About tablet evolution and content creation, patent on iPhone with a curved double-sided screen, a monoblock tablet from Aquos, finding water on Mars and more …
Recently, NASA experts announced that water has been found on Mars. And we are not talking about ice, but about rivers. On this occasion, Google was not even too lazy to release a special Doodle.
Evidence of water found on Mars found on our homepage! pic.twitter.com/hsWqEDYdFh
– Google Doodles (@GoogleDoodles) September 29, 2015
Water is not yet life, but already the possibility of its existence. Until recently, all this seemed simply impossible, but the red planet turned out to be rich in surprises. How much more she will present them in the future, one can only guess, but now scientists will have to rethink a lot.
What does this news have to do with the digest? Practically none. Except for one funny moment – for the first time something like this was announced several decades ago.
Back in 1862, astronomers first noticed certain lines on the surface of Mars, which, in their opinion, could only be of artificial origin. They were called canals (canali) and were considered man-made structures that ancient (and possibly living) Martians used to irrigate their arid planet. Later, the network of canals was mapped and even calculated their approximate width – 100 km.
At the beginning of the 20th century, it became possible to take the first photographs of Mars, the mysterious channel lines were also present on them. Disputes over whether they are man-made structures or natural rivers erupted with renewed vigor.
The point in the dispute was put by the satellite 'Mariner-9', which in 1971-1972 surveyed 85% of the planet's surface with a resolution of 1 to 2 km. The overwhelming majority of such channels turned out to be an ordinary optical illusion, a small part – real-life relief details, which also have nothing to do with rivers or canals.
Probably, by nature, people are even more stubborn creatures than the same donkeys. It's just that our stubbornness manifests itself a little differently. Once having come up with a beautiful idea for ourselves, we will not abandon it and will try again and again to translate it into reality. Even if initially it seems completely impossible.
Once astronomers saw channels with water on Mars, and this discovery will forever remain in the hearts of millions of people. They wrote books about Mars, painted pictures, later made films and even made games. Scientists thought about how to reach a mysterious planet, philosophers talked about the consequences of meeting with representatives of another civilization. People seriously thought that they might have brothers in mind, and the question of whether there is life on Mars has become a household word.
After some time, euphoria gave way to disappointment – it turned out that all this was empty self-deception, that there were no channels on Mars, and there was no scent of intelligent life at all. The mysterious red planet turned out to be just a big cobblestone, useless and not interesting to anyone. This whole story with canals and life on Mars was very quickly forgotten, and most modern readers of old science fiction would not even guess why the Martian theme was so popular in those years, and for what reason, various science fiction writers so persistently mention some ancient canals with water .
And, nevertheless, it was at that moment that the crazy idea of water on Mars began to confidently turn from fantasy into reality. I have no idea if this water really is there, if life has ever existed there, and if those mystical channels have ever been dug. One thing I'm sure for sure – now mankind will do everything possible to find this water there. And if he doesn’t find it, sooner or later he will dig these channels manually. In a hundred or two hundred years, these channels will be there. Then they will come up with some kind of logical explanation and, perhaps, they themselves will believe in it. But in fact, this is the most asinine stubbornness – to realize an old dream, once again turn everything in its own way, to prove that it was not a childish delusion, but the first step towards the coming victory.
And today history has made another round, the old idea of the once existing life on Mars has received a new embodiment. It may well be that tomorrow this theory will once again be deservedly smashed to smithereens – but only in order to start proving it with renewed vigor a dozen years later.
In electronics, as in many other areas, things are exactly the same way.
With the idea of tablets (or rather, 'tablet computers') Microsoft I tried to enter the market back in 2002. It was then that the Microsoft Tablet PC platform was introduced, about which Bill Gates himself said the following:
The Tablet PC ushers in an era of exciting new possibilities for mobile computers that are only limited by the user's imagination. It's a great example of how computers are adapting to the daily needs of people who are accustomed to taking notes in meetings, communicating wirelessly with colleagues, or reading documents from a screen.
This day was to be the beginning of a new era that would revolutionize our understanding of computers and mobile devices. But it didn't work out. The idea was really interesting, but only then they could not implement it properly. It turned out just not a very convenient laptop with a torn off keyboard, which was not and could not be any beginning of a new era. If you cut off the key block from Nokia 3310, then iPhone won't work out of it either.
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Although various companies from time to time released such devices, over the years that followed, most of the people managed to completely forget about the existence of tablets. It seemed that they were overtaken by the fate of pagers and vinyl records, and another year or two, as they will disappear altogether.
But beautiful ideas don't die so easily. Many developers have not forgotten the word about a new era of mobile computers and devices that are much more convenient for everyday use than traditional laptops.
Almost ten years later, on January 27, 2010, the company Apple announced iPad. I don’t think that looking at the new Apple device, many people remembered the existence of the Tablet PC. Despite the similar form factor, ideologically they were completely different devices. And yet, to a certain extent, the birth of iPad is due precisely to the awkward and controversial tablets on Windows. So, the tale of Pinocchio's adventures would never have seen the light of day if the tale of Pinocchio had not existed. Even if in fact these are completely different literary works.
iPad was the second attempt to return to the idea of tablets. And I must say that it was a much more successful attempt. Often the first one iPad was bought without even understanding why and for what it could be used. And they invented use cases after the purchase.
