Another tidbit is the inclusion of a memory system that will "maintain a record its current state when it is undocked from a particular type of appliance, " meaning that when you return and re-dock your handheld, everything should resume without any hassle.

ENGADGET: Microsoft patent details in-car stereo with docking station

And because the whole system can store so much information, back-up copies of everything in it can be made internally in more than one brick, meaning that such a failure destroys no data.

ECONOMIST: Data-storage systems