During a recent Nokia webcast, different images where shown when all of the sudden what looks like a future Communicator-type device a la E90 was shown, this time with an updated design sporting a touch screen. With the announcement of devices like the Blackberry Storm set to be released by the end of the year, from manufacturer RIM, which traditionally has shied away from touch solutions, could start an all-round touch-phone craze, even in the traditional business type devices like the Eseries and Blackberry devices. Do you think business devices should stick to the traditional QWERTY keyboard or opt for both a keyboard/touch interface?

In basic terms Cloud Computing refers to the notion of running applications and services in real-time, even your storage from somewhere in the “clouds”, with such a “cloud” being massive computer servers linked through an internal corporate network or the public Internet .Many believe that this is where the PC is heading and with current  Nseries being categorized as multimedia computers, it doesn’t take much to realize that the same could be done on our mobile devices. With this in mind, can you imagine future Nseries devices with applications, storage or even the entire operating system stored not locally but in the “clouds.” Logically a dependable, constant and fast connection would be critical, but it’s not something that can’t be done with current technology. Such a system could have many benefits that include greater computing efficiency, accessibility of data and applications from anywhere or any phone. Lose your phone and it’s just a matter of disabling your account on that phone and enabling all your settings, apps and operating system on a new one. No worries with Software or firmware updates as these would automatically be applied once runned.

Other benefits that you could think of include cheaper devices, due to the fact that most of the “computing” is done by the servers, self-healing in the sense that in case of failure, there will be a hot backup instance of the application ready to take over without disruption. You could even think of having virtual desktops, or in our case stand-by screens or better yet, several virtual operating systems running at the same time, all handled by the servers. This would do away with having to worry about signing applications or even installing them, the application would immediately be there on a rent-to-use or pay-once-to-use models.  When it comes to storage it would come down to how much space do you need with no traditional memory cards to worry with.  Taking an 8GB microSD card on a trip and worrying that it might fill up could be a thing of the past.

What do you think? Is Cloud Computing the future?

I’m not sure if it’s just me, but it seems that black is one the most if not the most wanted color when it comes to phones and is going to be a very important deciding factor when it comes to purchasing one. I visit several mobile forums and there are plenty of threads requesting info regarding black housings or asking for manufacturers to make a black version of these devices. It seems Nokia is aware of this trend and is going all black when it comes to their phones:  In what color did they make the Music Edition of the N73, N91 and N70? After coming out with N95, they fixed most complaints people had with that device and made the N95 8GB. Guess what color they chose for it and why? Black of course! The reason why is that many users requested this color and many reviews commented that a black version would look hot! Personally I like black phones not only because they won’t get dirty easily, but especially for the fact that the color makes the device look a lot more elegant. When it comes to colors, pink is also very popular with the ladies. I talked with several mobile phone store owners and many told the same story: women want a feature packed phone, but the second most requested attribute is that it comes in pink! Again manufacturers are cashing in on this trend by releasing several “special edition” devices made in various shades of pink. I have several female phone lovers in the family and just the fact that a device is pink with some trendy design is enough reason for them to buy it. It’s a fact that color affects our decision when buying clothing, cars and yes even mobile phones. What do you think: is the future of mobile devices colored Pink and Black? And how does color affect your buying decision?

Image courtesy of: Joeweiderx