FUTURE PDA

MY IDEAL PERSONAL GADGET

Like many, I have often mused about what would be the perfect personal digital assistant. Ideally, I'd like a device which could replace all my separate mobile devices as detailed on the Mobile Hardware page, so I would have less to carry. I doubt that would happen though, especially given my fairly extensive requirements.

For those who remember the technology of the late 1980's / early 1990's, I guess what I would like is a cross between Apple's Knowledge Navigator and some very rich multimedia recording and playback capabilities as well as add-on peripheals such as a head mounted display and wireless head mounted camera. Oh, and of course Star Trek's Tricorder and the PADD, and just to make it a bit more challenging, something wearable.

Amongst more recent concepts are Nokia's Aeon and Eco Sensor Concept

There are some devices that are going in the right direction; the Nokia N810, the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch, the Fujitsu 1010/810 Lifebook, the OQO 02+ to name but a few, and a lot of the separate components exist, but there is a long way to go......

Some of the home brew hacks to enable constant recording of a person's life (where they want it) indicate a way in which it would be possible to maintain a history of someone's life - something that might be beneficial for their future generations to look back on. In a very simple way, software such as Nokia's Lifeblog do the same, only without the constant video recording or stills photos happening, although applications such as Flickr and Zooomr offer potential in the online stills photographic vein, but only when in range of internet connectivity. So adding functionality such as video or photos would require significant storage - especially if the device will also contain commercial movies and music for personal use, not to mention containing stills photographs.

Essentially then, the requirements would consist of:

• Communications
• Mobile Office
• Multimedia Playback and Recording
• Spatial awareness
• Sensory capability

In order to achieve this, the specifications below represent a wishlist of capabilities for such a device:

General Technical Specifications

• USB host capability,
• USB recharging,
• Removable Battery,
• 512-1024 Gigabytes of Flash Storage (wishful thinking, I know),
• Compact Flash and SDHC card slots,
• Fold out keyboard (hopefully, as good as the keyboard on the Psion 5), or use of haptic feedback technology to simulate a keyboard
• Linux Operating System with a GUI with the ease and simplicity of the Apple iPhone's GUI

Communications

• Built in 3.5G / 4G phone,
• Skype, Gizmo and/or other VOIP/SIP phone call capability
• WiMax,
• WiFi,
• Bluetooth,

Multimedia Playback and Recording

• Digital camera built in (also for use as a webcam),
• HD digital camcorder (using the same optics as the digital camera) built in,
• Video and audio in (so external video cameras and microphones can be connected to the device),
• Video recording at 1080p,
• FLAC, DivX, Ogg Vorbis and Ogg Theora capability, as well as MP2, MP3, MP4 and WAV
• Built in detailed world maps and aerial/satellite photos (especially useful when out of communications range)

Sensory Capability

• GPS with WAAS,
• Inertial Navigation System,
• Environmental Sensors (Temperature, Humidity, Pressure, Ozone, Carbon Monoxide, Light intensity, UV, Sound Pressure Level, pH)
• Medical Sensors (Heart Rate, Blood Pressure)
• Head mounted digital camera connecting to the device via wireless,
• Head mounted HD digital camcorder (using the same optics as the digital camera) connecting to the device via wireless,

External Links