This was a design of a portable computer done for a Microsoft Design Competition done as a collaborative entry during my first month at the school of design in IIT Bombay in August 2007. The team included senior batch students who had the concept worked upon and needed the solid modelling and visuals worked out.
The brief was to design a portable windows device, which was lighter than a laptop. The device needed to be able to give the user a familiar feeling and be easy to use and was for those instances when a laptop would be too cumbersome to carry around and a handheld tablet would prove be too small.
Enter our design entry which incorporated a touch screen and a stylus, in a 3/4inch thick body which actually housed the entire workings of a computer in the year 2007. The idea was to show a solidity to the product which would instill confidence in the user as well as enchant the recipient who was being shown content on the device.
To add to the ease of using this device we also provided a touchscreen and a stylus, the product also featured front mounted stereo speakers and a heat exhaust at the left rear top.
An Aluminium sheet stand was also designed for it to be housed in, which allowed it to be used as a reading stand, especially when used as an addition to your main computer screen. That bit was only designed for senior officials so it would look in sync with their desk space.
If you see these images, the product was designed with the intent to have small details which could be customized and colour co-ordinated with the main body to distinguish any two devices apart.
The design was chosen into the second stage where the usability and software development and options provided were displayed to the Microsoft team.
