Microsoft's Vision of 2010: Mobile Devices, Tablet PCs, and More

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.istartedsomething.com/20070314/microsoft-2010-rtc/' target='_blank'>http://www.istartedsomething.com/20...osoft-2010-rtc/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"The story involves a scientist who was snowed-in on return from his vacation, forcing him to work as well as give a presentation to 900 other scientists all from the hotel room. It’s a story we can all relate to. The technologies this demo utilities includes smartphones, mobile connectivity, cross-platform communication, Tablet PCs, virtual office synchronization, collaborative editing, professional networking (think LinkedIn), VOIP, internet shopping and remote presentations with video."</i><br /><br /><embed src="http://images.soapbox.msn.com/flash/soapbox1_1.swf" quality="high" width="412" height="362" wmode="transparent" name="msn_soapbox" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" flashvars="c=v&v=1c26eca7-649d-4377-9ae2-d6647025a0eb"></embed><br /><br />This is the kind of collaboration concept that looks good and runs smoothly to the point that it would leave anyone's jaw hanging indefinitely. Think we'll see all this (minus that infamous Moto device) in 2010? Have your say in this thread.

[Paragon]

For a guy who grew up with rotary phones and party lines, I find this stuff incredibly, fabulously, mind bogglingly, stupendously, completely, humongously, COOL!!!

[alese]

That was really cool indeed...
but with all that cool technology, why was the guy using MPX as his phone 8O

[samw5]

dream on... 2017 may be a bit more realistic.
nah seriously, even if the technology and tools are available to get this kind of user interactivity to work on a corporate lvl is gonna take a miracle (or at least hours of tedious and painful training...).

[fresh-popcorn]

dream on... 2017 may be a bit more realistic.
nah seriously, even if the technology and tools are available to get this kind of user interactivity to work on a corporate lvl is gonna take a miracle (or at least hours of tedious and painful training...).


I totally agree...

[Phronetix]

Furthermore, Microsoft needs to get its collective ducks in a row to actually pull that off seamlessly at any point in the future.

They talk a good game, I'll give them that.

Dennis

[Paragon]

I'm not sure what I'm missing. I think this is very cool......and I don't see what is so far out of reach about it all. There isn't much there that isn't far from what is available now. It is mostly integration, and expansion of existing capabilities.

Teams like they illustrated there are doing many things like that now with Microsofts "Groove" with video conferencing thrown in.

Dave

[Ed@Brighthand]

but with all that cool technology, why was the guy using MPX as his phone 8O
Because this video was produced back in 2005. It still holds up pretty well, though I think it's a bit overly optimistic. For some reason, people predicting the future always seem to think the pace of innovation will be faster than it really is.

[Eriq Cook]

This is pretty neat. But realistically, I doubt we'll see these technologies working together seamlessly like this for another 4-6 years (6 years I'm betting). Sure the technology is available now, but it'd be a mess getting everything to work together as displayed in the video. On top of it you have to think about the Tablet/Notebook PC's with phone capabilities that need to be supported. The successor to Windows Vista will most likely have much more "interactive" features but we're still a ways from this scenario.

2010, in 3 years? I'll be surprised if I see it available and working this good. I'd be in heaven.

[jimfee]

That was really cool indeed...
but with all that cool technology, why was the guy using MPX as his phone 8O

The MPX wasn't the only obsolete hardware dug up to look futuristic, all the Tablets were Compaq TC1100s (discontinued by HP). Both of those had unique form factors that haven’t been replaced by anything in the market.

[Perry Reed]

So apparently in the future, not only does MOTO bring back the MPX, but HP brings back the TC1x00 tablets as well. Cool! :)

Seriously, I like the concept, but I think collaboration will continue to be focused on text and documents for quite a bit longer before eventually moving to voice and sometime after that to video. I think common, often, video collaboration is a bit farther away than 2010.

[SteveHoward999]

I don't see why everyone is so sure this sort of thing is so far away. I'd be amazed if there are not innovative comapnies already doing most, iof not all of this on a daily basis. As has been pointed out, most of the technology is in place already ... the only thing that surprised me was the way he miraculously generated a list of suitable statisticians ;-)

Looking at One Note, TabletPC, PocketPC and Exchange 2007, this all looks completely reachable by 2010 to me.

[Perry Reed]

I don't see why everyone is so sure this sort of thing is so far away. I'd be amazed if there are not innovative comapnies already doing most, iof not all of this on a daily basis. As has been pointed out, most of the technology is in place already ... the only thing that surprised me was the way he miraculously generated a list of suitable statisticians ;-)

Looking at One Note, TabletPC, PocketPC and Exchange 2007, this all looks completely reachable by 2010 to me.

I'm not saying that the technology is that far away; it's probably already mostly here. I'm saying that the common, often use of that technology is farther away.

[SteveHoward999]

I'm not saying that the technology is that far away; it's probably already mostly here. I'm saying that the common, often use of that technology is farther away.

Oh - that's a whole different ballgame :-) 10 years ago I was building multimedia training packages with full-screen video. It probably took another 5, 6 maybe 7 years before 'everyone' was watching full-screen video ... So ai know what you mean.

"Mainstream technology" means different things to different people and different industries :-)

[Perry Reed]

I'm not saying that the technology is that far away; it's probably already mostly here. I'm saying that the common, often use of that technology is farther away.

