What more hardware enhancement do we need to the already 'Smart' phones/tablets of this era?

Replies

• 

  Anoop Mathew

  Let's stick to discuss about just hardware representation of the phone/tablet including the foam factor, choice of material and build quality, durability, eco-friendliness, and all the other concerns than surround the device and could enhance prolonged usage of one device over to 'needless' replacements.
  
  What included in a smartphone's/Tablet's/phablet's/'Phablets' too slabby? Check out the 'Passport'!'s hardware would be really useful? Let's think outside the box on this.
  
  P.S.: Project ARA is also going on with customization hardware option for phones, but let's think of ways to improve on it.
  
  #Post.Bendgate
• 

  Anoop Kumar

  For hardware improvement only, not for changing every other month.
  
  Photographer: I want to run Phototoshotp CS6 on my mobile
  Gamer: Can't pause my Battlefield while commuting.
  Hipster: I want to watch 4K video on my full HD phone.
  <---some other--->
  If it is possible to put supercomputing processor in mobile then why not, I got extra money to spend.
• 

  lal

  #-Link-Snipped-#, my average PC does all the work you mentioned. And it's specs are comparable to most smart phones right now in the market.
  
  Theorotically, a modern phone should be able to do the mentioned tasks when you look at the spec. Wonder what limits that from happening! Seriously, I wonder what limits it. Should that be the firmware then? May be, we need a better firmware/OS than a killer hardware.
• 

  Anoop Kumar

  I agree that most of our task can done on any average smartphone, let say Android one. Even, I am still using galaxy SII, it fits for all my need except big games and apps.
  But, if chip maker can fit hardware in a pocket then why not use it. Why opposing it. People who wants to burn money let them burn.
  Think in other way, if hight end phones would not have pushed to quad core, octa-core processor, there would no RedMi a $100 phone which can let you play high end game and run heavy apps on great HD great screen.
  Point is hardware is getting cheap in market (or, may be it was always cheap) . Let's use it.
  But people are so idiotic to change the phone every year just for sake of show-off, you can't help.
  
  I disagree that a average PC (4GB ram and quad core processor) can sustain Battlefield and Photoshop 6 (try processing >50 mp image or HDR)
• 

  lal

  Photoshop runs smoothly, not sure about Battle Field. I seldom plays games.
• 

  Anoop Mathew

  Anoop Kumar

  Think in other way, if hight end phones would not have pushed to quad core, octa-core processor, there would no RedMi a $100 phone which can let you play high end game and run heavy apps on great HD great screen.
  Point is hardware is getting cheap in market (or, may be it was always cheap) . Let's use it.

  I agree. Better innovation will reduce prices and we'd get better options at lower prices. Can't dream of this configuration at such rates before a few years.
  
  

  I disagree that a average PC (4GB ram and quad core processor) can sustain Battlefield and Photoshop 6 (try processing >50 mp image or HDR)

  Again agree. Photoshop requires dedicated RAM when it comes to saving larger images. I've gone through this situation where I'd have to wait for some time (sometimes about 30 minutes) to get the image processed. Even for transferring Color schemes in Photoshop template it takes time.
  
  Video editing can also be a challenge. Gaming lacks performance with multitasking on Laptops if you are using it without charging. The average consumer can't afford a MacBook Air which has performance and battery at an advantage. In the MacBook Air, 4GB of RAM is sufficient for most performances as background processes are 'paused' otherwise in Mac OS.
  
  P.S.: One point I'd like to stress is that now 'more' people can get access/get to experience the high-end-like games for reasonable costs or even for free thanks to Google Play Store and the development. The rest of the OSs have also got more of these apps only after Android developers initiated it.
  
  So taking all this into consideration, I guess a good definite possibility to bridge the still existing gap between PC and Phone is possible with the development of Hardware on these devices.
• 

  Anoop Mathew

  lal

  Photoshop runs smoothly, not sure about Battle Field. I seldom plays games.

  What he meant was for processing larger images such as those used in Flex design. It runs smoothly or equally smooth but rendering and saving takes time when size of the image is really high. Even last minute RGB to CMYK conversion after the entire editing can be a long process.
• 

  Chaitanya Kukde

  #-Link-Snipped-# Honestly, I don't think that a PC with 4 Gigabytes of RAM and a Quad Core processor is an 'average' one.
  Coming back to the main question, I think that hardware has, and will always evolve 'naturally' (Moore's Law can be cited as an example). It all comes down to software to make better use of hardware.
• 

  Anoop Mathew

  Chaitanya Kukde

  #-Link-Snipped-# Honestly, I don't think that a PC with 4 Gigabytes of RAM and a Quad Core processor is an 'average' one.
  Coming back to the main question, I think that hardware has, and will always evolve 'naturally' (Moore's Law can be cited as an example). It all comes down to software to make better use of hardware.

  You can't always expect to optimize higher-requirement PC softwares to smaller sizes unless you give a relatively better hardware.
  
  eg: Photoshop can be done on a tablet if it were given the configuration of a PC. The Photoshop that you get with Google Play Store now is just a small icing of the delicious cake that Photoshop has to offer. You can't limit that with a smaller software size (like the one available till now), you need to show more hardware-hungry specs in order for software developers to work on it. Not necessary that Android should pull this off. But there is a chance to fix phablets and tablets (not talking about 2-in-1 Windows 8 ones as they are expensive) with a full version of photoshop if the hardware were optimized. Can't say if Apple or Windows or any other will come up with it - i.e as a Mobile OS platform rather than a System OS platform.
  
