By Craig Zammit
SYDNEY: Hewlett Packard today provided a glimpse into the future of consumer technologies at the HP Mobile Innovations Tour held, revealing details of forthcoming products and concepts which the brand will look to introduce over the next decade.
The core concept behind HP’s future vision is products which provide an ‘always connected’ experience in a simple and practical manner.
The products presented at the HP Mobile Innovations Tour represent technologies which are all currently in development and which HP believes will be made available within the next five to 12 years.
The centrepiece of the showcase was the personal wireless gateway/hub, which for demonstration purposes was paraded in a watch-like form factor. Intended to function as the central wireless hub for each individual, the wireless personal hub would provide users with instant email and sms alerts while storing data, personal preferences and settings allowing the user to interface with PCs, communications and display devices as well as other future technologies in an instant wireless environment.
Other concepts on show were a flexible and portable viewing ‘mat’, which can be rolled or folded for easy storage, and a transparent display tablet which could sync instantly with the wireless hub/watch to display favourite television programs, websites or games.
A ‘digital wallet’ was also on show which featured a screen which could be folded, much like a wallet, and displayed up-to-the-minute transaction information and shopping inventory and data which would take shopping lists to the next level.
The Smart Shelf, which simultaneously charged products and projected information stored on the charging device was also shown, and demonstrated the future of projection technology – laser projection, which showed a move away from traditional light bulb based projection and towards laser technologies, resulting in significantly reduced footprint.
The final product concept, which HP Asia-Pacific and Japan product marketing manager – mobile business unit, Phil Devlin, stated already had a working prototyped on display in Singapore, was a display coffee table which could charge notebook-type displays and simultaneously display the information stored within on the surface of the coffee table.
“HP’s vision of the future of mobility is a world where insanely simple devices inter-operate to deliver a cohesive, always connected lifestyle,” said Devlin.
“These innovations in design are about balancing aesthetics and functionality in a way that makes meaningful and logical sense for the end-user. Our goal is to design mobility products that deliver an intuitive, pleasant and safe experience for individuals and businesses,” he said.