“A hitherto unknown group within multibillionaire Paul Allen’s Vulcan Inc. techno-empire has designed a compact, lightweight, wireless computer that is expected to debut by Christmas for between $1,200 and $1,500. And the Mini-PC is far smaller than a conventional laptop computer — about the size of a paperback book, 1 inch thick and weighing about a pound. Compared with the Sony VAIO U1, a small laptop, it’s less than half the size and about 60 percent of the weight, with about the same display size, Vulcan says. It has a folding 5.8-inch screen with 800 by 400 resolution, a 20-gigabyte hard drive and a downsized keyboard designed for thumbing or hunt-and-pecking. An external keyboard and mouse can be attached. Batteries last for up to four hours on a single charge. Software is loaded through a USB 2.0 port on the back, which accommodates an external CD-ROM drive.”