When things just work together

Still doing research in China, haven’t had much time to practice my Chinese outside of day to day. In the future I might post some more information about the kind of research I have been doing. I have picked up a few technical words but not too many. I think I have not used this chance to experience the university life or increased my software skills, alas I have two weeks remaining. Things get crazy very quick and I don’t have time to post on time, my apologies.

Today what I am talking about is integrating, although the idea is not new I think the current way phones, the net and computers integrate is becoming more and more seamless.

Phones

Phones are becoming “smarter and smarter” and ever more integrated into peoples life. I am flirting with being cliche here but it is true. So naturally many of the tasks that used to be reserved for computers are now being shifted to tablets or phones. Myself I don’t read as many emails on my computer anymore (Unless I am at one when I receive an email), usually I just read it on my phone unless it requires me to interact or it is a particularly long email.

The bridge between them is also shrinking with the cloud, you can do many tasks on a computer or a phone and have instant access to them regardless of what platform you use. Across my desktop, laptop, mobile phone and lab computers, I use Dropbox or Google Drive and keep them integrated and I find it really useful. My favourite feature is if I take a photo on my mobile phone, it automatically gets synced to my dropbox account. I can effectively take a photo and see on my computer a few seconds later that I have a new file.

This is just  a start to how the cloud can integrate your products. I think the integration takes a lot of the fuss work out of managing multiple platforms. For example in the past I would access Dropbox across Android, Windows and Linux with no fuss. But it still is only for my data..

But the problem is that your platform will change every time but what if we could keep it as one…

One platform to rule them all

Windows 8 is trying to integrate the computer, tablet and phone market, kudos to them if they can pull it off. I am not quick to adopt new technology and don’t see a need to even migrate to Windows 8 even though I have legal access to it. I just don’t see myself needing to integrate my experience more than just using the cloud, I do however like the idea of fluid integration between multiple products.
Possibly the king of integration and maybe pure coolness (In a nerdy way) is this Padfone from Asus. Which physically integrates a phone and a tablet then that tablet into a netbook, the latter is similar to the Asus Transformer. This has an edge over many other products that integrate (however is not released) as it gives you a fluid experience on one platform. For me, when I travelling a lot I would have found this very useful.

The product that most inspired this post, was seeing this computer being controlled by an Android phone. The premise is quite cool and cheap enough to play with, however I don’t own a TV. Basically it is a Linux distribution that can run on a Mini PC (MK802) which is then controlled by an Android phone using Droidmote. It’s not quite integration but these kind of projects can build up into or inspire similar things. It would be cool if your data from your phone just moved into the mini PC, wouldn’t it? For example say you were watching a TV show on your phone and you get home and with a press of a button, your TV just starts playing it.

Death of the PC

It has been predicted for a while but will it really come? Even Bill Gates admits the home PC is declining in popularity, which explains Microsofts big push with tablets and phones. They feel a little left behind. This article has an interesting about how smart phones and laptops are taking over the PC market. I think I notice it myself that I use my phone as much as I can while I am on the go and jump into using my PC when I get the chance. I have quite a good desktop PC but I am now somewhat regretting buying it, I probably should have opted for an ultrabook or a Macbook Pro and just docked it into my monitor and keyboard combo. I regret it now but at that stage I did not realise how much using my notebook everywhere would be so helpful (I’m a recently converted laptop user).

Conclusion

Like most posts, I don’t seem to have a clear argument nor a clear prediction. Maybe it is because I usually don’t have any strong opinions in regard to things?

What I think I was trying to say in this post is that integration of our devices and the changing landscape of technology is happening before our eyes. Smart phones are getting more integrated into our work lives so naturally we want the transition to our other technology to be seamless. I think it should be a goal of mine to move my devices into somewhat seamless transition. With the use of the cloud and SVN/GIT it is quite easy for me to stay independent of location/OS/computer etc. but apps don’t follow you (Excluding Portable Apps). One thing to look out for is Cloud9 IDE which is an IDE on the cloud which might change things. At the moment I feel that my phone and my computer could become more and more connected to the point that they are a ubiquitous experience. Maybe I should make an app?

Images:

Train conductor – Brendon Body

Dropbox phone sync – Brendon Body

Asus Padfone – from Hexus.net.