I love mobile devices, but what I find really lacking is a middle point: Too many smaller mobiles are trying to give full computer experiences (HTC Shift trying to run Vista with a crippled WM6 on the side, not to mention everyone seems to want to run Vista for some reason), While the larger end of the mobile market doesn't have an OS more powerful than Windows Mobile to lean on to (HTC Advantage is a fantastic device crippled by the limitations of WM6). If manufacturers had an OS (Lets call it Windows Portable for now) that combined the relative simplicity of a handheld OS (there's a lot to learn from Linux based devices here) with a good compromise from the power of full blown PC OSs (I would love a sleek interface like vista and good mobile office and multimedia capabilities like those in a full OS like Vista but who needs advanced disk/network/user/hardware management on a pocketable device...) then I think we'd be seeing more innovative designs that aren't restricted by too little hardware trying to get too much software going (HTC Shift again), or fantastic hardware without the software to make use of it (HTC Advantage again). Not to mention the fact that it's time MS wakes up: a taskbar is great for organizing things on a larger screen, but on a small portable, such an element would only be any use if used for displaying current/background information as opposed to being used as a method of accessing the software/hardware.
The Chromebooks are here, starting with Samsung's Series 5, a cute little number that promises instant-on access, 3G connectivity, and long enough battery life to web surf with the best of 'em.
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I love mobile devices, but what I find really lacking is a middle point: Too many smaller mobiles are trying to give full computer experiences (HTC Shift trying to run Vista with a crippled WM6 on the side, not to mention everyone seems to want to run Vista for some reason), While the larger end of the mobile market doesn't have an OS more powerful than Windows Mobile to lean on to (HTC Advantage is a fantastic device crippled by the limitations of WM6). If manufacturers had an OS (Lets call it Windows Portable for now) that combined the relative simplicity of a handheld OS (there's a lot to learn from Linux based devices here) with a good compromise from the power of full blown PC OSs (I would love a sleek interface like vista and good mobile office and multimedia capabilities like those in a full OS like Vista but who needs advanced disk/network/user/hardware management on a pocketable device...) then I think we'd be seeing more innovative designs that aren't restricted by too little hardware trying to get too much software going (HTC Shift again), or fantastic hardware without the software to make use of it (HTC Advantage again). Not to mention the fact that it's time MS wakes up: a taskbar is great for organizing things on a larger screen, but on a small portable, such an element would only be any use if used for displaying current/background information as opposed to being used as a method of accessing the software/hardware.