ViewSonic to debut MS Smart Display

REDMOND, Washington: Microsoft Corp. said that display maker ViewSonic Corp. will start selling a portable flat-panel screen that can be taken off the desk and used to operate a computer via a wireless link. The Smart Display is software giant Microsoft's latest bid to let people access their computers without being tied to a desk, following the release last week of the Tablet PC.

The new display, previously known under the code name "Mira", can used at the desk but once detached, allow people to access e-mail, the Internet, music and everything else on their computers from a separate location via a wireless connection.

The displays come with a pen stylus that works like a mouse. ViewSonic, a closely-held maker of computer screens and flat-panel displays, will start selling 10-inch and 15-inch (25 and 38 cm) Smart Displays sometime during the first three months of 2003, Microsoft said in a statement. The displays are expected to sell for $999 and $1,299 respectively.

Since they can do anything that can be done on the desktop, the displays are meant to let users work on computers without being tied to the computer's actual location in the home. They run on Microsoft software that communicates with a personal computer running the Windows XP operating system.

With sales of desktop PCs slowing, Microsoft is moving its software away from the desktop and into living rooms and people's pockets. Other companies, such as Philips Electronics and NEC Corp., are also planning to make Smart Displays. Meant to be used in households, the Smart Display is different from the Tablet PC, a pen-based portable computer targeted at professional and business users. Microsoft shares closed 2.25 percent lower at $53.86 on Nasdaq on Monday.

© Reuters