Random Thoughts 3

Once again, there are some thoughts in my head that I need to get posted, and it involves something that was recently posted this time. One of the things Tsubasa mentioned is how we often think that some devices have so much potential but due to software, they are severely held back. There are some things I own that I wish I could change a lot of things on. Some changes are small, much like the Treo line using a 3.5MM headphone jack so I could listen to music, but some are much more major changes. This time, I want to discuss some changes to some hardware I have, yet was held back by software.

The first device is the one that Tsubasa mentioned yesterday in his post, the Sig3. Known officially as the NTT DoCoMo Sigmarion III, this is a Japanese only device as it was never sold here officially, although it has a bit if a following in the Windows CE user base. You may recall that I did a review of this device when I got it from Tsubasa last summer. Since getting the device, there has been one thing that made it less useful for me, the software, or the lack of software to be more to the point.

The Sig3 has a great set of features it brings to the table, but some of the big ones are missing, when I think they could have added them. For example, it has a 5" WVGA screen, which is 800x480 for those who need to know, but they could have easily added a 6 or even 7" screen I think. My tablet is the same size, and have a 7" screen. So in this modern take on the classic Sig3, I think the screen from the current Android tablets should be used. In other words, a 7" capacitive multitouch screen, running at least 1024x600 or higher.

Now, the thing is, for this device, the changes are major hardware changes, so it is more of a dream device then a simply tweak a few things, so while I am writing a nice wish list of things the Sig4 would need to have, let's go overboard if price was no problem.

The design should stay the rather the same, replacing the SD and CF slots with a full-size USB port and a micro SD slot. The device would also need to include both Bluetooth and WiFi, as well as optional prepaid 4G modem. Also included would be some small things like a pointer nub mouse, for when you need to use the device on the move, it would be a lot easier to use this instead of the touch screen. The device would also need to keep the keyboard, which although small, I find that once you get used to it, it can be extremely handy to have.

For the processor, we should go with a nice Tegra 3 quadcore, and of course a lot of RAM, starting with 2GB, and make it expandable. For software, Android Jelly Bean of course. This would be more of a work horse then a typical tablet which is used for games and Facebook.