A Carrypad hardware specification.

Posted on 21 February 2006, Last updated on 10 June 2018 by

From what I posted earlier, lets summarise the carrypad:

Its a device for these locations:
Sofa, Bed, Coffee Shop, Car, Train, Plane etc.

Its indentifying features are:
Advanded-intermediate output – (5″-7″ screen, min 800×480, total size – DVD cover.)
Advanced-intermediate input – (mini qwerty keyboard)

It is the parent of the smartphone (although a potential user of the smartphone long-range data capabilities)

It is the offspring of the pc.

It performs video well (min 320×240, 24fps, 1000kbps, full screen – Approx 620mhz advanced processor (Xscale seems well suited at this stage)

It needs to be a standalone device. If you dont have your phone with you (unlikely) or its battery is flat, you need many of the functions of the smartphone (except long-range radio services like GSM, GPRS, UMTS)
The camera doesnt fit here but a videoconferencing camera would.
Storage should be a step up from the mobile. Minimum 10GB I would say as it needs to be a media playback device and possibly a photo upload and basic editing tool.
Wifi is a must here as its target locations would all potentialy contain wifi as the primary broadband connectivity option.
Bluetooth is a must as it would be use to communicate with a number of local devices (headphones, data gateways, printers etc.)
Battery longevity is also a must here although we’re not concerned with 5+ hours. More the 2-3 hours mark.
Docking/Wall mounting is needed for the cool-factor in the lounge/bedroom.
Price – above high-level pocket pc and below mid-level laptops. Puts it at the 800 Euro mark at the moment but when the pocket pc market crashes, they will drop into the 400-600 range.
Normal wired connectivity options will include USB2.0, SPDIF out, Headphones. mic in and SDIO.
Consumer IR should provide device control capability.
I’m not sure about GPS but given that this device could be a CE or S60 operating system, a GPS device would make good sense. I dont see a linux-based system needing a GPS. Nvagation data will never be public domain. (Think about traffic data.)
Touch-screen or programmable touch-pad areas are needed for in-car and photo editing.

and next, the software…..

1 Comments For This Post

  1. Steve 'Chippy' Paine says:

    @Mobileer The WePad became WeTab. Apple are watching! I will sue them all for abusing my published definition: http://bit.ly/9hwlsT ;-)

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