[Gooseberry Falls]

I mean about tablets and dumb terminals:
Apple and Samsung Could Be Dethroned by Asus' Radical New Device (AAPL, GOOG, SSNLF)

Motorola has already tried something similar with Webtop and Lapdocks, albeit the lapdock was more a netbook form factor than a tablet. What's going to make the PadPhone a success?

[BergerKing]

At this point it would be wait and see. ASUS builds some nice hardware, but they are trying to break into a somewhat saturated market. I'd wish anyone looking to make inroads luck right now.

Also fleshed out your title to expand the thought.

[serbanescu]

I don't believe so.

It's better to have a stand-alone tablet for a number of reasons, here is a short list that came to my mind:

- you don't overburden your phone's battery by doing ALL the processing you need on the phone side
- you can use your phone AND your tablet at the same time (or you can lend one of them to someone else)
- you can use one of them as a BACKUP device in case the other is lost, or malfunctions, or simply has a depleted battery

So, in my opinion, "smart" tablets are here to stay.

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[LoganSix]

Frankly... all a tablets and PCs is are just peripherals to the "processor".
The future is having your personal "processor" that connects to available peripherals to either display or provide inputs.

The re-boot of Total Recall shows a perfect example. Not that embedded phones in your hand is a good idea. But, placing your phone/processor on a piece of glass or an available display and using it as a larger screen, with the phone/processor providing all the brains. Instead of having a laptop, a desktop, a tablet, etc.... one very powerful device that can connect to other devices and use those devices capabilities while interacting.

Some guy made a video that mimics the Total Recall hand phone.

[serbanescu]

One more thing...

My opinion is that even Thorsten Heins didn't believe his own words, but used this "doctrine" as a convenient excuse for BlackBerry not having a good tablet strategy in place.

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[dejanh]

I don't believe so.

It's better to have a standalone tablet for a number of reasons, here is a short list that came to my mind:

- you don't overburden your phone's battery by doing ALL the processing you need
- you can use your phone AND your tablet at the same time (or you can lend one of them to someone else)
- you can use one of them as a BACKUP device in case the other is lost, or malfunctions, or simply has a depleted battery

So, in my opinion, "smart" tablets are here to stay.

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Pic Tagger for BB10 and PlayBook

This has to be the weakest argument for tablets I've ever heard.

Posted via CB10

[kbz1960]

This has to be the weakest argument for tablets I've ever heard.

Posted via CB10

Why? Because all they can and will ever be is content consumption devices?

[serbanescu]

This has to be the weakest argument for tablets I've ever heard.

Posted via CB10

Well, it is not an argument for the tablets in general, it's an argument for "stand-alone" tablets vs. "dumb" tablets.

Anyhow, these simple ideas could be weak in their own right. It would be great to hear the strong ones, so please don't keep us waiting.

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[BlackBerry Guy]

I think we'll eventually see more integration between phone and tablet (like Bridge) , but not to the point of the tablet becoming just a large dumb screen powered by your phone. There are advantages to keeping the tablet as it's own device. I can even see it where the phone becomes almost like an identity module, where connecting it to a tablet or terminal would allow for cloud based apps and information to be displayed and used.

While Heins' vision may very well be headed in the right direction of the future, I think it was just used more as a convenient excuse at the time to explain why the company didn't have a tablet.

Posted via the Android CrackBerry App!

[Gooseberry Falls]

Well, Motorola's Webtop solution initially fired up a linux session with Firefox giving a true desktop web browsing experience. So it actually had some added value, e.g. something that the phone itself couldn't deliver. Google made Motorola drop Webtop after the acquisition. And if Google didn't see the potential, who would? The PadPhone will just mirror the phone on a bigger screen. I would think that when Miracast/DLNA/WiDi become commonplace on display devices, that would be better than having to physically dock them.

[m1kr0]

BB and tablets don't go down too well in the same sentence without resulting in flashbacks and broken promises. The competition out there is awesome and the fight between iPad and android is heated. NO space for a BB tablet, dumb or smart presently.

Posted via the Android CrackBerry App!

[togarika]

Dumb tablets will definately not catch on because its just additional hardware to your phone that you won't need and besides who would want to be carrying around a gadget that won't work without your phone.

IMHO the line between what we call a phone and a tablet will continue to blur and phablets will most likely take centre stage. Integration of these phablets with peripheral devices like your TV, car etc will increase to an extent that they can be used either as input or output fro your device.

[Powdah]

I am hoping to see Ubuntu touch on the Asus Padfone by next fall. I would jump without thinking. My dream machine unless BB gets it's act together and shows us some aggression in the market place. BB10 on the Padfone would be even more awesome.

