It’s pretty hard to shake off the topic of convergence and the Internet of Things these days as the tech industry is very much in flux.
It’s pretty hard to shake off the topic of convergence and the Internet of Things these days as the tech industry is very much in flux. On one hand, we’re seeing more and more custom or niche devices being created. For example, the popularity of fitness and activity trackers have spun off all kinds of dedicated peripherals to track everything from your golf swings and tennis strokes to bedroom shenanigans. The wearables market has become just about anything that a tracker can be attached on.
Smartphones continue to be the center of this growth, since apps are an essential component to any other smart device today. And although a few major brands dominate the consumer mindshare, according market analysis reports such as those from GfK, there were 23,000 different smartphone models released in the year 2015 alone.
At the same time, personal computing has been undergoing a steady shift towards a having one common device. Smartphones opened the doors to apps and as they become more complex, they’ve taken over many tasks that used to be Upon approval Please sign: Name and Date: Hardware within the domain of PCs. Today, heavy-duty tasks such as RAW photo editing and 3D modeling can be done on a mobile device. The cloud has made it such that data can easily be synced across multidevice and multi-platform environments. Screen sizes of phones have grown, while those of tablets and notebooks have shrunk. The industry now favors hybrids and convertibles that suit multiple roles, and even software - from apps to operating systems - have been homogenized between desktop and mobile versions over the years for a consistent experience and feel.
Perhaps one day, we will discover a mythical golden ratio that balances size, battery life, portability, connectivity, features and performance. A mobile avatar will be produced that defies categorization and connects everything. It will be your one device to rule them all - the smartphabtop. Wait, what was I talking about again? In any case, enjoy this issue of HWM.
