The REAL Net Device Killer Apps
By David Haskin
Managing editor, allNetDevices
August 2, 1999 -- Two industry analysts claimed last week that instant messaging will be the killer app for Net devices. We agree, but the analysts forgot one other killer app and one emerging form factor that, we belive, will be even bigger.
Instant messaging, for the most part, is for small talk. We're much more taken with the practicality of payment applications such as PayPal, which could permanently change for the better how we conduct our finances.
With PayPal on your handheld, for example, you could settle your lunch tab with a friend by beaming a payment to her PayPal-activated Net device. The process charges the payment to your credit card and credits it to hers.
That's convenient and it's only the beginning. This class of applications will enable you to beam payments to virtually any business. You could use your handheld to buy a Pepsi at a vending machine and to pay for your new khakis at The Gap.
Consumers could wirelessly upload purchases and fund transfers from their handheld or smart phone to Quicken or Microsoft Money on their desktop systems. No checks, no annoying credit slips, no typos. Business users could pay for hotels, rental cars, cabs and airline tickets, then upload the information to a back-end accounting application. No more filling out expense reports. For both consumer and business users, managing money becomes easier and more precise.
The analysts also neglected a new form factor we believe could be a smash hit: the tablet-sized handheld. Hitachi is about to release the first such device, which it inexplicably has named ePlate. That product probably won't be a bestseller because Hitachi is aiming it at vertical markets and, at $1200, it's pricey, but we think it points the way to the future.
EPlate is a Windows CE device that's about the size of a pad of paper. It has a 7.5-inch VGA display (and VGA output for presentations), a touch-screen and the usual bunch of scaled-back Microsoft Office applications.
So what's so compelling about ePlate? Tablet-sized handhelds could be the happy-medium that requires the fewest sacrifices for business users and consumers. Let's face it: handheld and smart phone screens are hard to read and neither has much computing power.
Tablet-sized devices are big enough to support faster processors and lots of RAM and, at under two pounds, they are light enough to comfortably schlep through airports. Plus, they're much easier to read for extended periods than smaller handhelds and smart phones.
They do need more powerful applications than those woeful pocket Office programs and they must be connectable to the wireless infrastructure. When that occurs, you'll be able to log on to the Internet or a corporate database from an airport or the beach and actually use the information you get there without going blind. When you return home or to your office, you can connect the tablet device to a standard keyboard and use it like a standard computer.
Instant messaging, payment applications and tablet-sized devices all require next-generation wireless communications before they can be successful. However, with the Bluetooth spec finally released and broader-band third-generation (3G) wireless technology approaching quickly, we believe these three types of products will radically change the Net device terrain in the next two years.
Related stories:
Experts Call Instant Messaging the Net Device Killer App
Nokia Invests in Net Device Payment Technology
Hitachi Announces Tablet-sized ePlate |
