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Published on October 22, 2007

To develop products to meet customers' requirements in the Asia-Pacific region, HP - as Hewlett-Packard now prefers to be known - has come out with a mobile computer under a concept it calls Designed-in-Asia-for-Asia.

Phil Devlin, a product manager at HP, said the 12-inch Compaq Presario B1200 notebook PC is "the first mobile computer suitable for the requirements of Asian customers". The model includes the first version of Quick Play technology, so customers can watch their favourite television shows and DVD movies, play games and have a karaoke party, as well as accessing other features at the touch of a button.

Under the Designed-in-Asia-for-Asia concept, HP says the mobile computer comes with three key philosophies - value for money with a product that comes at an affordable price, light weight, which allow users to carry the computer anywhere, and a small footprint so customers can accommodate the computer in limited spaces.

"The laptop computer also comes with a unique design and was created with the concept of a personal experience in computing that reflects consumer lives in Asia-Pacific," Devlin said.

He said the Compaq Presario B1200 notebook computer was designed for marketing and distribu-

tion in China, Taiwan and Singapore. It is expected to become available in Thailand and other countries in this region by the end of the year. The company will also announce the Compaq Presario B2210 notebook computer to support commercial users in the near future.

"The firm started to develop the mobile notebook with the new concept in 2005 with an investment of around US$4 billion (Bt137 billion) and has two research centres, in China and Taiwan. The Asian market is very important for HP, especially China and India, which are strong potential markets," said Devlin.

He said the company now also had a research and development team in Singapore.

It will set up a research centre in Singapore in the near future.

He said HP had also joined with MTV to hold a design contest with the concept "Take Action. Make It", which aims to inspire the next generation of designers to create an exclusive HP notebook. The winning design will be produced

as a special edition and sold globally.

Jirapan Boonnoon

 The Nation

SINGAPORE