As if we didn't have enough high tech devices to wear around our necks, tuck in our belts and bury in our briefcases, along comes Microsoft introducing the world to the UMPC or "ultra mobile personal computer". But just what is a UMPC? Well, based on this cryptic ad campaign from Microsoft it's hard to know. But as this article explains, it is smaller than a laptop and bigger than a cell phone and supposedly does all that your laptop/PDA/cellphone/iPod will do but in a smaller package. But, this might be a hard sell for Microsoft as the consumers out there are up to their collective ears with neat gadgetry and the addition of something that is unexplainable might be met with some resistance. In addition, the battery life for the first editions of these new devices is only between two and four hours which will render it useless far sooner than most tech hungry users would like. I don't know, but the industry is sensing that Cap'n Bill and his crew might be taking a risk on this one and may be in for stormy seas.

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