gadgets Smart phones and tablets

The Post PC era is a phrase that was coined by the former Apple CEO the late Steve Jobs at one of the Apple product launches. Whether we are in the post Pc era or not is not the question but rather a paradigm shift in the way our computing tasks are accomplished.The true ‘Post PC era’ is a time I envision as a future where we shall need not physically sit at desktop computers or lug around bulky laptops to do our work. The true Post PC era is about connected devices; devices that will be able to access and share content seamlessly without the physical limitations of the current generation of desktop computers.The smart phone and tablet are the devices that will take us to the Post PC era. I am sure that the new technologies and devices are on the way, but, let’s face the facts at hand. We are where ….Smart phonesSmart phones of the current generation are very powerful portable, computers. To put things in perspective, the duo core processor in the i-phone 4 is more powerful than a Pentium 4 computer. This essentially means that the i-phone can perform more complex tasks such as playing games, recording video and other processor-intensive tasks such as playing high definition videos which your desktop computer cannot do. Do not get me wrong, desktop computers are getting more powerful and affordable but they cannot beat the convenience of mobile computing. TabletsTablet computers are the true post pc era devices. With low powered but powerful processors, tablets are capable of giving over 10 hours of operation on a single charge. Most tablets have touch optimized operating systems and access to vast app catalogs. Installing app is a piece-of-cake as the tablets have access to the app stores through 3G or WIFI. This is a far cry from the desktop applications which nee specialists to install and maintain. Are we seeing the death of the IT technician?Tablets have intuitive interfaces which make use of very simple and easy to learn even for the complete novice. Besides, tablets makers work with app developers from the beginning to ensure that their finished devices have a strong app selection for end-users. The cloudThe cloud is becoming an integral part of our daily computing whether you know it or not part of your computing needs resides in the cloud. Did you know that Android powered phones automatically store all your phone book contact in the cloud? In case you lose your phone, you can access your phonebook through contacts.google.com by logging in with your Gmail credentials. Conversely, a new handset when activated with your Gmail credential, can access data from your lost/stolen device. Apple‘s venture into the cloud, a giant leap into the future. Apple is organizing your digital life around their ecosystem of interlinked services, icloud, itunes, IOS and i-devices.Basically, all your contacts, calendars, apps, music, movies and videos will reside in Apple’s cloud and will automatically synchronize with any i-device you own. As an example your ipad will have access to all the contacts stored on your iphonean vice-versa. All your purchased apps will be accessible through any i-device without the need to re-purchase them.Windows 8It’s no secret that Microsoft’s windows operating system powers over 70% of all desktop and notebook computers in the world. However, Microsoft has notably been absent on the tablet scene. All this is about to change with the release of Windows 8. Windows 8 is Microsoft’s Vision of desktop and mobile operating systems. Windows 7 which works only on x86 Intel and AMD chips, Windows 8 will support low powered Arm chips as well.What this means is that Windows 8 will work on both desktops and tablets.This development will place Microsoft squarely in the tablet battle and a true contender in the Post PC era. We have become accustomed to using Windows on our desktop computers. If Microsoft canreplicate the user experience on both mobile and desktop devices, am sure they will be in a very good position to flex some muscles with Apple and Google. I can safely say that we are already living our digital lives in the Post Pc era.