Startup Aims Low-Cost Tabletlike PC At Channel

Young Song, Fullerton-based StepUp's president and CEO, said the product, DocuNote, can be ordered starting in December on a build-to-order basis, with solution providers able to choose the final hard drive, memory and operating system.

DocuNote includes an 8.4-inch LCD panel with a passive touch screen that allows use of a stylus for handwriting recognition and other operations, said Song.

This is unlike the active digitizers featured on the new crop of tablet PCs that feature Microsoft's Windows XP Tablet PC Edition operating system, he said.

Song said DocuNote is more suitable than most tablet PCs for businesses, and therefore will be focused exclusively on the channel.

"We strongly believe the [Microsoft-specified tablet PC is too high end," he said. "But we believe the market for tablet PCs lies in between large-screen PDAs and normal notebook PCs.."

DocuNote will initially be available with either Windows 2000 or Windows XP, but in January is expected to have an option for the Lindows Linux-based operating system, he said.

A base configuration including Lindows can be configured to be sold by solution providers for as little as $999, said Song. That price includes a leather case with an integrated USB keyboard.

The DocuNote is powered by a 667MHz Transmeta Crusoe processor, and includes a built-in digitizer, digital color camera, 16-bit stereo, microphone and speakers, and gets about four to five hours of run time from its lithium polymer battery, the company said.

The DocuNote is not aimed at consumers, said Song, because they require better handwriting recognition and accessories such as MP3. However, the company plans to introduce consumer-oriented products in the future, he said.

Song said his new company is taking a page from eMachines, of which he was a co-founder, in offering a useful product at a low price.