Laptop trends
A lot has been written about netbooks over the past year or so but the traditional laptop is still a major force in the IT industry, and their shapes and capabilities continue to evolve. Many of the changes are driven by consumerisation – multi-coloured, interchangeable cases, for example – as well as new, smaller and more powerful processors – such as Intel’s Atom. Here is a short list of trends that users can expect to see emerging in the coming year.
Blu-Ray
The battle over high definition multimedia formats is over and Blu-Ray is now the acknowledged winner. To date Blu-Ray drives have been in relative short supply as the format competed with HD DVD for dominance. Now that Blu-Ray has triumphed, users can expect to see Blu-Ray drives being included in laptops as default by late 2009 and early 2010.
One of the first laptops to ship with Blu-Ray as an option was the Sony Vaio Z-series in mid-2008. But, at $800 extra for the drive, it’s not truly affordable. For most of 2009 standard DVD will remain the standard but in late 2009 and certainly in 2010, Blu-Ray will become the preferred option.
Out with the mouse
Trackpads, webcams and touchscreens are set to be the input devices of choice in the coming years. Apple has already given users a feel for multi-touch touchpads and this will become more commonplace in the coming year. But perhaps the biggest change to affect laptop computers will be the touchscreen.
Microsoft will be a prime driver of this type of technology in the coming years with its Windows 7 operating system as well as its Surface device. Other drivers for touchscreen will be the entry of traditional cellphone makers into the laptop market. Already Nokia has signaled its intention to produce a laptop and Android, Google’s open source operating system, is being widely touted as a competitor in the laptop OS market.
In the short-term, however, it will be Microsoft’s multi-touch-capable Windows 7 OS that will first turn laptop makers onto touchscreens. Webcam-based gestures will also begin to find their place in laptop interfaces. Toshiba’s Qosmio G50 laptop, for example, already includes support for webcam-based gestures.
Bigger and better screens
Well, not really bigger screens. Just screens bigger than the 7- and 8-inch screens common on netbooks. Having a small screen on a netbook is one thing. Having an 8-inch screen on a work laptop is another. And while it once used to cost a premium to have a 12-inch laptop, the rise of laptops and netbooks has changed that. The market for 12-inch laptops is likely to boom over the coming year as they meet most user’s price/performance expectations. There will also be an increase in even larger screened laptops – 15-inch and upwards – among power users and gamers who want both portability and performance.
Bigger and better screens – and better graphics – can be expected to be an immediate consideration for users buying a laptop this year. Touchscreens are a little further off for most consumers but webcam-gestures is likely to emerge this year. Blu-ray will remain expensive for most of 2009, however.
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