Six Inches! Too big? Too Small? About Right?

I am talking of Tablets, Smartphones and e-Readers of course!

Tablets are getting smaller, Smartphones are getting bigger and e-Readers are staying the same size. So have the e-Readers got the form factor right? Will the Tablet/e-Reader/Smartphone all merge at six inches?

The Galaxy Note 2 has, I think, the largest screen size of any smartphone at 5.5" from a top-brand manufacturer. 7" tablets are now commonplace. But the Chinese may be leading the way here here, look on AliBabBa.com and you can find both 6" smartphones and 6" tablets. Tablets have a lot of redundant space around their screens; trim down the overall size and weight, whilst retaining the screen size and your tablet would really look like a slightly over-sized phone.

You may not be able to make calls over GSM on a tablet but, with a suitable app, you can make calls over WiFi, If you go for the 3G versions of some tablets, calls over 3G are possible too (providing you have a decent signal)

Another problem with using tablet as a mobile phone is that you may look pretty stupid holding it up to your ear; you also need a jacket with a pretty big pocket and, at three times the weight of a typical smartphone, tablets are a bit more cumbersome to carry around. But imagine you are on the plane from UK to Philippines, an air stewardess is likely to tell you to pack away your tablet than your mobile phone!

Finally, there is the e-Reader. Amazon once again have a Kindle with free 3G. That means free access to the internet (possibly even in the Philippines).using what it still calls its 'experimental browser'. Whether the Kindle can be persuaded to make phone calls over 3G, I am not sure, but I think you can see where this money-saving technophile is heading...

I recently had that Samsunc 5.5 inch phone (china clone for 3000 php) and gave it away to my wife because its too big for the pocket.
Now I got her Blackberry 9860 3.3 inch ( Also china clone for 2900php and thats just fine.)

Funny how the times changed, a few years ago phones could not be tiny enough...

I know what you are saying. I find the iPhone too small because I find it awkward for texting and emailing and surfing the net. A tablet is better for that. I was going to buy the iPad mini for that reason though ended up buying and iPad3 in the sales.

Yes a tablet is too big to slip into the pocket and a smart phone is too small in terms of practical usage.

I know there were not too many around, but do you remember the early mobile phones?

I'v just bought a 4 inch screen phone, Huawei Ascend g300 £ 100. Good specs for the price, and guerrilla glass too.
Hate paying for expensive things always loosing them

I remember from somewhere that when Sony brought out the first "pocket transistor radio" (yes, I am that old) it did not in fact fit in a shirt pocket so they had shirts specially made for advertising with larger pockets.

Ideally I want something the size and weight of a wallet (hinged, with two leaves, maybe). Say 5ins x 2.5ins, and thin, keypad on one leaf, screen on the other, usable as a phone when closed.

I remember the first Transistor Radio - a Regency in all grey plastic.My father was given one as a gift in the 1950s - quite expensive back then!

I was still pretty young as I remember my father telling me to count all the holes in the radio for the speaker. I counted each of them one-by-one, only be told that I could use multiplication to count them as they formed a square I was amazed at that!!!

Some time later my father came back from Japan with a much smaller Sony radio - red with a black leather case that was perforated to let the sound out. I wanted to count the holes in that one using multiplication but failed - cos the holes were arranged in a circle!

I bought one of those too but rather regret upgrading to Android ICS. But it is still a great phone and was available for around £65 when I last looked. It is due to be replaced by the G330 next year, which includes a front-facing camera.