The Hive builds buzz
Firm unveils pocket PC
The pocket PC is set to make a return.
But these aren’t the forgotten Pocket PCs of the last decade. These are fully-powered portable Windows workstations for consumers and professionals alike.
Los Angeles-based start-up firm The Hive is unveiling its new Amplicity portable smartphonesized personal computers this week at the Consumer Electronics Show here. The Windowsbased products are about the size of a smartphone — just more than half an inch thick and rectangular at about 3-by-5 inches.
The Amplicity Anywhere pocket PC, expected to be available this spring, is priced at $99 for the device and basic software. Another product, starting at $399 and due later in the year, will come in different configurations to target users such as filmmakers, graphic artists and musicians and boast more powerful cloudbased creative tools.
Since the portable products are like desktop PCs, they don’t have a display but can connect to standard computer displays as well as new Hive-produced Amplicity curved 4K monitors, keyboards and computer mice.
Also planned: Public connectivity kiosks with displays and workstations that could be set up in coffee shops and other gathering points.
Smartphones have given consumers and creatives alike a taste of portable computing, but they need more processing power and productivity tools, Hive co-founder Robb Fujioka says.
Amplicity PCs have built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity and can be purchased with onboard memory of 4 to 128 gigabytes with another 128GB capacity achieved via SD cards. Subscribers also get 1 terabyte of cloud storage free.
“Where mobility falls short today is in storage and productivity and Windows (software),” Fujioka says. “We absolutely believe this is that next wave of mobility.”
Amplicity will likely get some attention because Fujioka and the others behind The Hive have multiple tech successes. He and fellow co-founder John Hui also are among the founders of Fuhu, which makes popular child-oriented Nabi tablets.
Hui advanced the economical PC movement as the principal founder of eMachines, which back in 1998 made PCs available for less than $400.
COO Steven Wang is a PC industry veteran who most recently worked with Foxconn, the Taiwanese tech manufacturer wellknown for its part in making Apple’s iPhones and iPads. Foxconn will also be making The Hive’s portable PCs and other products.
The company has been in talks with Microsoft for more than two years about a deal for Windows CE and Window 10 operating systems as well as Word, Excel and Powerpoint on the PCs. Discussions are ongoing to include upgradeable versions of productivity software from companies such as Adobe, ArcSoft and Corel.
“We believe the next couple years is really going to be focused on bringing a lot of cloud and software computing to the mainstream,” Fujioka says. “Once you really have the power of the PC and that modularity to increase storage and increase battery life, you have got a lot of flexibility.”