  Now does this make the smartphone big? Yes, initially it would, but with time we can engineer it to suitable sizes (eg: First Macbook size and Macbook Air size now is an example).
• 

  Chaitanya Kukde

  Anoop Mathew

  You can't always expect to optimize higher-requirement PC softwares to smaller sizes unless you give a relatively better hardware.

  OK. You can't run Photoshop on your calculator. Agreed. 😛
  My point here is that software should be dynamic enough to run on hardware which was standard for 3-4 years earlier.
  As for applications which are to be optimized for devices with lower computing power, I don't think there is much that can be done. So maybe Photoshop will always be a product for computers rather than tablets/smartphones; unless the hardware is changed or completely mind-blowing optimization techniques for software are found.
• 

  Anoop Mathew

  Chaitanya Kukde

  OK. You can't run Photoshop on your calculator. Agreed. 😛
  My point here is that software should be dynamic enough to run on hardware which was standard for 3-4 years earlier.
  As for applications which are to be optimized for devices with lower computing power, I don't think there is much that can be done. So maybe Photoshop will always be a product for computers rather than tablets/smartphones; unless the hardware is changed or completely mind-blowing optimization techniques for software are found.

  Its this mind-blowing optimization that i want. Thats also why I mentioned:
  

  So taking all this into consideration, I guess a good definite possibility to bridge the still existing gap between PC and Phone is possible with the development of Hardware on these devices.

  It's not much to ask for as we know and have seen how ideas and innovation have matured over the years.
  
  P.S.: Too boring to use photoshop in sitting position...
• 

  Divyaprakash KC

  Anoop Mathew

  Let's stick to discuss about just hardware representation of the phone/tablet including the foam factor, choice of material and build quality, durability, eco-friendliness, and all the other concerns than surround the device and could enhance prolonged usage of one device over to 'needless' replacements.

  To me it is a question of definition of the smartphone - rather how do you want to use the phone.
  
  We have feature phones and smartphones now. Maybe something in between. I think it would be apt to classify them further. Videophone, game phone, talk phone ( not exactly , but something like these). Then we have an answer.
  
  If you look at any major software, they different versions with varying features ( basic, standard, enterprise etc). One fit for all is not a practical thing anymore. So mere 'smartphones' does not make any sense to me.
  
  Once I decide that, the answer to the question

  Anoop Mathew

  What included in a smartphone's/Tablet's/phablet's/'Phablets' too slabby? Check out the 'Passport'!'s hardware would be really useful? Let's think outside the box on this.

  .
  
  My answer would be - Let the user choose.
  
  PS :- On second thoughts, how about " Order your own smartphone" options from major players?
• 

  Anoop Mathew

  Divyaprakash

  To me it is a question of definition of the smartphone - rather how do you want to use the phone.
  
  We have feature phones and smartphones now. Maybe something in between. I think it would be apt to classify them further. Videophone, game phone, talk phone ( not exactly , but something like these). Then we have an answer.
  
  If you look at any major software, they different versions with varying features ( basic, standard, enterprise etc). One fit for all is not a practical thing anymore. So mere 'smartphones' does not make any sense to me.
  
  Once I decide that, the answer to the question .
  
  My answer would be - Let the user choose.
  
  PS :- On second thoughts, how about " Order your own smartphone" options from major players?

  I want to get the concept right. I was to bridge the gap between Smartphones, Tablets, Phablets, and Laptops. Just one device should be able to do all your tasks - be it a Big or Small Device.
  
  Your 'smart-device' which can be small should have the option to connect to a larger screen (or screens) and physical keyboard in case you want to extremely work. Just that all this should blend into one device. Instead of spending cash on multiple devices for various purposes, why can't we aim for just one device? Is it too much to dream about?😀
  
  #Dream.Bigger!
• 

  lal

  *off topic*
  
  

  Anoop Mathew

  What he meant was for processing larger images such as those used in Flex design. It runs smoothly or equally smooth but rendering and saving takes time when size of the image is really high. Even last minute RGB to CMYK conversion after the entire editing can be a long process.

  You should be doing it the other way round. Start editing in CMYK colour model. Anything you insert shall be automatically converted to CMYK. It saves time rather than doing the conversion in the end.
  
  Even though I haven't had vast experience with huge files, I have done some editings for flexes. 70MB or higher PSDs. I still hold my point, it wasn't sluggish, but smooth enough.
• 

  Anoop Mathew

  lal

  *off topic*
  
  You should be doing it the other way round. Start editing in CMYK colour model. Anything you insert shall be automatically converted to CMYK. It saves time rather than doing the conversion in the end.
  
  Even though I haven't had vast experience with huge files, I have done some editings for flexes. 70MB or higher PSDs. I still hold my point, it wasn't sluggish, but smooth enough.

  *off topic reply*
  
  You can't predict sometimes. Some people (at the press) require RGB for printing (and vice-versa as well in other cases). This switching happened to me couple of times in college. It's a 'stupid' situation to fall into. But still it's a situation that you've got to fix most often at the eleventh hour of your programme. [Yeah, the show must go on at all costs] 😒
  
  If you ask me, the worst part is the colour change that occurs when CMYK gets changed to RGB (or vice-versa) and you don't always get the output print you were expecting.
  
  Hell, the last time I edited a brochure for office work, it had to be changed similarly. However, I feel that RGB produces better colors anyhow.
  
  Also you can't work flawlessly with 4GB RAM for video editing. Hence, it's just average.