Would you like this future?
Let this thread surve as a little survey:
I have an idea that seems to be able to reach reality in the near future, but I don't see any signs of this being pushed on any fronts (OS, customer feedback, HW development, etc.). Anybody whom I asked said "yes, that would be so cool", all technological problems have been solved, yet I don't see any signs of it to appear anytime soon.
I have got rid of my desktop a few years ago and to tell the truth, it makes life a lot easier. I am a programmer (surprise-surprise, writing to dev forum) mainly interested in OpenCL. I took my laptop to work everyday, and syncing files with my home desktop has always been a hassle (I could not develop OpenCL on mobility 2300, just test on CPU). Now I got a 17" laptop with mobility 5870, and all of that is past. Having a mobile workstatition (that fulfills all my gaming needs also, and has a nice big screen for watching films on holidays) is very easy to get used to.
If I heard well, Microsoft is trying to "cloud" Windows8, namely some apps of the OS would run on a cloud, but more importantly My Documents would be stored on a remote server for easy access, no matter where you are in the world. (This is a rumor I heard, didn't care too much to verify, it is not my main point, just thought I'd mention). If this is true, this would be the non-crossvendor solution to easy file syncing accross locations.
And now to the point...
smartphones are getting smarter and smarter, integrated graphics are better and better, and wireless technology is evolving rapidly. Why don't I see the intention of anyone trying to make an x86 mobile/smartphone? WirelessHD is already a standard, Bluetooth 3.0 is already a standard (not to mention Wireless USB, WiFi b/g/n...), and APUs have extremely high compute capabilities compared to energy consumption. Wouldn't it be nice to take your mobile/SP to work, put it on your desk onto a neat charger (or just from your pocket), press the "Dock" button, and it would connect to your monitor, mouse and keyboard all on Wireless connections? If you want to show something to a collegue one floor down, or demonstrate something in a group meeting, or take your work home, or watch an HD movie on your TV at home... moving your data, applications from one place to the other (totally offline, no internet needed) would be basically zero effort this way. Everyone has their mobiles at hand all the time. Plus, this method is completely OS independant. There could be linux x86 mobile OS variants too.
To develop programs, test if GPU usage is correct, and MANY other things could be done with a Zacate class APU, perfectly fit for a smartphone, and smartphones have always been the main targets of all wireless technologies, because nobody wants cables hanging out of their mobile. Windows Mobile, Andoid and all of those... they will never run Visual Studio (in their current scope). I would much more like Windows Mobile to be a simplified x86 version of Windows, fit for such mobile usage. I'm sure most linux distros would have their response in no time. (I'm sure linux distros would have their response in no time. Open-source was never the basis of initiating new technology, such as an x86 mobile OS would be)
I don't see the technological reasons why this does not exist yet, and sadly I don't see anyone moving towards this direction.
Any feedback, ideas, comments?
