Difference Between Smartphone and Tablet and Laptop

Smartphone vs Tablet vs Laptop

Smartphone and Tablet and Laptop are the most popular mobile devices. Mobility is the buzzword these days and this is precisely why electronic gadgets are becoming smaller and lighter. Laptops were invented to give a person ability to take his computer along with him anywhere. Technology has been moving ahead at a fast pace, so much so that mobile devices with internet connectivity are crossing the boundary lines and performing similar, overlapping functions. This is especially true in the case of smartphone, tablet and a laptop. All three are portable and have internet connectivity. But each has its own distinct features and cannot take place of the other two. In this article, we will analyze the difference between smartphone and tablet and laptop highlighting their features so that any consumer can purchase one that is most suitable for his requirements.

Smartphone

Though a smartphone is basically a device made for calling and receiving calls, it has additional multimedia features and computing abilities to place it closer to a laptop. It can be thought of as a handheld mini computer as against simple phones, it makes use of an independent operating system to install and run advanced and complex applications. In this aspect, they are much more than a mere mobile phone and can work as a personal digital assistant. Some smartphones have a full QWERTY keypad that is physical resembling just like a laptop. However, most smartphones have a virtual keyboard that the user can operate easily with the help of a highly capacitive touchscreen.

Over 50 million people in US alone use smartphones indicating their extreme popularity. These phones have fast processors and large internal memory, big display screens (around 3.5”) and OS that are very user friendly giving a very pleasing experience to the users of these smartphones. Two OS that have dominated the smartphone market are Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. While iOS is used by smartphones made by Apple only, Android is an open source OS used by nearly all the other manufacturers of smartphones.

Tablet

This is an innovation that looks like a large smartphone, but has additional capabilities to resemble more like a laptop. The only difference is that unlike laptop, it comes in the form of a slate instead of a briefcase like design of laptop where the keyboard is separate from the screen and two are hinged together. Tablet PC, as it is called makes available capabilities of an enriched multimedia device allowing the user to experience audio and video files on a bigger screen which is normally around 10 inches, just a little bit smaller than a laptop. As tablets make use of virtual keyboard, they are good for little typing work such as sending emails but for tedious jobs, laptops are obviously a better job.

All tablets are Wi-Fi, meaning they can be used to surf the web and they can be used to play games also. Today, tablets are coming equipped with dual camera both for capturing HD videos and to make video chatting and video calling possible. However, as there are compromises in hardware, the functions such as multimedia tasking and other complex operations are difficult to perform in tablets. Tablets prove to be a pleasing experience if the owner uses them as e-book readers.

Laptop

Of the three mobile devices, laptop is the most powerful when it comes to computing and also for browsing the net. The only drawback is the lack of 3G connectivity which is there in smartphones and tablets. However, for those on the move and also need to carry out complex tasks on their device, laptops are an ideal choice. Laptop has the fastest processor and also largest capacity of internal memory. A laptop is basically a PC that can be carried along at all places and integrates all the capabilities of a computer. Instead of a mouse the user has a touchpad and the speakers are inbuilt to make it a complete package. In addition, a laptop can be operated on a battery, and without power, it can run for 3-5 hours. With a display of 14” or more, a laptop is capable of performing all the tasks your computer theoretically can.

Summary All three, smartphone, tablet and laptop is portable internet connected devices with different sets of features. With passage of time, thin lines dividing them are getting blurred as smartphones and tablets are more powerful than before and coming closer to a laptop. While smartphone and tablet have 3G connectivity, laptop lacks it. Laptop is most superior when it comes to serious computing, while tablet provides enriching experience while enjoying multimedia files and playing games. Tablet is a very good e-book reader also. While laptop can be upgraded, it is not possible in case of smartphone and tablet.

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Imaginary phone lets you answer calls on your palm

Video: Never forget where your phone is again

Sean Gustafson unlocks his iPhone by swishing a finger across its screen and pecking out a four-digit PIN on its keypad. It's unremarkable save for one small thing: there is no phone in his hand. Instead, he's pressing invisible "buttons" on his palm – to operate an imaginary cellphone. And, astonishingly, it works.