Nevertheless, the hype around tablets did not last very long; after five years, interest in them noticeably faded away. And convincing the owners of old devices to replace them with new ones is more and more difficult every year. Moreover, there is often no practical sense in this – past generations of devices are quite suitable for reading books and surfing the Internet, and some other scenarios have not yet taken root.
Many manufacturers are trying to rethink the idea of tablet computers for the third time, offering a hybrid of old Tablet PCs and modern tablets. On the one hand, in terms of dimensions, these are still exactly mobile devices, and not full-fledged computers, and the interface of the OS and applications is still sharpened for working with fingers. On the other hand, such tablets have a whole range of 'adult' computer functions. If the current generation of tablets is usually used exclusively for content consumption (watching movies and photos, reading books and surfing the Internet, etc.), then new items are designed to create it. For example, for full-fledged work with documents, serious work with text and pictures, and so on.
The first sign here were tablets Microsoft. It is not surprising – in this company from the very beginning they saw tablet computers just like that. And the idea of 'one Windows' had to be promoted. But, like ten years ago, MS did not succeed in any boom – it could not interest the buyers of the MS Surface Pro.
At the same time, Samsung was thinking about the idea of 'professional' tablets. The Koreans took a slightly different path – they added a proprietary 'smart' stylus to the device and tried to increase the screen diagonal. The message was about the same – this is not some kind of iPad mini, which is not far from iPhone, but a serious tool for serious business. The final result is about the same as that of MS – the thesis “more is better” this time did not play, such devices did not make any special weather on the market. Buyers preferred compact and inexpensive tablets to huge and expensive monsters with a bunch of unnecessary functions.
It would seem that since nothing good came of this idea, then the other manufacturers had to come up with something else. But instead, they decided that fishlessness and cancer were fish, and a dubious idea is still better than none at all.
So, the new iPad Pro has become a classic example of 'professional' tablets and has collected all possible stamps at once. There is a giant screen, and a removable keyboard, and a stylus, and some abstract conversations about serious work and professionals …
The next similar device was the Pixel C tablet from Google. Large 10.2-inch screen, 1.42: 1 aspect ratio, corresponding to A4 format. Powerful NVIDIA Tegra X1 chipset. The removable keyboard, which, according to the company, is almost in no way inferior to the keyboard of a full-fledged laptop, a full-size USB Type C port. The design and design of the tablet shows the features of both the Chromebook Pixel and MS Surface or new Apple iPad Pro. Although the device runs on OS Android, its name clearly emphasizes that this is not just another mobile device from the Nexus series, but something completely different.
Google, unlike MS, hardly makes any special bet on such devices. For the company, this is something like the ChromeBook – an interesting concept for a niche (in its current form) device. Rather, the first try of the pen, than an attempt to seriously prove something to someone. But all the same, the very fact of the appearance of such a device is indicative – Google, like many other companies, has started developing a new type of tablets aimed at creating, and not just consuming content.
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The creation of the Japanese company Aquos borders on insanity. We are talking about the Aquos Famiredo tablet with a 15.6-inch screen and a weight of 1.9 kg.
If this monster has something of a tablet, then it is far from “computer” hardware – the device received only 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of internal memory and a Rockchip 3188 processor with a clock speed of 1.6 GHz. Otherwise, even in spite of the weak hardware and OS Android 4.4, this is more a primitive candy bar than a 'professional' tablet.
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In my opinion, this is a dead end idea. Of course, such devices will have some sales, some will find them useful. But in general, there is no point in trying to turn the tablet into a kind of stripped-down laptop (and even more so a candy bar!). This is exactly how they looked in the 2000s, and it is in this form that they completely collapsed. And it's not even about the quality of performance. In fact, there is simply no room for a new class of devices. Most of those who need a compact device for serious work will prefer to buy an ultrabook, which in any case will be more convenient, both in terms of the keyboard and other hardware, and in terms of OS and programs. And for those who only need to occasionally correct a few words in a document, no 'professional' tablets are needed at all. There will be enough not only any ordinary tablet, but even a smartphone.
If tablets want to evolve, then they should remain a separate class of devices, and not try to pass themselves off as something else. It is possible that it is really impossible to come up with something fundamentally new at the moment, and the idea iPad has exhausted itself. But this means only one thing – in ten years the idea of tablet computers will come back again, reworking and rethinking the familiar concept once again. In 2002, Bill Gates said the right words, and I am sure we will remember them more than once.
Another long-standing idea that has already been unsuccessfully implemented several times is foldable mobile devices. Very often the user has to buy several devices of different sizes at once just because of the difference in the screen. A compact smartphone, phablet, miniature tablet and some twelve-inch monster are practically indistinguishable from each other technically. One OS, one hardware, one possibilities. The only difference is the screen size. But in real life, this difference is more than enough.
