Foundation Knowledge (Environment, Technology)

Over the past year, portable computers for the consumer, meaning personal computers that you can carry around and is not so big and cumbersome transporting the device is a project, have taken on some new names and forms.

As it stands now, there is a very fine line, one that is gray area, between a cellular phone that is equipped with almost everything short of an actual computer, and small mobile computers like tablets and iPads.

Smartphones became the new term replacing cellular phones.  Some tablets, if not already, are almost the size of a large smartphone, while the vice versa occurs, where a large mobile phone, can be about the size of a small tablet.

Tablets are a small scale model of a laptop, with the exception that it still is not necessarily considered a full throttle computer, without the flip open feature of the laptop, the mobile PC that was thinner and could be carried around in a briefcase.

Consumers of tablets, smartphones, and these devices are looking for advantages such as minimal weight, selection of screen size, memory, and number of features.

WiFi connections are built into a lot of these machines now.  This means, you can access the Internet at a place, such as a lounge or diner, that has WiFi.

Flex phones is an up-and-coming technology, similar to advances in computer mice, which take away limitations of using the equipment.  There are computer mice now that no longer require a flat surface to use.  Flex phones will allow them to be flexed into a physical shape that conforms with the carrying mechanism, pocket, task organizer, and usage environment.