New Platforms Go Beyond Smartphones 2New Platforms Go Beyond Smartphones 2

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Lenovo Skylight Smartbook

Enter the in-between platforms: devices that are smaller and lighter than notebooks and more capable than phones. Netbooks are the first success story here, but other devices, with names like smartbooks and mobile Internet devices, are about to be released.

As you evaluate these new platforms, ask these basic questions: Which operating system will you use? Whom will you buy from? What kind of service plan is right for your business? Should you use 3G, Wi-Fi, or both? How does phone tethering figure in? And what kind of security do you need? information Analytics' "Mobile Broadband: Beyond Smartphones" report provides insight into all of these areas to help you decide which device is best for your company.

How To Pick Your Mobile Platform

A useful way to think of these platforms is either as supersized smartphones or downsized notebooks. If you're downsizing from a notebook to a netbook, there's a good chance you'll use some of the same apps, like Microsoft Office and Lotus Notes, on a Windows device. But if you're upsizing from a smartphone, you'll expect an instant-on capability and a battery life that gets you through the day, and you'll likely be OK with a non-Windows OS.

Netbooks weigh about three pounds--half as much as notebooks. They typically don't have CD/DVD drives. Their processors aren't as powerful as notebooks, so you won't be editing photos and videos; you may even have difficulty playing videos. And don't expect to work on a large number of applications simultaneously.

Wi-Fi functionality is standard on netbooks, and many models have an embedded 3G modem. They typically have 10-inch screens with 1,024-by-600 resolution. Hard drives range from 80 GB to 250 GB, and solid-state drives will become increasingly common. Though SSDs cost more and have lower capacity, currently maxing out at 64 GB, they use less power and make for more durable systems. Netbook keyboards are more compact than those on notebooks, but they're still highly usable. Battery life varies. With continual but light usage, you might make it through the day. Prices range from $300 to $600. Intel's Atom chip, designed for netbooks, is driving most of the ones on the market. It consumes very little power and costs less than notebook processors.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset is aimed at smartbooks, which should start to show up this year. Smartbooks combine key attributes of smartphones, notebooks, and netbooks to produce a device that's always connected, ultraportable, and Web-centric. They'll be smaller than netbooks and have longer battery lives and instant-on capabilities. Linux and Google Chrome are the likely operating systems, though Windows will be prevalent as well. Vendors are giving these devices different names. Intel is calling them "mobile Internet devices," Qualcomm is using the term "smartbook," and Nokia has coined the term "booklet."

With the Atom chip, Intel is pursuing a dual-stack strategy, including both Windows and the Moblin Linux implementation. Linux will be used in a tangled weave of other implementations, including the Open Handset Alliance's Android, Sun Microsystems' JavaFX, Palm's WebOS, Adobe's Flash, and Nokia's Maemo and Trolltech QTopia. Because Linux is highly fragmented, expect versions backed by giants like Google and Intel to be the ones that dominate. Apple has just introduced its iPad tablet and could become a strong presence in the subnetbook world as well.

In deciding which type of device to use, consider whether you need to run local applications or can work via the Web. Local apps will in most cases favor netbooks and Windows, whereas cloud-based computing will make Linux devices more feasible. As for size, the more users have to "create" on the device, the larger a display and keyboard they'll need.

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