With exploding batteries and terror threats prompting
airlines to restrict laptop use, alternatives are coming in for
serious consideration for mobile working
The Sony battery recall affecting the major laptop manufacturers
has brought into question whether end-users actually need laptops
at all.
The recall quickly prompted airlines to warn travellers not to
take onto flights any affected laptops powered by internal
batteries. And the terror alert during the summer also led for a
short time to all laptops going into the baggage hold - a situation
that could arise again.
Not surprisingly, businesses are beginning to ask whether a
typical executive could live without their laptop. With a new
generation of mobile devices emerging, led by smartphones,
Blackberrys and Windows Mobile 5.0, there is growing evidence that
they are presenting a real alternative to traditional laptops and
notebook PCs.
Given the current uncertainty surrounding laptops, Mark Blowers,
senior research analyst at Butler Group, has recommended that IT
directors should now question issuing laptops, regardless of what
end-users want.
Many organisations routinely give laptops to staff requiring
remote access, but Blowers said the case was now far less
compelling.
For communications purposes, employees could swap their laptop
for a smartphone, Blackberry or Mobile Windows 5.0 device, he
pointed out. And for access at home or other offices, staff could
often connect securely via a desktop to the corporate network
through a virtual private network (VPN), he said.
Ovum principal analyst Jeremy Green said that with Wi-Fi built
into small devices, people could connect to networks much more
easily than before, reducing the need to carry around a laptop that
has been fully configured to connect to the corporate network.
Blowers said that the form-based applications run by mobile
users could also run on devices such as smartphones. He cited as an
example Scottish Water's recent decision to issue its field
engineers with smartphones rather than ruggedised laptops.
But figures from analyst firm Gartner paint a different picture,
suggesting that organisations will continue to deploy laptops
widely in the years ahead, partly as replacements for desktops.
Gartner analyst Nick Jones said, "Smartphones are not realistic
replacements for laptops".
Jones said smartphones were unsuitable for content generation
and editing tasks requiring Microsoft Office-type applications, and
were better suited to instant-access-style usage.
But he did regard the availability of Ajax-based browsers on
smartphones as a big boost for mobile applications.
Another possibility for firms to consider is the use of
thin-client devices to access corporate systems, phasing out
localised data storage, whether on desktops or laptops.
"CIOs see the potential for Citrix-based thin-client technology,
which can be used to access the corporate network from any PC,"
said Jones.
But again, as with smartphones, Jones said mobile thin clients
were not ideal for running applications such as PowerPoint and
Excel.
One longer-term vision comes from EDS futurist Jeff Wacker. He
said that evolving technologies could render laptops obsolete.
"One day soon, storage will be carried on-person, IT will be
available anywhere from a computing grid, and technology such as
organic light-emitting diodes will allow any surface to be used as
a display," he said [see box on left].
Whatever the future holds, it seems clear that IT departments
expect to deploy more mobile devices to connect securely to
corporate systems to access data. That in turn should shrink demand
for laptops.
A recent study from Juniper Research forecasts that by 2011
users will spend £2.6bn a year installing antivirus, VPN, data and
file encryption and mobile identity management applications on
mobile phone devices. And that points to different modes of mobile
working in the near future.
The ultimate mobile?
Researchers at the Resonantware labs at NEC have been working on
a series of projects called Near-Future Ubiquitous Networking
Devices Visualised by Designers. One of the more interesting ideas
is for a portable PC based on a pen. Called P-ISM, the gadget
separates the PC's main functions into five devices shaped like
fountain pens that users could carry in their pocket.
One pen is a mobile phone with a handwriting data input function
another is a virtual keyboard the third is a tiny projector, the
fourth a scanner and camera function, and the fifth is a personal
ID key.
The components of the P-ISM connect via short-range wireless
technology. The whole set-up is also connected to the internet
through the mobile phone function.
www.nec-design.co.jp/showcase/index.html#pism
Next generationdisplays
Organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), are designed to replace
liquid crystal displays on laptops and handheld computers.
Pioneered by Kodak, OLED technology uses substances that emit red,
green, blue or white light.
Unlike LCDs, OLEDs need no backlight to illuminate the display.
Instead, an electrical charge causes the organic layer of the
display to emit light. The omission of the bulky backlight makes an
OLED display cheaper to manufacture than a conventional LCD, and
thinner and lighter too.
It also means that OLEDs can be installed on almost any surface
and could be used to overcome the limitation of small displays on
smartphones.