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Open Kernel Labs Blog
February 02, 2010
Mobile Transcendence and the Nirvana Phone
The telecommunications and information technology industries have for decades touted convergence and promised transcendence. Convergence of wireless and terrestrial. Convergence of voice and data. And most recently, convergence of desktop and mobile computing. By converging these modes and forms, in ying yang opposition, industry gurus posit new paradigms, ones that transcend the limitations of the starting point technologies.
The problem with convergence, however, is that as trend lines converge, they can also cross. And when legacy concepts combine, the emergent properties of new ones often defy expectations.
In the case of converging wireless and terrestrial communications, television is shifting away from radio-based broadcasting to cable, and landline telephony is giving way to mobile/wireless. Voice signals that once traversed dedicated switched lines now travel in packets (like data), but mobile operators still charge subscribers by the minute for “renting” wireless airwaves. And convergence of desktop and mobile computing has led to new form factors, like netbooks and now the iPad, but users still provision them like desktop PCs.
Achieving Oneness
I (for one) still need my mobile phone for voice and my notebook for productivity. I don’t really want to carry yet another device, nifty or not. Convergence is supposed to impose fewer gadgets in my life, not introduce new ones.
Don’t get me wrong. I love my smartphone. And I have friends and colleagues that have jettisoned desktop computers and notebooks in favor of iPhones, Blackberries, and handsets running Android, Symbian and WindowsMobile. I too would love to converge activities from my professional and personal lives onto a single device. But I find mobile keyboards and screens too small for sustained productivity, and notebooks and even netbooks too cumbersome for using on the go.
This conundrum is not new. Similar challenges appear with each generation of technology, reincarnated in new functions and form factors.
Imagine Mobile Nirvana
Imagine a single device you can use at the office, on the road and at home, too. A smartphone-sized device that lets increasingly mobile workers leave their laptops behind but affords access to enterprise/desktop applications and business-critical information. Imagine a world where mobile workers can bring their own device, and the enterprise IT teams that support them can securely deploy key applications on it.
Imagine a device with support for docking to full-sized displays, keyboards, mice and other PC-type peripherals. Imagine a smartphone that would offer mobile workers a complete virtual desktop in their pocket.
Nirvana
noun, a state in which there is no suffering or desire; a state of perfect happiness
Mobile/Wireless Nirvana
noun, having a device that fulfills the promise of mobile/desktop convergence; a phone that lets users attain balance among their professional and personal lives
The Nirvana Phone
The nirvana phone concept emerges from the partnership between OK Labs and Citrix, Our reference architecture builds readily-available functionality like mobile virtualization, Mobile-to-Enterprise (M2E) virtualization, cloud computing and wireless connectivity. Together, both companies have created The Nirvana Phone Reference Architecture, a design that incorporates these converged features as well as emerging capabilities in mobile chipsets and handsets – full resolution video and HD output.
Near-term Transcendence
The good news is that you won’t have to wait long for Nirvana-type devices. The Nirvana phone represents a short-term paradigm shift – only 12 to 18 months away. Mobile chipset suppliers already publish silicon roadmaps featuring video output. Smartphones already possess bridges to desktop peripherals via off-the-shelf Bluetooth and USB.
OK Labs mobile virtualization streamlines the task of integrating these capabilities into a single device. And the Citrix virtual desktop seamlessly delivers enterprise applications onto it.
To learn more about the Nirvana Phone, and to download a copy of the Nirvana Phone Reference Architecture, attend our upcoming webinar Mobile Computing Nirvana: The Convergence of Mobile and Desktop Virtualization in One Device.
Posted by Steve Subar on February 02 at 12:28 AM
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About Steve Subar:
Steve Subar, CEO and President of OK Labs, has been an honored leader in the technology industry for 20 plus years and has received several accolades for his work. Steve is an avid runner who can also be found communing with his surfboard in Bondi Beach, Australia; skiing the slopes of Beaver Creek, Colorado; or searching for the perfect Pinot Noir all over the world.