I think what I'll be using in 5 years is a 4 ghz device the size of my phone, which can be connected to external displays and input devices. I can already use bluetooth keyboards and mice with my phone. Once it can attach to a 1900x1200 monitor I won't need anything else.
It might take less than 5 years. Both Motorola and Lenovo introduced an Android phone with a "laptop dock". Google for the "motorola atrix dock". It'll be a little while before it's useful, but it doesn't look like it'll take 5 years.
I would think that a 2 or 3 Ghz device with between four and eight cores would be more likely. However, everything else you suggest seems spot on - or at least I would hope it to be spot on, not being a time traveler.
That's what I've thought for awhile, too. As far as enabling technology, we're pretty much already there, with phones such as HTC's EVO 4G that can output HDMI. Add some VRAM and you'll have desktop resolutions. There's probably already half a dozen devices at CES that do that right now.
On the UI side, there's some more work to be done. I haven't yet seen anything that comes close to transitioning between the very different worlds of direct-touch smartphone interfaces and decoupled desktop interfaces. The broadening of handheld interfaces into tablet form factors as well as the gradual introduction of mobile UI elements and paradigms into desktop UIs, though, should ultimately bridge the gap.
Definitely, there are some really big opportunities regarding interfaces in that department. When someone plugs in an Android device into a normal monitor and uses a mouse, I guess a different launcher/home screen could come up?
Very interesting prediction. That's the first serious alternative to traditional desktops that I've ever considered. Essentially you're using your phone/mobile-computer as a desktop when you need it... so you're not really moving away from Desktop computing. But I could see this taking hold.
Yeah, I don't see the need to use a desk going away any time soon after all. Laptop docks are already popular due to this, why not mobile device docks that work the same way?
Combining hd telepresence with such a phone , and a dock connected to a big screen tv could be a really nice feature.might even make hd telepresence more viral.