Turning a huge tablet into a standard phablet at any convenient moment or doubling the screen size of a compact 'dialer' is a long-standing dream of many people. No more compromises between size and usability, no more unnecessary devices, no more pain in choosing the ideal display diagonal or the most convenient aspect ratio. The device will always be at hand and will always be the best fit for the situation. It will be possible to 'expand' the phone into a huge tablet at any time, as well as switch between the phablet mode and the compact 'dialer'.
There have already been many attempts to bring this idea to life. Think of the Sony Tablet P or Asus Padfone. You can pay attention to the concepts of folding devices from the same Samsung or numerous patents in this area from many other companies. Until these experiments end with anything particularly outstanding, there is still too much chasm between dreams and reality. But there is no reason to doubt that sooner or later this undertaking will be brought to a victorious end.
There is only one problem – you will not be full of speculations about a bright future and inexorable technological progress. Companies need interesting products here and now, otherwise the results of research from secret laboratories may not survive.
Many manufacturers are trying to go through the back door, coming up with all sorts of folding laptops (look, one slight movement of the hand – and this is already a real tablet!) Or modular devices that can be created now. It may be that ten years from now such awkward hybrids will make you and me smile, but today it is better than nothing. It has long been known that the road will be mastered by the one walking, and equipment manufacturers are no exception.
One of the latest patents Microsoft describes a special magnetic lock that will allow different devices to be interconnected. For example, you can assemble one large tablet from several smartphones or, on the contrary, use the tablet as an external screen of your phone. Special software should change the screen operation mode automatically, exactly at the second when the devices 'hook up' to each other.
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The company also made its step towards futuristic devices Apple. So far, however, we are not talking about foldable or roll-up devices, but only about a smartphone with a curved display. But very unusual.
Recently, another company's patent was leaked, describing a 'rounded' one iPhone. Although in fact, it was filed two years ago, at about the same time as this direction was seriously taken up in Samsung. However, the device described in the patent differs markedly from the current smartphones of the Korean company. The screen in it does not just climb onto the side faces of the device, but bends around it entirely.
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To be honest, here I am betting on the Koreans – the problem here is not so much in the idea itself, but in its technical implementation and fundamentally new hardware. And with that, Samsung has always been great. Maybe the first foldable tablet will be called a 'plastic remnant' and find fault with the brakes of its shell, but this will affect the fate of such a device no more than it has affected the fate of SGS3.
But with 'smart' wearable electronics, the opposite is true. So far, modern smartwatches are reminiscent of those same ill-fated tablets of 2002. It seems that they do not look so bad, and they work without any problems, and all the functions declared by the manufacturer are regularly performed. And if you try hard, you can even come up with who and why they might be needed. But users don't care about all this spherical reasoning.
Despite all the efforts of dozens of large companies, such devices do not have any special sales. Moreover, a year ago, the leader of this market was Pebble, a small startup that raised money for KickStarter.
And yet, there is practically no doubt that sooner or later wearable electronics will 'shoot'. You just need a fresh look, a global rethinking of the concept that has stuck in your teeth. In the meantime, companies are busy improving their current solutions, which obviously will do little. No matter how you improve the cart, the car will not work out of it.
This is exactly what the Watch OS 2.0 update tells us. I myself do not have a watch from Apple and will definitely not have it in the near foreseeable future, but I have no doubt that all the improvements there are strictly to the point. But all the same, I think this is the best commentary on Sergey Kuzmin's article 'Watch OS 2.0: ten facts about the update and the watch':
'Confident again that iPod nano 6 is the best Apple Watch? And on a single charge lives for several days, and the really demanded functions on board: clock, pedometer, player '(c) lurker
A fundamentally new class of wearable devices, in fact, turned out to be not so new. But this is only the first attempt to take this height, no one is going to give up. Since there is a global idea, sooner or later its worthy embodiment will appear.
Who can break the mold and take the step from modern smartwatches to some Super xWatch? Now this cannot be predicted, with equal success it can be either Apple, Google or Samsung, as well as a manufacturer of classic watches, or in general someone from completely unknown companies in this segment. Moreover, the latter option is even more believed. After all, something suggests that there will be no trump cards in the sleeves of famous players.
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The world of mobile electronics is gradually preparing for an era change. Companies are slowly beginning to try their hand at a new genre for themselves, releasing controversial, sometimes even ridiculous devices. There are already vague ideas about what electronics should be in the future. But there is no understanding of what exactly all these things should be. And from a technical point of view, a lot is still not feasible.
Many of these devices will be forgotten in a couple of years. But do not rush to dismiss them as a stupid and unviable idea. Ideas, in contrast to specific devices, are extremely tenacious. Quite a little time will pass, and some of the manufacturers will definitely try to breathe life into them again. Not far off is the day when smart watches will become really smart, the Internet of things and smart homes will cease to be abstruse terms, and pretty boring tablets will be able to surprise everyone again. And there – who knows? Perhaps the mysterious channels on Mars will be found again.
