Portable LCD monitor
Microsoft unveils the wireless LCD that’s at home in any room of the house
Is your home a temple to minimalism? Do you freak out at the sight of ugly tangles of wires? Sorry, to hear it. Microsoft may just have had you in mind when it came up with its new home conceptJhe Mira is a portable LCD monitor that communicates with your PC over a wire-free network using the industry-standard Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) technology.
Named after the Spanish verb for”to look” the Philips,ViewSonic and Wyse 10.4-and 15-inch prototypes currently on show are good-looking, but what use they’ll be put to is another matter. Aubrey Edwards, Microsoft’s director of marketing believes the Mira will “free your PC’from the constraints of your desk, so you can pick up your email and surf the Web all from the comfort of your sofa.
Unfortunately the low transfer rate that Wi-Fi currently offers means it only works with low-end applications – and so that means, as yet, no DVD movies in the kitchen or Quake III on the toiletThis does prompt the obvious question; why not use your PDA or laptop? Microsoft argues that as Mira’s only power drain is its display,you’ll get 4-6 hours battery life, and its touchscreen conveniently pops-up a handy “fat fingers” virtual keyboard.
Whether we all go wireless monitor crazy or not, you can expect Mira in the shops by Christmas.
