The dreaded waiting period for a computer to boot up is all too familiar. Time-weary consumers who increasingly rely on laptops, PCs, and other electronic devices to watch movies or listen to music are demanding immediate gratification.
Thankfully, the tech industry is responding. At CES 2006, Toshiba Corp. showed off new notebooks with "Express Media Player," which lets users instantly play audio or video DVDs and CDs with a simple push of a button and without the need to first boot the Windows OS.
The Japanese electronics giant was among the first to feature a no-waiting
TV mode in 2004 with its Qosmio multimedia laptop. It then began to put the boot-less mode on its high-end models. This year, Toshiba plans to integrate the feature in about 80 percent of its models.
Hewlett-Packard Co. also introduced similar "QuickPlay" technology in one laptop over a year ago. It has since expanded it across four model lines, including its newest HP Pavilion dv1000. Microsoft promises to address the issue in its upcoming Windows upgrade, called Vista, due for release by the end of the year. One feature, called Sideshow, allows laptops to retrieve phone contacts, to-do lists or other organizer-type files - all without the need to turn on the machine or boot up the main operating system.
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