Ask me my opinion in a survey and I’ll usually decline, knowing that there’s some sales pitch attached, or my name and personal information will go into some deep repository to receive never-ending spam.
Are customers more likely to interact with tablet PCs?
But there was something about the smiley faces on the tablet PC at the EVA Airlines customer service counter in Macau that made me want to interact with it. That’s the nature of tablets. They’re friendly. They’re light. They invite touching. Maybe that’s why one in four people expect to replace their laptop with a tablet, according to a recent Zogby International survey. The simple elegance of an integrated device with a clear friendly screen increases one’s likelihood to use it.
Tablets are very touchable in a way that a computer screen and keyboard could never be. The absence of a keyboard and wires coupled with a sleek design put apps and usability center stage, not the technology. So when EVA Airlines posed a series of questions about our satisfaction with EVA’s service associated with smiley or frowney faces while we checked in, we tapped the screen. All positives, by the way.
You wouldn’t think there was a recession going on, judging by the strong attendance at the Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose this week. Engineers and designers are telling us that they are using this time to find the next important technology to build devices that will be up and ready for sale by the time the economy gets back on its feet, which some of the show-goers are pegging at mid 2010.
Clearly everyone wants more smarts in their devices. Cars will be ever richer with multimedia and GPS OEM and aftermarket technology. Printers will have more smarts built into them. Medical devices will become more consumer-friendly. Factory automation will become increasingly sophisticated, run by small, rugged x86-based technology. Alp Sezen of VIA Embedded talks about the x86-based small form factor boards, digital signage and ruggedized systems that the company showed at its booth.
And what do engineers do when they want to have fun? Check out this air hockey-playing robot on the show floor of Embedded Systems Conference. Built by Nuvation for exhibitor Freescale, the clicking of the hockey puck could be heard from the moment the show floor opened until it closed.
At the Embedded Systems Conference this week VIA will show a new in-vehicle platform, the new VIA IVP-7500 board, for next-generation car PCs. VIA is listening to the demands of car owners for sophisticated audio and video entertainment along with GPS and other cool options like consumer and commercial uses of in-car mounted cameras.
Watch for our updates from the Embedded Systems Conference later this week.
VIA also announced the first expansion HD module for the EPIA -P710, VIA P710-HD, which features the powerful 4300E embedded graphics processor from S3 Graphics. This first Pico-I/O module for stackable Pico-ITXe boards provides Hi-Def video playback and advanced graphics in an extremely low power compact form factor.
And for POS, kiosk, and ATM-type equipment that is always on, VIA is showing the power efficient EITX-3000 Em-ITX board at the Embedded Systems Conference. This board runs multiple diplays and can stand temperatures from -10 to 70 degrees Celsius.