[heymaggie]

People will quickly realize what a bad idea this is when the person with the smartphone leaves the area and what you are left with is something sitting in front of you that looks like a tablet, feels like a tablet, but is totally useless. Meanwhile, there is someone nearby using an iPad Air which weighs 1 pound. I can't imagine ever wanting a dumb tablet taking up space on my desk, kitchen table, coffee table, car, etc.

The fully functional brain of a tablet is about the size of two packs of gum so unless you are looking to save about $75 worth of components, I don't see what the point of a dumb tablet is.

[fyngfyn]

im not going to give Thors the benefit of the doubt that he is right. he been wrong way too many times. he is wrong about his own company product not being able to support bb10. how can you take any of his statement seriously?

[Gooseberry Falls]

Well, maybe marketing will prove to be the difference. Looks like the PadPhone will be sold together. Most other dumb docking devices were sold as high priced accessories no one bought.

[xxxmerlinxxx]

I really wish someone would concentrate on new Battery Technology instead of worrying about what the next fad/device will be. It really is the one thing that hasn't changed in years. We are constantly cramming more technology into a phone, but without a huge battery we are lucky most of our phones last a day. They company who develops a new battery that can outlast what we have now will definitely be ahead of the curve. Then we can worry about all the cool new devices that would benefit from this and all the other technologies available.

[sinsin07]

I mean about tablets and dumb terminals:
Apple and Samsung Could Be Dethroned by Asus' Radical New Device (AAPL, GOOG, SSNLF)

Motorola has already tried something similar with Webtop and Lapdocks, albeit the lapdock was more a netbook form factor than a tablet. What's going to make the PadPhone a success?

Samsung would be a better candidate to pull this off.
Asus doing it puts in nich territory.
Nothing to worry about here.

If Samsung even gets a whiff this might go somewhere they'll copy it and market the heck out of it.

[TioPepe78]

Every time I connect my Z30 to my TV via HDMI and pair it to a Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse the more I believe so... anyway phones will have to come a long way in battery capacity, storage and processing to be the only one device but I see it could happen in a few years.

[THBW]

There will always be niche for tablets in their current form but it is smaller than people think. When you break it all down, people like tablets because of the larger screen. What they don't like are that tablets are stand alone devices. If you could truly tether the computing power of a phone to a larger screen, then you have something. Without all the bells and whistles, the screen could be built for 50 dollars. This is the cost of any peripheral and would be attractive option.

[jdcfinisher]

Batteries already are a top priority. As more than one expert in the field has said the current batteries are one small step short of bombs for the amount of power in them. That's why everyone is looking at fuel cells, but they are just to expensive right now .

Posted via CB10

[mphillips828]

Just an idea I had when reading all of this...especially the article about ASUS..

What if BlackBerry were to make a peripheral device (dummy device) that easily connects with a BlackBerry either through a dock/usb/hdmi/or even bluetooth to display the BlackBerry phone on that device...NOW the difference is that BlackBerry should make it UNIVERSAL! ASUS is keeping it to Android and strictly their ASUS phone...

BlackBerry could start a new trend and create a new market for themselves by creating the device that is a dummy screen...using either usb, bluetooth or hdmi whatever jack the phone has...even iPhone if they could somehow create an adapter to get it to work...bluetooth would be the best way to set up the device as an external display...then that means every OS and phone could potentially be used on this BlackBerry dummy tablet...and if it has a great screen and sound quality then it could provide people a warm feeling when they think of BlackBerry!

It would be the beginning of a change in perception towards BlackBerry...people would see that the brand created a product that they use on a daily basis, and that would result in better brand recognition and happier users overall...which would result in people switching over to BB10 hopefully...

Just a long shot idea, but a UNIVERSAL dummy tablet would be by far the greatest thing as you could even connect it to a friends phone to watch a video they may have, or show pictures they have from their device...would be awesome!

LETS GO BLACKBERRY!

[heymaggie]

What they don't like are that tablets are stand alone devices.

People don't like that their tablet has wifi or cellular data connectivity, runs its own multimedia and apps? If stand-alone tablets are so redundant then people would have given up all of these features including the cameras a long time ago, yet, from what I can tell, front and rear facing cameras on tablets are as popular as ever.

[shahyaz]

I think so... I'm soon going to start working from home purely through my Z10. Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse have arrived (and work splendidly) and I have a remote desktop app which will allow me to access my desktop from home. I get to plug my Z10 into my 60-inch and get to work.

It's getting there. It's not perfect yet, but I think old T-Heins was on to something.

[fyngfyn]

Every time I connect my Z30 to my TV via HDMI and pair it to a Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse the more I believe so... anyway phones will have to come a long way in battery capacity, storage and processing to be the only one device but I see it could happen in a few years.

just wondering. do you do that just to test it out to see if it works, or u actually use it? if you are home wouldn't you use ur pc or laptop instead? don't really see how this is practical