What do you call a phone with a huge screen? Does the 5in display on the Dell Streak make it a tablet, or does it still pass as a giant mobile? According to NVIDIA's Jen-Hsun Haung, there is another category between smartphone and tablet - the superphone - and 2011 will be its year.
The CEO sees the new category of devices as the logical next-step for the smartphone. The 4.3in Motorola Droid X is the first such device and it's claimed that many more will follow as we move into 2011.
The basic format will be a phone that is larger than the iPhone - which has a 3.5in display - but smaller than a tablet, offers 'basic Internet connectivity' and the ability to handle multimedia content. Of course, according to Huang, all superphones will run some flavour of Android.
Obviously the CEO would prefer that companies use NVIDIA's dual-core Tegra 2 SoC, though phone-manufacturers haven't exactly been lining up to release handsets based on the powerful silicon so far.
While it's clear that NVIDIA sees a future in oversized phones, it's not so clear that the public will feel the same way. Though Huang claimed that the devices could allow 'new opportunities in casual computing', there doesn't seem to be anything that a superphone could do that a 3in or 3.5in smartphone couldn't. Furthermore, 4.3in devices are seriously pushing the limits of usability for a mobile, even for people with large hands.
While a larger screen is another way for manufacturers to differentiate their products in the crowded smartphone market, superphones will still have to convince the mobile-buying consumer. Let us know just how big you think is too big in the HEXUS.community?
