Saturday, May 8, 2004
It's a PDA Jim, But Not As We Know It
Posted by Jonathon Watkins in "THOUGHT" @ 12:00 AM
Popular Science has a fascinating series of articles about 'The Best of What's Next', i.e. looking at what five technologies will really shine in the next few years Top of their list was the PDA. But this is like no PDA you've ever seen yet:
"The handheld "smart communicator" will have the memory and processing power of today's best desktop computers, and it'll display on any nearby screen. The virtual laptop is pocket-size. Call it the smart communicator. In a few years, the functions in today's personal digital assistant (PDA)--notebook, to-do list, calendar, contacts--will be the least of it. Thanks to a variant of Moore's Law that says data-storage density doubles every 18 months, tomorrow's smart communicator will hold 250GB--enough to store 55 movies. Indeed, video--both viewing and recording--will be a killer app. One reason: "There will be phenomenal leaps forward in display technology," says Hank Nothhaft, chairman and CEO of Danger Labs, maker of the SideKick PDA. Say good-bye to your PDA's power-greedy liquid crystal display (LCD). Say hello to the smart communicator's energy-efficient, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display. OLEDs use organic materials that emit light when electrically charged, so there's no need for a backlight."
OLEDs are already found in some mobile phones, but 250Gb of storage in a communicator? If you generously start with a 1Gb CF card today, that would still take just under 14 years to get there. Still, it's sooner than you think, but by then, high definition video etc. will probably have gobbled up all that storage! :wink: Still, there's other things to look forward to.
"The smart communicator will have its own nervous system: sensors that assess the outside world and adjust the device's behavior accordingly. A built-in RFID (radio-frequency identification) reader will pick up data stored on RFID tags in nearby objects, so the PDA will automatically embed identification labels in the photos it takes. The onboard eye scanner will let you navigate pages with a mere glance at the menu bar. Light, heat and motion sensors will enable the device to know whether it's in your pocket or your hand, and pump up its cellphone's ring tone if needed. A tilt sensor will trigger the display to shift between portrait and landscape mode, and it'll offer finger-free scrolling. The microphone will measure ambient noise and adjust the volume to compensate in a loud restaurant. The GPS will detect when you're nearing home, and the communicator will signal ahead to turn on the heat or AC. Once you arrive, the Bluetooth network will automatically synchronize data between your communicator and your PC."
They will still use Bluetooth in the future? How quaint. :wink: I wonder if MS will still be using a variant of Activesync? :lol: The article goes on to talk about high-speed wireless connectivity, advanced biometric security, membrane batteries, projected keyboards, the works! The graphic of the handheld device unfolding into a large screen is well worth a peek as well. So, does it ring true for you? How do you see the future of the PDA developing?
"The handheld "smart communicator" will have the memory and processing power of today's best desktop computers, and it'll display on any nearby screen. The virtual laptop is pocket-size. Call it the smart communicator. In a few years, the functions in today's personal digital assistant (PDA)--notebook, to-do list, calendar, contacts--will be the least of it. Thanks to a variant of Moore's Law that says data-storage density doubles every 18 months, tomorrow's smart communicator will hold 250GB--enough to store 55 movies. Indeed, video--both viewing and recording--will be a killer app. One reason: "There will be phenomenal leaps forward in display technology," says Hank Nothhaft, chairman and CEO of Danger Labs, maker of the SideKick PDA. Say good-bye to your PDA's power-greedy liquid crystal display (LCD). Say hello to the smart communicator's energy-efficient, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display. OLEDs use organic materials that emit light when electrically charged, so there's no need for a backlight."
OLEDs are already found in some mobile phones, but 250Gb of storage in a communicator? If you generously start with a 1Gb CF card today, that would still take just under 14 years to get there. Still, it's sooner than you think, but by then, high definition video etc. will probably have gobbled up all that storage! :wink: Still, there's other things to look forward to.
"The smart communicator will have its own nervous system: sensors that assess the outside world and adjust the device's behavior accordingly. A built-in RFID (radio-frequency identification) reader will pick up data stored on RFID tags in nearby objects, so the PDA will automatically embed identification labels in the photos it takes. The onboard eye scanner will let you navigate pages with a mere glance at the menu bar. Light, heat and motion sensors will enable the device to know whether it's in your pocket or your hand, and pump up its cellphone's ring tone if needed. A tilt sensor will trigger the display to shift between portrait and landscape mode, and it'll offer finger-free scrolling. The microphone will measure ambient noise and adjust the volume to compensate in a loud restaurant. The GPS will detect when you're nearing home, and the communicator will signal ahead to turn on the heat or AC. Once you arrive, the Bluetooth network will automatically synchronize data between your communicator and your PC."
They will still use Bluetooth in the future? How quaint. :wink: I wonder if MS will still be using a variant of Activesync? :lol: The article goes on to talk about high-speed wireless connectivity, advanced biometric security, membrane batteries, projected keyboards, the works! The graphic of the handheld device unfolding into a large screen is well worth a peek as well. So, does it ring true for you? How do you see the future of the PDA developing?
