Whatever the future holds, it will be portable

Tablets, wireless networking, Banias: the only market to be seen in this year will be the notebook sector.

At the start of every year, experts predict what's going to be big. However, few stop star-gazing long enough to evaluate what might be useful or profitable.

The sad news that Tomorrow's World is finally being axed seems like an omen for those who believe that spouting on about the future is more important than what's just around the corner.

I'm talking about technologies that are ready to make an impact, not just clever titbits to discuss over a pint.

This year, the notebook sector will be one of the few areas generating interest and profits. In 2002, it was one of the few that grew continually.

As PC sales fell faster than a foreign striker in the penalty box, notebook sales grew at the same rate as Roy Keane's ego. And there's no sign of change.

A number of factors have played a role: lower prices, more functionality and new technologies.

The latter, ranging from tablet PCs and wireless networking to Intel's much-hyped mobile processor, code-named Banias, will play a much bigger part this year.

Tablet PCs will shake things up in the traditional notebook arena, if only a little. But they have a long way to go, in design, robustness and pricing, to even scratch the surface of the portable arena.

Wireless networking was prominent last year on the notebook. This year, wireless functionality will become common on every notebook.

In addition, the interoperability problems suffered by notebooks boasting wireless and Bluetooth technologies together look set to be resolved.

By far the most anticipated arrival in the notebook arena is Banias, the new 'wonderchip' from Intel.

Designed from the ground up for notebooks, Banias is a mobile chip built to address many of the key issues facing all notebooks: performance, power consumption, heat and battery life.

With integrated wireless functionality promised, Banias will outperform current processors, use a lot less power, and extend battery life on notebooks to about four-and-a-half hours. The goal is to hit eight hours, but this is a long way off.

More importantly, the chip will herald a new generation of notebooks, which, if Intel is to be believed, can be up to 67 per cent lighter and 43 per cent slimmer than those using the mobile Pentium 4 today.

So we can expect the super-slim notebooks of today to hit supermodel proportions in the middle of this year.

2003 looks like the year when there will be a flavour of notebook for all tasks and budgets. Expect the gap between PCs and notebooks to narrow just a bit more.