Mobile mania at IDF

The Intel Developer Forum (IDF) is techie heaven. Not only are there a few hundred technical classes covering all aspects of Intel's work, not only does William Shatner sometimes drop in to promote a book, but there are also plenty of chances to see work in progress. Some of that work involves hardware that won't be in the shops for years (if ever), together with its proud (if nervous) parents. The stuff that'll be turning up in the next few months is equally exciting. This IDF has been concentrating on portable devices and wireless -- two ideas that go together very well. Certainly, the future for handheld devices that compute, communicate, inform and entertain seems the brightest of any in an otherwise rather bleak commercial landscape. Here are some of the funkier toys scattered about the show that we managed to get our hands on. For more IDF news stories click here.

Personal Video Player
A prototype of the Personal Video Player from Intel and SONICblue, showing video captured from television. The final version, due next year for under $1,000 in the US, will look nothing like this, but the case will be no bigger and the screen no smaller.