Developing Tablet Software

One of the most interesting aspects of the "tablet revolution" is in defining exactly what niche the tablets will eventually inhabit. They are not desktop computers, nor are they smartphones, but where do they fit when compared to laptops?

At CES this year, over 80 new tablet models were revealed or showcased, making it clear that while the tablet definitely has a place in the arsenal of consumer technology, it still has some very clear weaknesses.

In most cases, these weaknesses may be inherent limitations of a tablet (intentional distinctions from both laptops and desktops), but in other cases this may be more of a lack of innovation when it comes to software design, or simply that the software hasn’t caught up to the hardware capabilities.

Understanding the Constraints of Tablet Design

The most notable limitation that is consistent across most tablet devices is that it designed primarily as a content curation device, and not a content creation device. This means that it is an excellent medium for viewing content and making slight modifications, but generally poorly purposed for creating large amounts of content.

Of course, this is by design. The interesting dilemma in software development is answering the question "what will it take to make the tablet into a creation device without changing it into a laptop?" This may eventually involve some hardware or a new input paradigm, but for now it is mostly a question of software app design.

Before jumping into particular solutions, it may be helpful to quickly discuss limitations that are unique to particular tablet models.

For example, some tablets have taken the standard Windows® 7 operating system and wrapped it in a touch-based interface. In some ways, this makes developing software for the tablet easier, because it is on a familiar platform. However, in practice the benefit of using a familiar platform is grossly outweighed by the awkwardness of using a desktop OS on a mobile device, not to mention serious performance and battery life issues related to a power hungry platform.

This may be resolved with Windows 8, which is rumored to be somewhat of a crossover platform with intense desktop capabilities, but also a lightweight tablet version that provides crossover compatibility. Even the X86 processors used to run Windows 7 are overly power-hungry, preferring performance upgrades. Windows 8 however will run on ARM chipsets which will also allow it to function at lower power levels and help it to extend battery life.

Google™ also has its Chrome OS which is designed for netbooks, though it will become somewhat obsolete with Android™ 3.0, which will debut on the Motorola XOOM tablet in April.

Hardware control paradigms also diminish the tablet’s ability to be a useful creation device. Currently, even typing a few paragraphs on a tablet is more of a challenge than it is usually worth. The on screen keyboard is functional, but takes up a large portion of screen space. Bluetooth or USB keyboards can help solve this, but still become clumsy and awkward without a solid surface like a desk or table.

Even so, precision work and heavy data entry is still extremely challenging on a tablet, and hardware controls (a mouse, stylus, or other input method) are often a necessary addition.

Developing Software Solutions

There are a lot of promising solutions being developed, and some are already live. Before developing an innovative solution, there are some questions that need to be answered:

• What would you like to be able to do?

• How can you make that task easy and not just possible?

• What other design features can help make it intuitive and reduce the learning curve?

• What technical challenges will need to be overcome?

For example, since the late 90’s many technophiles have been using PDA devices such as the Palm® Pilot. These are predecessors to the smartphone devices we have today, and lacked telephone or wireless Internet features. However, they could still open and read Excel files, create work documents, and provide some limited level of mobile productivity.

They were extremely popular for business users and across college campuses, and for some time they seemed to be the future for mobile computing. Even though they had a tiny screen and poor resolution, many users used them for taking notes and writing documents, with an attachable fold-up keyboard. I even conducted a job interview where the candidate used one – keyboard and all – to make notations. (I think it was awkward for both of us and he didn’t get the job).

[Un]Fortunately PDAs have since died out and been replaced by a new generation of powerful laptops and smartphones like the BlackBerry®. Having owned a PDA myself, it illustrated very well the point of making it possible to do something, as opposed to making it easy. One of the first things I did on my PDA was to open an Excel sheet and show that I could edit information. Of course, I never did this again because it was fairly painful to find and read information, much less enter any data, but it was nice to prove that I could, if absolutely necessary.

Since then, the technology has evolved to give us the software controls and environment needed to make development possible. This includes:

• The hardware capacity to run complex software

• Financial incentive through an open market

• Development tools to aid in app development

• Open platforms and a choice of platforms

One of the benefits of app development on mobile devices now is that there are a lot of tools and communities that can aid in various aspects of app development. More than ever before, software developers have the tools and hardware available for extremely innovative development.

It is only a matter of time before somebody devises a new input method (Minority Report UI perhaps, or even something through Microsoft Kinect applications) that is easy, intuitive and that does not take a lot of screen space. Whatever this is, it will help transform the tablet into a creation device, which might really accelerate the death of PC and laptop computers.

This might come in the form of advanced voice recognition, or in some sort of sub-vocalization commands. Or it may even be in the form of brain-wave recognition. Perhaps this will include some sort of new input hardware paradigm, or perhaps it could simply be a software solution.