Inside H-P's Idea Incubator

Efforts to innovate in new markets don't always strike gold.

Intel(INTC Quote) and Advanced Micro Devices(AMD Quote) each have introduced technologies intended to make PCs standard home entertainment components, alongside TVs, stereos and DVD players.

But more than a year since their introduction, Intel's Viiv and AMD's Live! have yet to make much of an impression in the marketplace.

"Greater integration with digital devices is promising, but it's not clear that the PC is going to take over that role," say IDC PC analyst Loren Loverde

As with any attempt to tap adjacent markets for new revenue streams, "those frontier areas might or might not represent the future," adds Loverde. "The key is to explore and tap the best ones."

H-P's innovation office has 22 projects in the pipeline, with a goal of bringing two projects to market every year starting in 2008. Among the current projects is a multipanel PC display, code-named Panoply, which will provide a seamless image on a screen measuring several feet.

According to H-P, the technology could come in handy in products ranging from video games and entertainment to certain work applications.

The group is also preparing for public trials of an improved eBook reader that will allow people to read digital versions of books without the eye strain typically associated with the current crop of devices.

Later this year, the first project born in H-P's innovation office will come to market, although H-P is mum on the details.