After the cartoon, the flesh and blood Ballmer, as seen in Figure C, emerged to address the crowd. I was surprised to see that in person, he more resembles a football coach than the president of one of the biggest companies in the world. He opened his remarks by admitting that in the past, Microsoft has had less than stellar success in the realm of Personal Digital Assistants. He described the previous Palm-sized PCs as having been designed as expandable devices that, unfortunately, fell short in many basic areas.

FIGURE C

Addressing much of the crowd from on high, Steve Ballmer introduced the Pocket PC.

Ballmer highlighted several key points that went into the thinking behind the design of the Pocket PC. For one, it had to have a simple design and PIM (Personal Information Manager). Furthermore, the device had to be expandable, and it needed to be a platform for enterprise solutions. It had to wirelessly connect to the Web, and it had to be a personal device that could be used for both work and play. The designers wanted it not only to organize the user's professional life, but also to be thought of as a source of entertainment and enjoyment.

With the new Pocket PC, Ballmer claims the shortcomings of previous versions have been addressed and feels confident in the future of the Pocket PC, calling it "an incredible quantum leap forward."

A pocket-full of features
This sentiment was echoed by Vice President of Microsoft's Mobile Devices Division, Ben Waldman, who quipped, "Many people joke it takes Microsoft until version 3 to get it right." Waldman, along with marketing manager Brian Shafer, demonstrated many of the new features on the Pocket PC.

These features included the ability to view email attachments in either Pocket Word or Pocket Excel; the transcriber feature, which translates normal handwriting into printed text; an MP3 player and Windows Media Player; Microsoft Reader, featuring ClearType; and the Pocket PC's wireless connectivity to any Web site. The latter feature was perhaps the most impressive. By using either an attachable modem or your cell phone, the Pocket PC can open any Web site, graphics and all, and fit it to the screen.

Waldman also introduced another method for connecting to the Internet, though Microsoft does not produce it. It's called Bluetooth technology, and it's soon to be an industry standard. As it is still several months from release, Waldman made use of a prototype for his demonstration. The Bluetooth technology allowed a Pocket PC device to use a nearby cell phone as a modem with no physical wire attachment between the two. You could leave your cell phone in your briefcase, Waldman said, and the Pocket PC would be able to locate it and connect.

Most exciting though, at least judging from Waldman, is the inclusion of the original Pac-Man in the "Fun Expansion Pack" available free-for the time being-with your purchase of the Pocket PC. To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the arcade game, Pac-Man has been packaged into the Pocket PC's Expansion Pack, utilizing the game's original script. It wouldn't be surprising if the little yellow guy becomes Microsoft's new mascot. Classic game purists may object, but if Pac-Man had to be gobbled up by a big company, at least it wasn't Disney.