Friday, January 30, 2009
2008: The year of mobility. What’s next?
14:16
This past year many cords were cut. With prices going down, CPU power going up together with battery life, people now prefer mobility to an old-school desktop. For the first time, global notebook sales exceeded the ones of desktops. But, even these are now challenged by the netbooks and the smartphones.
The affordable PC was attempted in 1999 by Oracle but it didn’t succeed. Later the OLPC idea by Nicholas Negroponte, prompted a few companies to retry the concept but, this time, a portable one. Asus was the first one to deliver and started a revolution with its eeePC.
The smartphone has also been around for a while but with little success. In this case, it was Apple that started the revolution with the iPhone. It succeeded in creating an interesting device and getting developers’ attention, making available hundreds of applications at its AppStore. Something that Nokia failed to achieve with the Symbian operating system. Others are now trying to follow Apple’s footsteps, like Google with the Android and Palm with the Pre.
2008 was a very interesting and inspiring year but, what does the future reserve for us? Mike Elgan, from Computer World, predicts that “it’s the end of the whole desktop-or-mobile concept, and the beginning of everywhere and anywhere computing”. I agree with him and the technology needed is already available. The big question is how users will interact with these devices. Keyboards and mice are out of the question. It will be based on gestures, voice, multi-touch, and so forth. Displays will have to be placed in unexpected places.
The gesture-based interaction, multi-touch and thin TV trends at the latest CES are a sign that everything is “falling into place”.
And YDreams plans to surf the next big wave of innovation…
Antão Almada
Director, Strategic Software Development
Tags: , Apple, CES, gesture based, interaction, netbooks, notebooks, smartphones, thin-TV, trends
January 31st, 2009 at 1:15
I hope mobility keeps on going, because it’s my master thesis research focus and I really like it.
February 13th, 2009 at 14:42
Consumer electronics with Wireless USB should begin massive distribution shortly; Bluetooth 3.0 specification is well in development; new battery technology with longer run times is being developed; Samsung’s “Blue Earth” solar powered cell phone should begin production soon - all examples of technology that could be available in the short run. And examples of exciting new emerging technology in the long run like cloud computing, WiTricity, nanowire batteries, flexible OLED display (and the likes) do show that mobility is not only a trend, but a real need and is happening.
And consequently we’ll need new ways to interact with devices on a whole new level (who wants to key in data when working standing up?).
Future will determine which technologies do stand the test of time, like Mark Weiser stated back in 1991: “The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.”
These are exciting times to be involved in R&D.