During the next 12 months you’re going to hear about several devices, actually many devices, coming to market. Most of the higher end hardware will have one feature in common and that’s HDMI connectivity, otherwise known as the single cable needed to transmit both audio and HD video to your brand spanking new boob tube. Nokia was one of the first mobile phone manufacturers to include HDMI support on their devices, but even before they did that they were a champion of TV out technology, albeit using the traditional yellow/red/white composite cable. The problem with how Nokia implements TV out, both in the N95 days and today, is that they take what you see on your small screen and then expect you to enjoy using the same UI on your big television. That’s silly for obvious reasons.
With Nokia Big Screen the Finnish firm acknowledges this and they created a totally new TV optimized user interface while also displaying large easy to use buttons on your smartphone that you can use for navigation. Thanks to Bluetooth technology you can even connect something like the remote control for Nintendo’s Wii console to your Nokia and use that. It’s brilliant, if a bit overdue, and we’ve seen it done by others, but it’s a concept we’re going to see more people playing with in the future.
Things will rapidly change once wireless HD technology comes built in to smartphones. It seems totally reasonable that they’ll be a day where you step inside you home, sit down on your couch, turn on your TV with an application on your device, and then view all the content you captured that day. Your phone may even replace your personal computer if you have a screen/keyboard/mouse on your desk. Google, Apple, Microsoft, they all know this, which is going to make CES and Mobile World Congress fun to watch over the next few weeks!