Sony Mylo is where we're headed...

Sony's Mylo is a really interesting device. I believe that these larger format keyboard-based devices are the future (the present!). It's a no-brainer really, especially if you're already a DS or PSP user. I remember working on early wireless PDA solutions and there was always this debate about size - does anyone really want to carry a large device? The issue is framing again. Adults thinking about mobile phones, size is important - slim, smaller, sleeker. PDAs seem like bricks. But for kids who carry a DS - which they do - then the comparison isn't with mobiles anymore, nor about size - it's all about what can this thing do and how "cool" it does it. Mylo brings all those increasingly can't-do-without Internet services into the "carry with me" space, NOT the mobile phone space.

I like the Mylo's What's Up screen - shows who's online. The interface looks great. I've been waiting for someone to take the UI out of its mundane "must be like a phone" design. The UI on the DS is simply fantastic, as one would expect from a company concerned solely with graphics. It simply makes the thing a joy to use - why can't a mobile be like that? I was expecting Apple to be there, but that remains a now boring speculation.

My two eldest kids use a DS and they also are starting to use mobiles - they borrow one of my many (they like the Razr). However, I was thinking that what I really ought to get them as their "first mobile" is something more like a Blackberry as it opens up messaging, including email. Problem is it isn't kid friendly - the only game is brick and even I can play that! However, it occurs to me that going straight to mobile for email is a possibility for a lot of kids in the future - simply never bother with a PC. Why not? Devices designed like a Mylo tend to suggest this isn't such a fantastical idea as I first thought.

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Tags: Sony Mylo, DS, PSP, messaging, mobile, email