Before we look further at mini-micro tablets/pc’s lets think about some places we use our mobile devices: WalkingBusCarBedSofaCoffee shopMeeting roomOffice If I analyse the places I use my devices – i find that bed and sofa are recent additions and are becoming very popular, enjoyable and easy places to do a lot of everyday technology activities. Think about it. SMS, TV, Browsing. I have a pocket PC and these things are actually possible. Howver, that same pocketPC is extremely inneficient for the reasons i’ve talked about before (input constrictions mainly.) […]

Take a look at that list of devices again. You have a pocketPC and a Mini tablet/micro laptop.You could go for the pocket PC as the next step. It would certainly handle the video side of things (with a 3.5″ screen and a video output.) But remember that the mobilephone device is missing advanced-intermediate input (emails, docs, blogs, real-time IM) so, with the pocket PC, you’re only going to satisfy one more requirement. We’re also missing a device with Advanced output – (long-term video, browsing, doc creation) – 5-7″ (say […]

A nice venn diagram would show us exactly where we can put all our technologies.I’ve done that here at home but the results are simpler to show in text form. We start with our mobile device. We want everything possible on this device and we have a device no bigger than 3″ with a numeric or thumb keypad so you can forget video and decent input mechanisms. Efficient browsing is also out of the question. You can put the following on your mobile phone device:Mobile phone voiceMobile phone non real-time […]

Before we migrate all our technologies on to the mobile phone, i’m going to put another parameter in the mix – Physical constraints.That is, for each function, are there any physical contraints to be applied. The simple example is – input. Its the holy grail of mobile devices, getting an efficient input mechanism to work on a small scale. And up to now, no one has achieved it.Thats why we now have a range of input mechanisms. From voice to thumb. Lets list the physical constraints here: Basic input (SMS […]

The functions mentioned before need to sit on a device. Ideally just one device.Buit today, we use many different devices.Here’s a list of portable device categories we have in use today along with a guideline size (smallest first) and an example device. Mobile Phone (3″) – E.g. Nokia 6280Smartphone (3″) – e.g. Nokia N70, HTC TornadoPocket PC (4″) – E.g. DELL AximMini Tablet (5-9″) – E.g. Nokia 770Mini laptop (10-12″) – E.g. OQOTablet (8-15″) – E.g. Pepperpad + Windows tabletsLaptop (12-17″) – Many variants from 1kg-3kg. Many examples.Desktop PC – […]

The title sounds a bit technical but all it means is: whats the most technology functionality you can possibly have on the thoeretical device. The perfect ‘all-in-one’ device. Check the date of this post becuase things could change very quickly. Basically, its everything you use a PC for:Writing (doc emails blogs websites)CalculationsReal-time chat (electronic)Talking (live phone)Recording (storing voice/image)Creating (imaging, music,)Location Guidance (gps based routing and location/timetable information)Reference (public and personal document access)Connectivity – Access to common data/voice networks. Device control.Syncronisation – If you cant do it on one device – […]

The simple fact is that you’ll never get everything on one device. It wont happen until we evolve better eyes and smaller fingers. You cant watch a video for any length of time on anything under 3.5″ across.You cant type at an efficient speed on anything less than a mini-qwerty keyboard. So why bother trying to cram it all in to one device? i guess the marketing people can answer that question and its probably something to do with customer perception.If you do buy the all-in-one device though, I can […]