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At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, OQO unveiled the most recent iteration of its ultra personal computer, the eponymous OQO, a PDA-like device that runs Windows XP rather than any of the current handheld operating systems, such as Windows Mobile, the Palm OS, or Linux. The initial version of the OQO, first announced back in 2002, never became available.

The most recent edition of the OQO is slated to ship in the second half of this year. It weighs approximately 14 ounces and measures a 4.9 x 3.4 x 0.9 inches. The unit runs on a 1GHz Transmeta Crusoe processor and has 20GB hard drive, 256MB of RAM, a 800 x 480 resolution 5-inch display, a thumb keyboard with mouse buttons and a TrackStik, as well as a thumbwheel.

In terms of connectivity, the OQC offers 802.11b and Bluetooth wireless as well as FireWire and USB. There is also a 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack and a digital pen. A removable lithium polymer battery powers it.

As a standalone device, the company said the OQO computer can fit into a shirt pocket and is a complete Windows XP wireless handheld computer. It is also a media player that can hold 1,000 songs or three feature movies. With high-speed wireless access, it is a portal to the web and email.

The included OQO docking cable allows users to make presentations with an LCD projector and connect to Ethernet networks. With the OQO desktop stand connected to a keyboard and monitor, it serves as a desktop machine. The OQO is slated to be available in the second half of this year. The company didn’t release any information on how much the OQC would cost.

Antelope Technologies released another very small Windows XP computer back in the fall. The Antelope is based on a Modular Computing Core, invented by IBM's Watson Research Labs and licensed to Antelope. It is the size of a 3 x 5 inch index card, and weighs about nine ounces. Like the OQO, it is powered by a Transmeta processor. Since this particular computer is modular, it can hook into a handheld, docking station or other mobile computing shell. So, in the words of Antelope, users can change their computer to suit their needs.