2. From Smartphones to Superthin Tablets

Like Intel’s Mobile Internet Device concept, Salvatori thinks you need something a little bigger than a phone to enjoy the Web and video: “a mobile computing device that’s more mobile than a notebook”. And he doesn’t think cut-down mobile browsers are the way forward, because users want the same Web 2.0 experience they’re used to. Fitting all of that in requires a larger screen, and he predicts that we’ll see plenty of “mobile computing devices” with 9” to 12” screens, like the second concept device that Qualcomm is showing off.

This is an ultra-thin 9” tablet computer that makes most netbooks look like hulking heavyweights: with no need for a fan nor any other cooling, both the case and screen are very slim, even though this unit is a touchscreen. It opens up like a notebook but the Snapdragon-branded hinge rotates all the way around.

Ignore the Windows key on the keyboard, which is obviously an off-the-shelf part; this tablet is running a mobile Linux with applications like CoolFox for playing media and ThinkFree office software, as well as VoIP and GPS navigation, and of course email and Web browsing. Could it run Windows 7? “Our target audience wants entertainment, not the full productivity experience”, Qualcomm told us.

Although Qualcomm talks about “all-day computing” on mobile devices, the tablet currently has the 1 GHz Snapdragon processor and a battery life of 4 to 6 hours. By way of comparison, the best Atom-based netbooks deliver that today, but with Wi-Fi, not mobile broadband.

Actual devices based on these two concept models will be available in the first half of 2009. So far, 15 manufacturers have signed up to make devices with either 4-6” screens or 9-12” screens, and there are 30 different devices under development.