Comment Articles

Don't get carried away with portable war games

Rupert Goodwins ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 19 Mar 2004 14:00 GMT

The fact that the iPod doesn't play video is no more a failing than the fact that David Beckham can't play Hamlet. With the iPod Mini, Apple has underlined the validity of its vision: you can make a device that costs a lot and relies on a sophisticated market that's already made big investments in fast computers and massive CD collections. Make it small and last a day, and it does the job. Make it beautiful, and it'll sell itself. Personal Media Centres will fail on all counts.

Personal video isn't entirely silly, though. You may well have a spare 10 minutes at lunch, half an hour on the train or a few moments to kill while waiting for a pal to show in the Dog and Duck, and if you've got a couple of sitcoms grabbed from last night's telly in your pocket what could be nicer than catching up? If you've got to lug around some battery-guzzling brick, this won't happen. We'll only get happy with personal video when it comes with iPod sensibilities.

But hold on: you've already got a half-decent display with its own power source -- there's a smartphone in your pocket and you're very pleased to see it. If your personal media centre could only connect, it could be as small as an iPod Mini -- smaller even, since it wouldn't need much of a user interface onboard. Bluetooth? Too slow. 802.11? Too power-hungry, and too fiddly. Ultrawideband? Perfect: low power, low range, high speed wireless connectivity.

That's the raw technology. You'll also need open hardware and software specifications, so the phone makers can play without rancour. A device with all that would work as well at home as in the pocket, could play well with a huge number of future toys and wouldn't break any of the iPod aesthetic commandments. For this to happen, though, companies such as MS and Apple will have to break out of the proprietary prison and the ultrawideband tribes will have to lay down their arms. If they don't do this, there won't be a market: if they do this, it'll be a happy Christmas for years to come.