OQO Talks About New CEO, Roadmap, and Netbooks

I had a good conversation with OQO‘s Bob Rosin yesterday regarding their CEO changeover, product roadmap, netbooks, and more. Here is a quick run-down on our conversation:

• OQO is very excited about their upcoming roadmap. Rosin mentioned the Intel IDF conference where they demoed a prototype Model 02 running an Intel Atom 1.6 ghz processor, but wouldn’t elaborate much more on pricing, timelines, etc. Don’t expect a product release this fall, though.
• Andy Popell, their co-founder and new CEO, has been very involved in the day-to-day operations of OQO for as long as he’s been with the company. OQO expects it to be a straightforward transition.  Mr. Moore remains a friend of the company.
• OQO will continue to be active in communities like GottaBeMobile and OQOTalk.com
• Regarding netbooks: according to Rosin, the “netbook craze” has actually been very good for them, bringing awareness of ultra-portable computing to a much wider audience. They do offer low-end priced Model 02’s, but most of their customers opt for the higher end models. OQO’s customer base tends to be very high tech and much more sophisticated about their computing needs. They also target a different segment of customers: those who need to walk and compute with both hands at the same time, something the netbook doesn’t allow. Rosin pointed out that the netbook definitely has its place, but that OQO has never competed in that space anyway: the home, casual computing, kids, etc.