Maybe a good cordless headset connected to a small clever device (fountain pen size, battery capacity permitting) in a shirt pocket could do it. Minimal display, minimal tactile input, sort of the basic stuff you have to bring when you walk the dog. All the the different data applications however: streaming sound /video, location services with maps and GPS, radio & TV tuner, games, cameras, rich email -they all need a good display, hi-fi sound system, keyboard, processor capacity and a lot of specific memory, I would prefer to have that in a small PDA-or Nokia Communicator-like device - or maybe more than one. You bring it out when you sit at a table, or in an airport or on a train.
If your scenario did become reality, I think it is safe to say that Qualcomm would lose quite a bit in royalties.
However, I must say that I think it is unlikely that will be the route of future handset/PDA development.
- I dont think that most people are looking to carry multiple devices around. If they were, I think stand-alone PDA's would continue to rule instead of giving way to combo units (which is generally occuring).
- Perhaps an even greater drawback is that many men/women wouldnt be placing the transmitter into a shirt pocket....but rather a pants pocket. Now, I am generally not paranoid about the effects of wireless communication but it would certainly give me pause to place a transmitting device in a pants pocket. Remember, we arent just talking about IS-95 or GSM, but also about WiFi, bluetooth, W-CDMA, and 1xEV-DO. If you are sitting in a relatively empty CDMA cell and using DO, you are going to have your device transmitting on full power for a significant percentage of the time (which rarely occurs in a cellular situation). If nothing else, most of these wireless devices tend to produce quite a bit of heat....that probably wouldnt make for the most comfortable session of web surfing.
Now the science may say that this is all safe, but on an instintice level, but I think guys would be pretty squeamish about having a warm transmitting device down there.
OTOH...it might be popular in some parts of the world, it could keep you warm on a cold winter night ;-).
Slacker |
