Warning: Convergence ahead

In the future, we'll all be using a single device for work, rest and play – true? Well, the tech giants parading their goods at the recent IFA consumer electronics show believe they can deliver this technological utopia by the end of the year.

Sony, Toshiba, Samsung and Dell all revealed Windows 8 tablet/laptop hybrids with a combination of pens, rotating touch screens and keyboards. Great, one device fits all so this must be the future! Hold on, take a deep breath and stand back for a moment…

Apple's current line-up includes svelte laptops (slimline Airs and powerful MacBooks), the new slimmer, longer and faster iPhone5 and iPod Touch and the iPad family (more on that next month). They don't seem to be combining this lot into one device – far from it. Rather than build a single device that tries really hard to be everyone's friend like an enthusiastic puppy, they offer us a range of products that perform the best job in any given situation.

I remember clearly having an 'exchange of views' via LinkedIn prior to the launch of the first iPad. Someone had a strong opinion regarding the necessity of a stylus for the forthcoming tablet and how Apple couldn't afford to launch without one. My point was that the strength of the iPad would lie in its ability to work perfectly without the need for any extraneous peripherals – i.e. a stylus or keyboard. Both my hands feature built-in screen activation devices and the digital interpretation of a physical keyboard works effectively enough.

The iPad still functions beautifully without the need for extras and it certainly benefits from the additional weight and bulk saved. I've typed this whole article on my laptop and haven't once felt the need to touch the screen although I'd be happy to invest in a multitouch iMac (which designer wouldn't want a digital drawing board and hands up players looking for the ultimate gaming table).

The new iPod Touch is aimed firmly at the gaming market, likely to induce a final Nintendo DS death rattle and provide a superb touch and-tilt controller to accompany Apple devices across the range, from iPads to iMacs to Apple TV. More device sales, less convergence.

I'm not saying convergence isn't a good thing – it is. It's just that the technology we're being offered isn't up to the job. I want a smartphone that weighs less than my e-ink Kindle, folds out to the size of a tablet with a gestural table-top keyboard and the power of a laptop. Anything else is a compromise.

Nokia, Motorola and Amazon presented their latest devices this week and none of them were trying too hard to offer something their audiences don't want or need so they get brownie points for that. Nokia and Motorola however lose points (and $millions wiped of their share price) for showcasing hardware we can't actually buy yet.

This is just the beginning of the middle as we head deeper into gadget launch season. Nokia are still making phones, Amazon and Kobo have strengthened their positions in the e-Reader and tablet markets and laptop manufacturers are facing an identity crisis. Apple have shown their latest hand with another card in their back pocket for next month.

Design and innovation have key roles to play in this: Design = how it looks and feels, Innovation = how it works and empowers. Watch this space...

Midas Touch

When Apple introduced the latest iPod Nano, one of the first accessories to emerge was an after-market strap that turned the mini music device into an iWatch. A nice idea but it was never the timepiece Jony Ive would have envisioned had he started from scratch.

Enter the SLYDE, designed by Jorge Hysek for Swiss watchmaker HD3, a touchscreen wrist watch offering a range of detailed screen themes, including customisation to show your own photographs.

The streamlined water-resistant body houses the integrated horizontally and vertically-scrolling touchscreen and is offered in a range of colours and materials – tasteful monochrome titanium with leather or rubber wrist bands to pink gold and alligator-print straps. From secret agent to footballer’s wife, most bases are covered here.

HD3 is better known for its high-end flights of fancy within the watch-making community and previous creations appeared to have been given life and risen from the pages of H G Wells’ The Time Machine – a world away from a regular high street chronograph.

So why the step from the past to the future, neatly side-stepping the present? HD3’s supplier of movements went bankrupt in 2009 so Hysek chose to explore a new business model and focused on re-imagining his complex mechanical workings into digital rather than physical theatre.

Is the SLYDE an homage to Apple’s mutlitouch domination? The technology and its presentation certainly is. The product design is tastefully addressed (in the right colour and material) but doesn’t delight in the same way an Ive creation does. I’d expect a seamless unibody or an unexpected fusion of materials to generate an immediate “I want one” reaction in much the same way an iPhone, iPad or MacBook Air does today.

This throws up another issue – the £3,500 price tag. HD3’s original watches commanded a high price, as would be expected for an intricately-crafted hand-made Swiss timepiece. By crossing into the multitouch market immediate parallels are drawn with existing technology at a considerably lower price-point.

Other comparisons can be drawn with the app market as HD3 plan to offer a range of downloadable watch ‘faces’ at £50 – £100 each, asking more for limited editions. This model works for apps when the initial purchase price is considerably lower, then multiple in-app purchases are offered. There is clearly room for a lower priced watch to reach a wider market, then encourage a greater take up of watch face purchases.

LG attempted a touchscreen 3G phone/watch (the LG-GD910) in 2009 but the £500 price, size and slim feature-set put many off and it seems the world still wasn’t ready for a Dick Tracy-style gadget two years ago. The high-end market may well prove a better starting point for 2011.

I’m not saying I wouldn’t like one as I’m a sucker for anything that combines design and technology. Those with enough cash to spare will undoubtedly consider the SLYDE without a second thought just for the opportunity to wrap this best-of-breed timepiece around their wrist.

Following the September 2011 launch, HD3 may still need to look over their shoulder as Apple are working on wearable technology for the US military. The clock may already be ticking for the SLYDE’s high-end dominance (see what I did there?)