wahlau's online hut

been a while i follow up with the development of the Nokia Internet Tablets (770, n800 and n810). Not that i don't care about it anymore, but it seemed such units are more like toys to geeks then something that really help us in our daily lives. Ok, until n810, the rest are really nice as proof of concepts that show what potential such units can have. The n810 is the first one that i finally say "wow, now i can do more on a mobile unit than any other". But that was also almost a year ago.

I realise when i am on the move, i prefer to have a mobile computer with me. I need connectivity, so i have at least a 3G phone that provide that. I need storage, so i can backup stuffs such as photos or music on the unit. I need info, so i can use it to check things out fast. I have the tendency now towards netbooks - a new genre started by Asus with their Eee PC 701. They are not too small but yet not too big. I can have the exact (almost) set of software as on my notebook, minus the resolution and speed.

For example, for our dive holiday in Egypt i brought both eee pc 701 and my good old 770 along. I found out that i only use the 701 while the 770 sits there begging for charge every 3 days. It is kind of redundent when i can use a netbook in most cases. Remember both have the same resolutions - 800x480. But it was just convenient to start up and start working on a netbook with keyboard, when i need to backup and edit my photos. They just work. the 770 can't do that (while i think n8x0 will support USB host with a hack. hmm, i even bought the cable already). I tried skype and even ekiga on the netbook, and i of course used pidgin to communicate with friends.

As time goes, it is the functionalities we look for. What makes a gadget attractive? What it can do or show off? not really. At the end of the day, we want things that work and serve our needs. An IPhone can do at least things it promises well, so people are flocking over when possible. If a nokia IT can do the same, no one will complain. I think as thoughtfix reviewed something on the successor of N810, i really hope we can have yet another leap as from n800 to n810 - better usability, stability and user friendliness.

For me, i would now look for a unit that can do the following:

1. has a keyboard - i can't really type long on screen. on screen keyboard for me, are for short messages. hmm i am just too old-skool perhaps
2. good connectivity - i really don't wish to install 5 little things to get my 3g connection up. Nokia does that real good starting from 770
3. peripheral connectivity - USB and bluetooh do it well. I plug them in, i connect, i transfer. should not be too difficult
4. good battery life - i really don't understand why those new netbooks coming with 2-3 cells battery that only offer max 2.5-3 hours of battery life. We want to use it on the move. what eee pc 901 offers should be made the minimum - 6-7 hours. Nokia n810 is doing alright in this sense - max 4 hours?
5. synchronization - what some are already calling this small cloud computing. can i have the same between my units? i am doing it now with Unison between my devices, so i assume at least between my workstation and my netbook i can do the same (both running Ubuntu Hardy Heron). So i can just leave, and have the same contents if i wish. Will take some effort to synchronize them, but it is really sweet to start up and have the same data i need. when i return, sync them back. good idea, to do next.
6. good start up time - the Nokia IT got this of course nice. The netbooks are basically still computers. unless i put it to sleep, else i still need to wait 1 minute to start doing something. If i need to quickly get online to find out some information, only instant on devices can be good help. hmm, i should fix my suspend to ram issue on the 701.

Well, this is what a sick person can write when he is on sick leave at home. We are getting this in the next 1-2 years time, looking at all the developmen of different devices. But this can only be possible if and only if the software development part catches up.