Oh - that's a whole different ballgame :-) 10 years ago I was building multimedia training packages with full-screen video. It probably took another 5, 6 maybe 7 years before 'everyone' was watching full-screen video ... So ai know what you mean.

"Mainstream technology" means different things to different people and different industries :-)

Personally I think it's more of a cultural issue. Like, for example, voice recognition. Been around forever and is getting really really good. But how many people feel comfortable dictating an email in a cubicle? Or at an airport? How well do you like being on a speakerphone? Now add video.

I'm sure it'll happen eventually, but not any time soon. Plus, not only will the technology need to be available, but cheap and commonplace as well.

[Eitel]

That video was amazing. The only reason that didn't make me believe it, was that none of those devices crashed. All those windows devices running smothly without slowing down those computers, please.

[JesterMania]

Cool concept and in my opinion, very realistic and do-able. The thing that makes me wonder though is on the data usage. If the data plans are anything like what they are now in North America (totally unaffordable to the general public) we aren't going to see this taking off.

[Janak Parekh]

Furthermore, Microsoft needs to get its collective ducks in a row to actually pull that off seamlessly at any point in the future.
That was precisely my thought. Here we are in 2007, and we still have a broken wired sync solution on Pocket PCs. And they're expecting we'll have seamless wireless behavior between tablet PCs and Pocket PCs? Nice try. :)

In all honesty, the pieces for the technology are here today -- it's a matter of execution. Microsoft certainly controls the tools to realize this vision, but they're still a ways away from integrating all of their pieces together.

--janak

[Perry Reed]

Cool concept and in my opinion, very realistic and do-able. The thing that makes me wonder though is on the data usage. If the data plans are anything like what they are now in North America (totally unaffordable to the general public) we aren't going to see this taking off.

In fairness to the video, it pretty much only shows the data access in an office (no charge), and at the airport (many offer free WiFi), and in a hotel (again, free WiFi).

I pay $15/month flat rate for all the data I can use on Sprint. Seems pretty affordable to me. I do think the data cards that folks put in their computers for mobile data are too expensive. Sprint wants $45/month for theirs when I can just tether my phone, even wirelessly over BT, and use my $15/month plan.

[SteveHoward999]

Cool concept and in my opinion, very realistic and do-able. The thing that makes me wonder though is on the data usage. If the data plans are anything like what they are now in North America (totally unaffordable to the general public) we aren't going to see this taking off.

It was all put together as a business solution anyway. For business use, for an executive, data plans are not expensive.

What I want to see is a similar video showing how useful similar tools could be when given a consumer slant. Imagine keeping a large family in touch and in sync with the kind of tools demonstrated.

[TOCA]

That was really cool indeed...
but with all that cool technology, why was the guy using MPX as his phone 8O

Why was he woried about a delayed airplane in the first place?

Wit technology like that, up and running, why would you eaven need to go to a conferece room, when you could just as easy sit at home, doing the whole thing :?

[Jason Lee]

Aaahh.. the future is a dream land.. where i will never have to wear pants again... :lol:

[BarryB]

It seems pretty clear by now that mobile connectivity is the killer app among mobile devices. I say that knowing full well that "mobile connectivity" is a broad term. By that term, I mean people keeping in touch with other people and, by extension, keeping in touch with those people through third party sites. These sites might be invite sites or simply announcement on social networking sites.

I think that person to person connectivity will continue to reign in 2010. I see mobile connection to information like weather forecasts, stock reports, and news as being a close second. What I see being significantly different is the way in which the connectivity and information is obtained by people.

Despite efforts to kill 802.11x by mobile providers with their efforts at mobile broadband, I think wifi will continue to provide good broadband service to people who are stationary for an hour or two at a time. Mobile broadband is more for those who are in constant motion, such as traveling in a car.

I predict you'll see more e-ink devices with wifi available for the enterprise, but you'll see a lot more of these lightweight 8.5 x 11 display size readers in 2015. I think you'll see the replacement of the Daytimers by 5 x 8 e-ink devices that have lots of storage as well as handwriting recognition. If you have room to carry a Daytimer, then you'll have room to carry something 1/5 the thickness.

I do not think you'll ever see the same sort of information available on a desktop available on a phone or PDA. You might see it on a 8.5 x 11 e-ink reader, but maybe not be 2010.

I do think you'll see more and more mobile spam/telemarketers on your mobile phone. If the growth of spam on your desktop and telemarketers on your landline is any indication, you might actually see a backlash in which people who really want your attention will send you snail mail instead of email.

Flame on, folks!

[SteveHoward999]

I do not think you'll ever see the same sort of information available on a desktop available on a phone or PDA. You might see it on a 8.5 x 11 e-ink reader, but maybe not be 2010.


I used to use a Toshiba Libretto occasionally - http://www.silverace.com/libretto/libretto100u.jpg (actual size) - it was fine, if fiddly, for use a sa full PC.

I've used my VGA PDA to access my laptop remotely with LogMeIn, with the screen set to 1024x768 (LogMeIn scales it automatically) ant it is completely usable.

OK not quite a full PC experience, and certainly not an option for anyone with remotely challenged near vision! But it really is possible to get a 'full screen' experience on a handheld device. The 5 inch screen of the Athena probably makes this an even more practical option!

Besides - I don't think anyone is fooled into thinking the full PC experience is feasible on a mobile screen, but if you have one of these

http://www.microvision.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSTxv0kqyVw

... the rules change a little ;-)