, builds the
`rest of them.
` Heatis alwaysa very difficult part of the design of a tablet, since there's only one heat-
`dissipation surface (the back). According to a rep from Flextronics, one of the more
`interesting specs that Microsoft gave Flextronics on the Tablet PC wasthat "it should be
`less hot than a cat on your lap."It is not knownif Flextronics made any thermocouple-
`based measurementsoflive animals on actual humans. In anycase, this is probably
`one reasonfor the very strong emphasis on low power consumption that is evidenced throughoutthe design of the
`prototype.
`
`Low-power CPU
`
`Saree
`tata
`
`eae
`aie
`
`ri Weed
`Sopa
`
`The Tablet PC is one of the few products where Microsoft actually designed and built a hardware prototype themselves,
`rather than relying on their OEMs. It was particularly amusing listening to Chuck Thackerdescribe in his WinHEC session
`how hardit was to actually makeit work. Microsoft usually doesn't have to implement the specs they define; that's up to the
`OEMs. Chuck Thacker said the main problem was that "power managementis a nightmare" (welcometo the real world, Mr.
`Thacker!). Examples of specific problems that Thacker said he encounteredinclude the following:
`
`e Power states that should work don't
`¢ Going from the poweroff state to the fully active state after insertion of a PC Card causesan "interrupt storm" from
`the PC Card controller
`Itisn't possible to independently power downthe USB, audio and IEEE 1394 controllers
`e
`¢ Switching between portrait mode and landscape modecan bedifficult
`
`Thackerbelieves that a powerreduction of up to 1.5 watts can be achievedif all of the power managementproblemsin the
`Tablet PC prototype are solved.
`
`Pen-input subsystem
`
`As mentionedearlier in this article, six key technology vendors were represented at the press briefing at WinHEC. We've
`already covered Flextronics’ contribution; to gain a better understanding of the design philosophy of the Tablet PC, it's worth
`taking a look at the contribution of each of the otherfive companies. First is the provider of the pen-input subsystem,
`FinePoint Innovations (formerly part of Mutoh America, and Kurta before that). FinePoint makes an active RFdigitizer.
`"Active RF" meansthat the pen contains a miniature RF transmitter (operating at 460 KHz) that transmits through the LCD to
`a sensorgrid (antenna) positioned behind the LCD. A controller chip takes samples of the pen's position 133 times a second.
`This compares very favorably with the typical 30-40 position samples per second taken by a mouse. Theresult is very fast,
`very smoothink.
`
`Anotherkey characteristic of an active RF digitizer is that the pen can hover overthe screen and the cursortracksit, just like
`moving a mouse withoutclicking. The ability to hover(also called "proximity sensing") is becoming essential as Windows
`grows more complex. Windows XP makes moreuseof hovering to provide information to the user than any previous version
`of Windows. For example,if you hover over a thumbnail image in XP, you get an entire panelof information about the image,
`notjust the file name.
`
`The primary alternative to an active RF digitizer is a resistive (also called "passive") digitizer. This is what is used on all PDAs
`and on manyvertical pen tablets. Compared to an active RFdigitizer, a resistive digitizer has a lower sample rate, lower
`resolution, less accuracy and no hovering. For these reasons, Microsoft has declared that all Tablet PCs must use an active
`digitizer with a sample rate of at least 100 samples per second.
`
`Legacy-free BIOS
`
`Phoenix's primary contribution to the Tablet PC prototype is the legacy-free BIOS. Today's current notebooksare not legacy-
`free--they typically have a serial port, a parallel port and a PS/2 mouse/keyboard port, all legacy devices supported by the
`BIOS. Today's typical notebook BIOS, represented by Phoenix's NoteBlOS 4.0 product (generically, "Platformware," to use
`Phoenix's term), can support booting from USBfloppies, CD-ROMs, Zip disks and hard disks. However, a notebook BIOS
`always expects the notebook to have aninternal keyboard, so there's no support for a USB keyboard at boot. That was one
`of the changesthat Microsoft required in the Tablet PC's legacy-free BIOS. Other changesincludesignificantly reducing the
`power-onself test (POST) time to 6 seconds, reducing the resumetime to under 2 seconds(that's almost instant-on!),
`tweaking the power management, adding support for the pen (e.g., in the BIOS setup program), and removing support forall
`legacy hardware devices.
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`The Tablet PC prototype uses a 600 MHz Crusoe TM5600 CPU from Transmeta. Transmeta has beenin the newsa lot
`lately, with somewhat mixed results. Their claim to fame is "x86 Code-Morphing software” (dynamic binary code translation),
`whichdelivers lower power consumption than Intel with roughly the same horsepower. Whetherthe claim will hold up over
`time is unclear, since Intel has started fighting back aggressively with its newest ultra-low-power Mobile Pentium III. Certainly
`the actual power consumption numbers on the TM5600 specsheetlook very goodindeed:
`
`¢ 1.0 W typical while running office productivity applications
`¢ 0.1 W whenidle between keystrokes
`¢ 2.0 W typical while running CPU-intensive applications such as DVD movies
`
`Actually there's nothing in the Tablet PC architecture that requires the Transmeta CPU; an Intel CPU (orin fact any x86-
`compatible CPU from AMD, Via or National) would work just as well. Jerry Ascierto from EE Times remarked on the curious
`lack of any Intel representation at the Tablet PC press briefing. Two technical analysts were quoted in his story as saying
`they expectedinitial Tablet PC designs (from the five OEMs) to be powered by 800-MHz-and-above Mobile Intel Pentium III
`chips rather than by Transmeta chips. John G. Spoonerand lan Fried from ZDNet reported thatIntel is in fact working with
`several PC makersto create its own "Tablet PC Reference Specification" based on the ultra-low-power mobile Pentium III
`chip (apparently completely separate from Microsoft's effort). Hmmmm...
`
`Low-powervideo controller
`
`The Tablet PC uses a Silicon Motion LynxEM+ video controller. Silicon Motion, founded in 1996 and headquarteredin Silicon
`Valley, is a relative newcomerin the video controller business. While they have some notebook design wins (in some HP,
`NEC, Panasonic and OEM-branded Taiwanese notebooks), they are dwarfed by ATI and NVIDIA. On the other hand, the two
`major players are engagedin a race for dominance in 3D performancein their mobile video controllers, and the Tablet PC
`doesn't evenreally need 3D. So there's somelogic to Microsoft's selection of Silicon Motion for the Tablet PC.
`
`Silicon Motion's claim to fame is low power consumption. A few years ago, when mobile CPUs were consuming 10+ watts,
`the video controller was a small percentage of the total system power consumption. Now that mobile CPUsare in the 1-2W
`range, the video controller has become a muchlarger percentage of total system power consumption. To achieve very low
`power consumption, the LynxEM+ uses dynamic clocking controlfor individuallogic blocks within the controller. In addition,
`the graphics driver externally controls the power supply voltage (the controller is built using CMOSprocessoptions that
`tolerate a wide supply voltage operating range).
`
`Anotherkey, but not-so-obviousfactoris the need for rotation support. Most video controllers for notebooks don't support
`hardwarerotation--after all, why would you need portrait mode in a notebook? A tablet, on the other hand, re