HP Labs in Palo Alto, Cambridge, Bristol, Israel and Japan are working on new e-service desktop product technologies with streaming media market drivers and thin-client multimedia portables, which will be made possible by streaming multimedia technologies and devices.

The outcome will be products like SecurePad and FieldPad. The first will be a kind of identification badge with voice and optical input so as to provide fail-proof security and easy access. FieldPad, still an R&D concept, will be a portable, rugged, hand-held device with high bandwidth RF link to a PC in car.

It will capture the scene around itself at regular and 360 degrees panoramic images and/or three dimensional data from multiple images, will have a simple voice command interface and memo function as well as apen or touch screen to allow direct annotation of images. Images will be tagged with the location using GPS or map database and the time of the day. Of course, the car PC will be expected to comprise a laptop, printer and a cellular modem link to the main office and radio link to the FieldPad.

Screen image compression and wireless transmission might bring to the desktop class media three dimensional graphics, audio and speech recognition and video as standard features. Other possibilities include MPEG stream transcode at server which will enable streaming video for the small screen gadgets. Still image and video dewarp from panorama will lead to interactive viewing of panoramic image data. All or some of these features could be bundled into a PocketPad.

The new Net appliances and devices will address shrinking margins and increase customer base for product and appliance technology, HP feels."Often such technology has a negative perceived value by users as they have to learn the new technology, but thenthey need not buy the devices to point, click, configure and search anymore," according to HP Computer Systems Lab R&D manager Fredrick L Kitson. Yet, the negative value often outweighs any perceived benefits, he admitted. But the technology advancements are set to significantly expand digital distribution and revenue opportunities for HP in the next millennium.

With new client design technology, the devices of the future will know who you are, where you are and what is happening around you from the time you pick them up. User identification will be made possible through biometric sensors, location by using the access point information or through GPS and the environment by measuring a variety of indicators such as temperature, sounds, light and motion. Passwords or PINs will not be required and applications will react appropriately to the device's location and environment. The prototype platform uses StrongArm processor with voice input, multiple sensors and wireless communications.

The average bandwidthof 56k used for accessing the Net at present is paving way for the access through cable, and by 2001, it is expected to substantially shift to wireless access in the years to come. Network computers and a whole host of smart household devices that could enable access will be in vogue, besides web TVs and set top boxes.

"The new products therefore will have to be communications-centric, secure, easy to use and maintain and have compelling multimedia qualities of video, graphics and audio," Kitson emphasised.

HP has invested in its corporate R&D labs since 1966 producing such new product categories as the handheld calculator, ThinkJet printer and the recent Wide Word technology that led to Intel's next generation computer architecture, or the IA-64.

The present server programme has created an architecture that is scalable and modular with high volume components, secure and built on a notion of web quality of service. With new digital imaging infrastructure and peripherals, HP labs has developed advancedintellectual property that will endanger new levels of digital photography quality and service. Thanks to the new technologies, the emerging web infrastructure will enable compelling e-services centred on `connectivity spaces', Kitson felt.

Consider this scenario using the millennium's e-services applications: you are walking down a street, feeling hungry. You can use a WebPad to access localised information. Using the net, it will automatically flash locations with links to local services and even reflect information such as the wait time if any. You can even access the menu and reservation system for having that piping hot combo meal.

As more and more traditional services are offered to more people via a wider variety of platforms and devices using pay-per-use services of all types, the end users will be able to increase productivity and simplify life because complex tasks will be handled automatically behind the scenes. ``The user will be able to take advantage of more sophisticated and specialisedservices on an as-needed basis,'' said Kitson.

The technologies have been three to four years in the making since the concept level. Yet, the productisation is still some time away in the future.