Two years ago, Palm announced a device that would be a "smartphone extension." The 10" screen, laptop form factor, 2 pound device would give users a larger window into all the things their smartphone does: Calendars, address book, email, web, and light media consumption. The price tag was $599. This sad little Palm Foleo was so universally panned that it never even made it to the market.
If Nokia and Intel are going for an "in-between device," they need to do far better than Palm did. It's good that they're starting with Maemo and Moblin as core development models as third-party app developers are familiar with those ystems. The big hurdle here is one that was never properly addressed with the Nokia Internet Tablets: Why do I need one?
1 comments:
I can't tell you why YOU need one, but I can tell you why I need one:
There are some things that I do (taking notes in a meeting being one of the big ones, but also reading RSS feeds, chatting (IM or SMS either one) with more than one person at a time) that just aren't comfortable on a pocketable device. The N800/N810 screen size is just too small (for me) to do it comfortably.
Yet, those tasks aren't demanding enough (in CPU, nor in screen size) to justify carrying a dinosaur ... er ... I mean a laptop.
For me, that's the justification for a "middle range device" -- doesn't require the full power and display of a laptop nor desktop, but requires more display than a pocketable. Most common computing tasks fall into this category for me (IM, Email, RSS, document work, etc.). Some of that is fine to do a VERY little on a pocketable, but becomes tedious or annoying if it turns into a protracted event.
Briefly checking email, quickly browsing and eliminating articles from my RSS feed, reviewing a document at the last minute, a nnon-intensive IM/SMS chat with one person, checking my calendar or todo (but not creating meetings). Those are all fine on a pocketable. More than that, and I want a netbook/tablet. And I NEVER want to carry something bigger than a 10" netbook/tablet.
Also, keep in mind that Peter@Maemo Marketing (over on talk.maemo.org) said that Maemo 5 wont be on anything other than an OMAP3. I'm not betting in Intel's favor on this one. I'm betting the Intel stuff is further down the road.
I'm hoping for a 9" or 10" convertible tablet, OMAP3, Maemo 5, 1024x600 based device.
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