LapDock or LapSkin, you decide

OK, so I’ve been lying here thinking about my presentation to the UK VMware User Group about Consumerisation and how consumers are changing the face, mmmm, preferred device of computing.

Gartner say that soon there will be laptops designed specifically for women, and I tend to agree, but this made me think about how women would use these devices (and I’m not the best person to do this, so excuse me). I think perhaps the look and feel, let’s call it a skin for arguments sake and the device will be independent. Which leads to needing some form of common interface to dock your device into the skin. The skin will take on many forms, as do handbags and will range in price from pence to £10,000 pounds, but it will provide the keyboard and screen functions.

So the device; more usb stick with VMware PocketACE or Apple iPod / iPhone with a VMware kernel could be the computing device. Kind of iPod shaped with enough computing power. Ah ha, the iPod, with probably the world’s largest common docking standard.

So hey presto, one Apple docking port, one computing device (oh, or even more than one) and a skin, gives us the LapDock. Laptops will no longer exist and will eventually just provide the user interface functions that we require, screen and keyboard, much like the REDFLY device and the LapDock/Skin will become a designer accessory for 2010.

Samsung Projector Phone

Samsung has released a projector phone at CES this week:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CgnADSuF8MA

Windows 7 BETA Released

Windows 7 BETA is now available for download to MSDN or TechNet subscribers.

Mobile Phone with Projector

Here is is, a mobile phone with a projector built in.

http://www.chinavasion.com/product_info.php/pName/projector-phone-triband-gsmgprs-touchscreen-cell-phone/

http://www.physorg.com/news3505.html

Consumerisation / Flexible Computing Goes Mainstream?

Laptops can now be purchased with SIM cards and are heavily discounted in the same way mobile phones are. What does this mean?

Well …… SMEs and Enterprise organisations that are embrasing ‘Consumerisation’ are able to significantly reduce their costs. By giving the employee freedom to purchase any laptop for use with the organisations corporate applications and transfering the responsibility to the user for maintenance and support (which can be purchased with the laptop), can significantly reduce operations costs.

How will we control the desktop …….. By enforcing end point securirty, it is possible to force users to have the latest AV software, Microsoft or Apple MAC patches, etc.

For Enterprises this means controlling and restricting access to the data and this can be achieved using a PKI and encrypting the data at source. Solutions from Citrix / VMware and Microsoft allow publishing of applications to most devices from the central Data Centres.

The next generation of students and school children leaving our education establishements will thrown on carrying multiple devices and the current contraints within corporate laptops, so encourgage graduates by embrassing Consumeration and Flexible Computing.

In the words of a forward thinking organisation embrassing Consumerisation and Flexible Computing, “If you can get to Google, you can get to our applications”.

Mobile Internet usage on the increase

Mobile internet usage is on the increase.

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7748372.stm

Pocket Cinema

Interesting pocket projectors are now arriving on the market. Check out this one:

http://www.firebox.com/product/2235/Pocket-Cinema

All I need now, is one of these built into my phone or phone docking / charging station.

Flexible Keyboards

A range of flexible keyboards, details here

http://www.sizlopedia.com/2007/07/04/5-flexible-rubber-keyboards-for-your-computer/

Mobile Phone Watches

An interesting website that sells feature rich mobile phone watches.

http://www.bigboxstore.com/electronics/cellphones/wrist-watch-phones?gclid=CMm8pqSh9JYCFQITswodcAczYA

Smartphones to overtake laptop sales

Sales of smartphones are expected to overtake those of laptops in the next 12 to 18 months as the mobile phone completes its transition from voice communications device to multimedia computer.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7250465.stm