www.engadget.com/2011/12/19/lightpad-connects-your...
LightPad to the rescue!
Boom, the versatility of a smartphone, no need to buy a smartphone and tablet to be a "road warrior." This is what I have been looking for in that you don't need a third device, you just have to be able to use your phone in conjunction with a peripheral that allows you to be more productive. This will be demoed at CES and is for sure purely a concept thing, my hope is that big players like Samsung, Sony and the like will make a real phone shell that works this way.
This is ahead of it's time of course so this company will likely not make $$, but they could get bought by a big player who has the capacity to produce these things and cut out this "third" device that Apple is simply printing money with overcharging for.
With this you can upgrade your "mobile workstation" whenever you buy a new smartphone, which is less than half the cost of most tablets, making the sweet pricepoint for this between $200 and $300 upon launch. After it's been out over a year (I'm talking 2 years from now) the device will drop to $150-$200. This is more marketable to schools as a loner device similar to how many universities give students laptops with preloaded software and connectivity to the wireless internet. This allow people to put video games onto their smartphones, connect a bluetooth controller and play with either a laptop sized screen or a bigass screen through using a projector! With the right marketing, this is the new hot sh*t that will aid the mobile gaming market and make smartphones more enjoyable and possibly the only device that you need going forward.
All this has to include besides what it already has is a backup battery, a graphics card and processor boosting capabilities and this in conjunction with a smartphone could make the tablet and laptop unnecessary!
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Here is the future of mobile productivity!
Many have worked on laptops, and used it at a desk at home or work where they had external hard drives, keyboards, and displays, a similar solution to this.
I don't know that I agree, though, that a smartphone will replace tablets or laptops. I think that much like the major auto makers, most of which manufacture vehicles in every major class, the largest tech players will continue to compete in every product category they are able to. I also think that some will always need serious computing power, far beyond smartphone, even with external help as you described- In my case, to run music software at home and in recording sessions.
I don't know that I agree, though, that a smartphone will replace tablets or laptops. I think that much like the major auto makers, most of which manufacture vehicles in every major class, the largest tech players will continue to compete in every product category they are able to. I also think that some will always need serious computing power, far beyond smartphone, even with external help as you described- In my case, to run music software at home and in recording sessions.
You're overlooking a lot my friend. I've made it clear that I am not a big fan of smartphone/tablet gaming, but it's taken a lot of cash and arguably the majority of market share from dedicated gaming companies like Nintendo and Sony, mainly on the mobile side, With Apple TV and others to follow, smartphone related gaming will only increase. Look at how the Wii U already prefaces using a tablet to participate in a console centric game.
This is just one example of market fragmentation in one area and convergence in another.
Smartphones are the sexiest devices you can have. Yes people love their iPads, but smartphone users often cannot go a single day without using their phones. In some ways, tablets and smartphones are fragmenting the laptop/desktop market and converging the "accessing the internet" market. Since smartphones are so damn sexy, carriers subsidize them in order to lock people into long term contracts. (Not many people who have tablets have a long term contract.) Contracts are HUGE money makers, just ask anyone who has been a member of a gym. Without the contract, the business would make very little on average. Not that the consumer loses, per se, but their paying a lot of money every month vs having a non-smartphone. Verizon/AT&T put in the upfront money for retail space and pay for Samsung/Apple/HTC to have the rights to sell their smartphone.
Companies who make smartphones are not only getting carriers to subsidize them for the consumer, but they are doing the distribution, aka selling iPhones at the Verizon store, so everyone's making money without much friction. Yes the exclusive deals suck for the consumer, but that's life. (I still hate it that PS3 users can't play against Xbox users who are playing the same game!) Manufacturers are moving product, carriers are getting monthly payments, people get a new shiny phone every 2 years that's way better than what they used to have. Everyone wins and everyone pays a lot of $$$
For this reason, every manufacturer will put more R & D into their smartphone business than their tablet/desktop/laptop business. And .....wait for it....smartphones will catch up with laptops/desktops in performance. Yes battery life, form factor, intensive computing, etc will always be up for debate, but I imagine in the next decade for the iPhone 15 to be just as fast as the Macbook Pro 2022. (those are unrealistic names, but you get the jist)
For this reason, products like the LightPad should get plenty of funding to slowly ramp up volume over time and be ready to be mass produced.
This is just one example of market fragmentation in one area and convergence in another.
Smartphones are the sexiest devices you can have. Yes people love their iPads, but smartphone users often cannot go a single day without using their phones. In some ways, tablets and smartphones are fragmenting the laptop/desktop market and converging the "accessing the internet" market. Since smartphones are so damn sexy, carriers subsidize them in order to lock people into long term contracts. (Not many people who have tablets have a long term contract.) Contracts are HUGE money makers, just ask anyone who has been a member of a gym. Without the contract, the business would make very little on average. Not that the consumer loses, per se, but their paying a lot of money every month vs having a non-smartphone. Verizon/AT&T put in the upfront money for retail space and pay for Samsung/Apple/HTC to have the rights to sell their smartphone.
Companies who make smartphones are not only getting carriers to subsidize them for the consumer, but they are doing the distribution, aka selling iPhones at the Verizon store, so everyone's making money without much friction. Yes the exclusive deals suck for the consumer, but that's life. (I still hate it that PS3 users can't play against Xbox users who are playing the same game!) Manufacturers are moving product, carriers are getting monthly payments, people get a new shiny phone every 2 years that's way better than what they used to have. Everyone wins and everyone pays a lot of $$$
For this reason, every manufacturer will put more R & D into their smartphone business than their tablet/desktop/laptop business. And .....wait for it....smartphones will catch up with laptops/desktops in performance. Yes battery life, form factor, intensive computing, etc will always be up for debate, but I imagine in the next decade for the iPhone 15 to be just as fast as the Macbook Pro 2022. (those are unrealistic names, but you get the jist)
For this reason, products like the LightPad should get plenty of funding to slowly ramp up volume over time and be ready to be mass produced.
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