A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MOBILE COMPUTING DEVICES LIKE NET BOOKS, SMARTPHONES AND TABLETS

              Mobile computing makes it possible to do just about anything on the go - work, learning, banking, communicating and entertainment. With the growing number and types of mobile computing devices like netbooks, smartphones and tablets available for both consumer and business use, figuring out which device suits your needs requires some important consideration. Here we compare the performance, capabilities and ergonomics of different mobile computing devices and what they are best suited for.

NET BOOKS

              Net books are classified as personal computers designed for mobile use. They are relatively smaller and cheaper than notebooks, but they have limited scope of usage, such as basic wireless internet access and limited operating system options. Most netbooks are equipped with lesser storage capacity, RAM and weaker processors than notebooks in order to improve battery life and portability. All of these features make netbooks ideal only for basic computing tasks and Internet browsing with the use of a full keyboard, touchpad and 10-14 inch screen.

SMARTPHONES

              Smartphones are mobile phones that offer more advanced computing capabilities and features than contemporary phones. In fact, smartphones are often more like handheld computers that come with mobile telephone capabilities. The latest smartphones usually have a touch screen interface and sometimes offer even a QWERTY keypad for input. Smartphones run on various operating systems. They are the most portable computing device and are great for basic Web browsing, email access, and communication. But with screen sizes averaging around four inches, they are pretty small and not very comfortable for extended reading.

TABLETS

              Tablets or tablet computers are complete personal mobile computers that are designed for portability. They are generally larger than mobile phones and feature a flat touch screen that is its primary means of operation. The screens, ranging in size from 7 to 10 inches, offer multi-touch capabilities, and tablets are compatible with hundreds of thousands of mobile apps or software for different functions. With a long battery life and a large touch screen that includes a virtual keyboard, tablets are perfect for reading, writing, Internet browsing, mobile communication and entertainment.

OPERATING SYSTEM

              Smartphones are produced by a range of developers using their own technologies and operating systems. Currently, the most popular operating systems for smartphones include BlackBerry OS, Windows Phone 7, iOS and Android. Whatever the operating system, developers are looking to develop apps that are simple and cheap to download on smartphones to increase their use and functionality.

              Tablets, however, have integrated a different sort of OS as compared to the one you’d expect on a netbook. Android has the biggest presence in the tablet space, with most devices running one of many Android versions. Apple’s iPad runs its own iOS and some tablets like the Viewsonic Viewpad 10 utilize the touch-screen features of Windows 7. Whatever the operating system, a tablet’s larger display and better hardware gives them the ability to perform almost the same amount of tasks that a netbook can perform.

              Windows 7 and Android can be modified to run on netbooks as well, but the powerful hardware such as dual core processors and up to 2 GB RAM of netbooks allows them to use full-fledged operating systems that allow the user to perform almost any task on the move. However, netbooks can be twice as heavy and bulky when compared to a keyboardless tablet.

BATTERY LIFE

              Battery life is a major issue when using a smartphone. Most of the manufacturers implement batteries that are mostly just designed for making and taking calls. Receiving emails and powering an always-on data connection tend to drain the battery very fast. These batteries are not as durable when running multiple applications and applications that are always running in the background, such as GPS. Simultaneously swapping between Wi-Fi and a data network for long periods of time also takes its toll on the battery life.

              The batteries in netbooks and tablets are similar. Both provide a backup of up to eight hours. Tablets do require a lot of power for the large touch screen interface, but this is compensated for by the comparatively lower powered hardware as compared to a net book.

MULTITASKING AND PROCESSING POWER

              Although many smartphones are capable of multitasking, some of which include BlackBerrys, Android devices, and handsets running Windows Phone 7, they still are not powerful enough to perform them smoothly and they consume more battery and also slow the phone down.

              Tablets and netbooks are usually designed to run like regular notebooks, so they are much more capable of running more than one program or app at a time without being bogged down. Processor speed is the main thing to consider here. You will obviously get a much higher speed from tablets and netbooks thanks to a full-fledged processor. Whether you opt for Intel, ARM or any other processor, it will always be faster than a smartphone, and can also offer speeds up to 1.6 GHz.

STORAGE

              Tablets and smartphones have a long way to go as far as storage space is concerned. Mostly using flash drives, they offer a maximum of 16 GB storage as compared to the 160 GB hard drives in netbooks. Most smartphones and tablets come with enough space so you can always store every document you’ve ever written, in addition to music and video. Although they have the option of adding up to 64 GB of additional storage in the form of a memory card, it’s still not enough to match the memory of netbooks, which can be extended to more than 320 GB. Netbooks are also compatible with external hard drives of up to 1 TB via a 2.0 USB port.

PRICE

              The price range for a smartphone is variable depending on the level of performance and features it offers. However, for a smartphone that can compete with a netbook or tablet, the price is in the range of Rs 20,000-30,000. As a rule of thumb, tablets are more expensive than netbooks. The higher cost is attributed to the touch screen technology and the compact form factor. However, the tablets that have been on the market have not reached their full potential yet. With technology evolving so quickly, there’s no stopping the portable technology sector. Netbooks offer the best features at the moment, and provide an excellent choice for those who need access to full laptop features in a small form factor. Tablets, however, are catching up.

              Although smartphones may seem hindered by their relatively lower powered processors and smaller screens, they are actually quite powerful. The introduction of features such as multi-touch go a long way towards enhancing the smartphone user experience by allowing users to use more than one finger for certain tasks.

              Nevertheless, the smaller screen size is a significant stumbling block. Although it is likely that such devices will continue to improve in the future, even the most advanced smartphones equipped with 4-inch screens and dual-core processors simply cannot compare with tablets and netbooks at present.

              The main advantage of tablets lies in their flexibility. Unlike netbooks, which require a stable, flat surface to place them on, you can use one hand to hold a tablet and the other to operate it. This is one of the reasons why tablets are preferred by people who are always on the go.

              Note-taking is one use where tablets excel considerably over notebooks. Tablets also have their drawbacks though, in terms of the price. For a given specification, tablets cost considerably more than netbooks. But if you were to analyze all three devices on the basis of functionality, portability and ergonomics, the tablets do come out on top.