Imagine you cannot find or use your phone when it starts ringing. Perhaps it's fallen into the depths of your sofa, or your hands are wet from washing up or greasy from baking. To decline the call and send it to your messaging service, you press the area of your palm corresponding to the position of the relevant button if you had the phone in your hand. Or you could press the buttons to answer the call and turn on the speakerphone.

The idea is certainly strange, but Gustafson and his colleagues Patrick Baudisch and Christian Holz at the Hasso Plattner Institute at Potsdam University in Germany think there is a gap in the market for phones and TV remotes like this that don't actually exist.

For it to work they reason you'd need two things: people who know precisely where the apps are on their physical phone, and a technology that can sense where they are pressing on their hand so a computer can respond and send commands to your phone – wherever it is.

From iPhone to iPalm

To find out how well people know their modern touchscreen phones, the Potsdam trio recruited 12 volunteers from among the iPhone users they spotted in their cafeteria and tested how well they knew the position of their favoured apps without their phone. "We found 68 per cent of iPhone users can locate the majority of their home screen apps on their hand. This means that iPhone use inadvertently prepares users for the use of an imaginary version," says Baudisch.

Having established a reasonable chance of successfully finding an app's position on someone's palm, they then decided to use "depth cameras" – similar to those at the heart of Microsoft's Kinect motion-sensing gaming system – to detect where someone is pressing on their palm.

The depth camera they used in their tests is a "time-of-flight" device that flashes an invisible infrared pattern on the scene and which uses ultrafast receiver circuitry to time how long it takes the light bathing different parts of the scene to be returned to a sensor. That way, it knows how far all the objects in the scene are from the camera – so when a users' finger presses on their palm, it registers where and when it does so. The signal is sent to a computer which processes it and then sends the relevant command to your cellphone.

Going 'all-imaginary'

In their tests, the depth camera was a clunky head mounted device. "But ultimately, we envision the camera becoming so small that it integrates into clothing, such as the button of a shirt, a brooch, or a pendant. So people would not even notice if someone carries an imaginary phone," Baudisch told New Scientist.

"We envision that users will initially use imaginary phones as a shortcut to operate the physical phones in their pockets. As users get more experienced, it might even become possible to leave the device at home and spend the day ‘all-imaginary'."

Answering calls on the phone would still require the physical device – but it would be possible to access apps and forward calls to voicemail with the imaginary version.

It's not all about phones, however: Gustafson is now working out how a TV remote control could be replaced by an imaginary zapper. The team hope to present their work at a conference on user interfaces later this year.

"For quite simple interactions this is probably going to work well," says Nick Bryan-Kinns of Queen Mary, University of London. "But for more complicated functions it's difficult to know how you'd do it without using audio feedback from the device, telling you which function you've activated."

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HCL Hiring Freshers-2011 Passed outs

Company

HCL Technologies Limited

Experience

Freshers

Job Description

We are currently looking for dynamic, young graduates with a desire to excel, and need your help in finding and bringing in the best!  If you know graduates of the 2011 batch who satisfy the following criteria, please ask them to register at the following link:

Basic eligibility criteria:

1. A minimum of 65% aggregate in Class 10, 12 & Graduation are a must in the below mentioned disciplines

• BE, MCA, M. Tech, ME – CS / IT / ECE / EEE / E&I
• B.SC (Comp Sc / IT / Math / Physics / Electronics / Stats), BCA, B.Com (CS / IT)

2. All candidates should have graduated as part of the 2011 batch

3. Candidates should have no arrears at the time of registration

4. Candidates should have excellent verbal and written communication skills

Note:

1. This registration is open only for candidates who have graduated in 2011

2. We are NOT hiring graduates from 2009 and 2010 under this category

Register at the following link:

http://hclcampusregistration.cloudapp.net/

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