Here’s a quiz for you: Do you see an iPhone or a Tablet PC/UMPC in this photo of a 1983 Apple prototype device?
I’d like to see more home phones have integrated Internet experiences. I realize I could use my personal smartphone instead, but even for my home (read that “public/shared”) phone I’d like to have access to local search rather than having to pull out the Yellow Pages and guess at which category a company might be listed under. Google is much faster.
I’m thinking of something on par with a “UMPC” docked to the base station of a cordless phone, instantly ready to search the Net for a particular business or to jot down a quick note on while talking on the phone or to Google the company or phone number calling me right now:
This is something I’ve wanted for a long time.
Update: Here are some other things you could do with a UMPC-enabled “HomePhone”:
* Integrate a webcam built into the UMPC with online services such as for sharing photos, live broadcasting, and the like.
* Speech driven dialing and searching via the UMPC
* Bluetooth to the phone so that you can use an onscreen keyboard on the UMPC when navigating through voice systems via the phone–rather than having to pull your phone away from your ear to do anything.
* Notes on the UMPC are synched with remote and online calendar and note-sharing services.
* Messages on the phone could include actual phone messages, IM/SMS messages, email, comments from friends via social networking sites, and so on.
OK. This could be getting expensive. Heh.
