Size Clearly Matters!

(image credit)

My article on February 26th 2012 from an old Media & Tech blog

A number of friends asked for my BBM PIN, well before I bought a BlackBerry and before I even knew what BBM meant. I pulled the trigger with a Bold, and it was a pleasure to own. I welcomed its familiar QWERTY keyboard, and it was perfect for tapping out text with my thumbs.

The drawback? Its size. It was my first smart phone, and even though it was dial-up slow, I appreciated connecting to the internet on-the-go. But the miniature print of articles I read was difficult to tolerate. Yes, I could zoom in, but it was a halting process and cumbersome navigation. I didn’t even try to watch videos on it.

I traveled home to Chicago, and my sister arranged for me to have an iPhone 3G.  I don’t like its touch-screen keyboard and auto-correct feature, but it’s a pleasure to read articles, look at photos, and watch videos. I turn it sideways, and it switches automatically to landscape orientation for better viewing.

Now, enter the Mobile World Congress, set to start tomorrow, February 27th, in Barcelona, and there is definitely a buzz about cool devices to be unveiled. In MWC 2012: Phones of the future The Telegraph noted a trend toward bigger smart phones. 

When it comes to the devices themselves, however, phones are increasingly more purse-size than wallet. The Samsung Galaxy Note and the Galaxy Nexus have done well at sizes at least an inch bigger than the iPhone, and a number of 5” screens are set to be marketed as phones rather than tablets – if your mobile is to stay in your pocket, you might need bigger pockets.

The challenge for mobile makers isn’t just to improve the viewing experience of its customers, but to ensure that its content can also play in larger screen formats. To this end, makers are slotting their products in sizes between a smart phone and a tablet. Their research notwithstanding, they need to find out whether or not there is really a market for that in-between space.

Assus calls their device a Padfone, according to The Telegraph. In Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 to come in 10-inch model, too, others call the 5.3″ Samsung Galaxy Note a phablet.

Ah, let the Word Play Congress begin!

Case in point, I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, over a 7.1″ BlackBerry Playbook, mainly because of size. I deal in fine art, as one business of mine, so my images, graphics, and videos must look compelling on the tablet.

After all, size clearly matters!