Computing on the go

Business travellers may feel they are being bombarded with new technology. Yet just how far has the trusty combination of laptop and smart phone really come, asks Anthony Plewes.

Although the technology market is saturated with different devices and technologies, the main tools used by business travellers appear to have remained fairly consistent over the past few years.

A recent report from analyst the Yankee Group found that while business travellers varied dramatically in roles and attitudes to technology, most of them still rely on a wireless-enabled laptop and a data-centric handset when travelling.

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But portable computing has come on leaps and bounds. Battery life, size and weight, which have for so long been the bane of the business traveller, are now less of an issue with the current choice of ultra-portable laptops.

These machines come equipped with a 12-inch screen or smaller, extended battery life or additional battery, external optical drive, built in 3G and wireless networking, and a weight of less than 2kg.

A typical high-end product is Sony's flagship VAIO TZ150N weighing just over 1kg with an 11-inch screen. And although not truly an ultra-portable because of its 13-inch screen, Apple's Air is most famous for being the thinnest laptop on the market, measuring less than 2cm at its thickest point.

For years PC designers' strategy for ultra-portable laptops was to cram in as much functionality as possible into a smaller form factor. Recently, a number of manufacturers have broken away from that mould to create devices that are primarily designed to be cheap and portable.

The latest of these is the Asus Eee 900, which sports a nine-inch screen, weighs only 1kg and is only slightly larger than an A5 book. With a nod at the mainstream business market, it comes with Window XP installed, unlike its Linux-equipped forerunner.

One of the key reasons the Asus has achieved these dimensions is because it uses a solid-state drive instead of a traditional hard disk, so its installed storage capacity is a rather paltry 12GB. Performance also falls a little short of the competition but it sports excellent battery life - measured at nearly 3.5 hours in silicon.com sister site CNET.com's DVD playback test.

While the Asus is undeniably small, it comes up against stiffer competition in the ultra-portable sector than its predecessor did a year ago. Lenovo's IdeaPad U100 was particularly liked by the CNET.com review team. It weighs just over 1kg, packs a 120GB hard drive and 11-inch screen.

HP's 2133 Mini-Note weighs about the same but is even smaller with a nine-inch screen and a 160GB hard drive. However, both these machines have a battery life about half that of the Asus.

While many laptop developments have been evolutionary, smart phones have been revolutionised over the past few years. Windows Mobile 6 is now a stable operating system and Windows smartphones have joined BlackBerrys as the leading business handsets.

The market is booming. Research company In-Stat says sales of smart phones will grow at more than 30 per cent per year for the next five years, and the number of units shipped per year already outstrips that of laptops. Palm devices are expected to lag behind this growth considerably.

Modern smart phones come equipped with a whole range of functionality and some of the latest devices such as the T-Mobile Vario III come close to laptop functionality in a device the size of a pack of playing cards.

For business travel it's vital to have some form of email service, and even small businesses can access Microsoft Exchange or BlackBerry functionality on their mobile phones through hosted services, such as that offered by Servelogic.

Other personal productivity software such as Word or Excel means you can work on documents using the inbuilt keyboard without having to get the laptop out.

As a data-centric devices, smart phones have to have fast connectivity, such as 3G or even HSPA, otherwise email downloads and browsing take too long. Smart phones can also double as modems for the laptop so that you can get PC email and internet access on the move.

Other essential functionality for smart phones includes expansion slots to increase the memory, and wi-fi and Bluetooth for local area networking. Built-in GPS is increasingly common and can be useful for finding your way around in strange cities.

One word of warning, however, data roaming rates are still astronomical, so simple email synchronisation and light Google Maps use could really put your bills through the roof.

The lines between smart phones and laptops have started to blur over the past couple of years with the arrival of ultra-mobile PCs, such as the Samsung Q1.

These devices were the result of initial joint-development between Microsoft, Samsung and Intel, feature a screen of seven inches or smaller, weigh less than 0.9kg and are designed to serve as a conduit for information from the mobile internet.

Microsoft is developing a specific suite of software called Origami to link access to media and location-based information. These devices, however, are still largely targeted at consumers and have limited business use for the time being.

Ultimately the choice of mobile computing power for business travellers will depend on the twin factors of applications and usability. The new generation of laptops offers access to a wide range of applications, which is vital for knowledge workers.

Ultra-mobile PC devices may be small but their limited functionality and difficult input make them poor relations for the business market. Business travel for the foreseeable future will continue to be dominated by laptops and smart phones.