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OQO Model 2 Hacked To Run Leopard

The hullabaloo about Psystar is not nearly as cool as this. Sure, any geek can hack a desktop to run Apple's Leopard OS, but a member of the OQO Talk forum posted a video of his OQO model 2 running Leopard. Very cool to see Leopard on such a small device. What if Apple created a UMPC of its own?

Granted, the iPhone and iPod Touch sort of fill in the portable / mobile Internet device category for Apple, but I'd like to see something in between the iPhone and the MacBook Air. I can just imagine how sleek an Apple-designed UMPC would be.

The OQO model 2 is probably the most capable mobile computing platform out there. It hosts a full working version of Vista or XP in a form factor small enough to fit into your pocket. It includes pen-based input as well as a full qwerty keyboard for text input. Now imagine having the power of Leopard in your pocket. Not a bad daydream, if you ask me.

But we all know UMPCs and other mobile computing terminals (excluding smartphones) have been anything but a hit in the market. There's is a story of struggle and hardships whose ending isn't yet written. Will there ever be a market for these 'tweener devices? My laptop is almost always with me, but there are definitely times it is inconvenient to have around. I have a hard time believing that a proper smartphone can be out-gunned for most on-the-spot computing needs.

Could Apple make a difference here and jump-start the market? Possibly.

According to Gizmodo, everything about the hacked model 2 works, including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB ports, power management, and the sound. Here's the video demonstration.

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