Now that we have a suitable candidate platform for the hardware side of the story, we’re allowing ourselves to become a little bit more creative with the form factor for the Redux Model 1. We’re testing our ideas with different users, showing them sample devices like the HTC Advantage or the Sony Reader, and gathering invaluable feedback along the way. Here is what we’re learning.

First off, the concept for a pure Office 2.0 device seems to resonate quite well, a lot better than we had anticipated initially. Somehow, early adopters have understood that a lot of things can be done online, and remote desktop access provides a good enough answer for all the applications that are not yet available as web services. With that in mind, here are the key attributes for the device we are trying to build:

One of the most interesting topics for discussion is the size of the removable keyboard. If we assume that its size is the same as the size of the tablet for it to be used as an optional cover, the tablet’s size should be determined by the keyboard’s size, the later being the minimum size that would still make a full keyboard functional. Many thanks to Francis Pisani for bringing this to out attention.

Unfortunately, there is no universal answer to the question of what is the minimum size that still makes a full keyboard usable. The average user in Japan or Korea will be able to use a smaller keyboard than the average user in Europe or in the United States would for example. Also, for our device to become a suitable alternative to a laptop computer, it must be smaller, yet not so small the the keyboard becomes unusable. For all these reasons, we now believe that multiple options must be offered: a small keyboard for people focusing on portability, and a larger one for people who are willing to carry a couple extra inches in exchange for better usability. Folks who carry a purse will go for the small keyboard, while people who have a backpack or a briefcase will prefer the larger one.

So let’s assume that we have two optional keyboards, called Redux Keyboard Small and Redux Keyboard Large respectively. The small one should have the exact same dimensions as the tablet, which at their largest are 8.5" x 6.5". If you want to picture what that is, take a sheet of U.S. Letter paper (8.5" x 11"), fold it once, add one inch on the long side, and you have the maximum footprint of our Mini Tablet. Thickness wise, the keyboard should be no thicker than the tablet, which is no more that half an inch, plenty enough to put a very large capacity battery, a video out port using either a VGA or Mini-DVI connector, a Mini USB connector, and our fancy visual touchpad.

The visual touchpad is a relatively new concept. It would use a 2.8" touchscreen that would mirror the tablet’s display, but using a lower resolution (VGA — 640 x 480). The rationale for a visual touchpad goes beyond the desire to reuse the components we would get by using a sacrificial Neo 1973 as base platform. Indeed, because the tablet’s user interface would not use any pointer, having a mirror image of the tablet’s screen displayed on the touchpad would give a convenient visual cue to the user. Also, the Mini Tablet is designed as a social device: it is small enough to be carried around the house or the office, and to be handed over to friends or colleagues in order to show them something online. Having a full-screen visual touchpad on the keyboard would allow one to remotely control the tablet’s display, even when the later is out of sight.

To achieve such a feat, the keyboard should be able to communicate with the tablet over Bluetooth 2.0. While this is fairly easy to achieve for sending keyboard inputs, it’s a lot more challenging for sending a VGA signal out, especially with the proper refresh rate. This is an area that will warrant further investigation before we can reasonably commit to it, but it’s definitely one that bears lots of promises, and is downright cool…

The larger keyboard should have the same width as the small one (no more than 6.5"), but could be 2 to 3 inches longer. A hint at a good enough size for it can be found in Apple’s new Wireless Keyboard. It’s precise dimensions have not been announced yet, but it looks like it’s about 11" long. If we went for such an option, the larger keyboard could be used to dock our Mini Tablet and an iPhone side by side. Funky yet intriguing, especially if we could use the keyboard’s secondary battery as a way to charge the iPhone, even without any external power supply…

From a width standpoint, 6.5" is our self-imposed maximum, with not much justification for it beyond the fact that most UMPC devices sold by Dynamism today are less than 6.5" wide. But 5.5" is an aesthetically attractive option, mainly because at 8.5" x 5.5", it would make it the size of Statement paper, also known as Half Letter. The final size will most likely be dictated by the outer dimensions of the LCD module we will use for the tablet’s screen, but it’s good to know that with 5.5", we would still have enough space to provide a keyboard similar to the new Apple keyboard, without function keys, but with our 2.8" visual touchpad located at the bottom center of the keyboard.

The mechanics of the keyboard are also very important. One of the shortcomings of many mobile devices fitted with a keyboard is that their keys do not offer enough travel when typed, slowing typing down and making it a rather unpleasant experience. Apple’s new keyboards, both wired and wireless, offer a very good hint at what a good low-profile keyboard could be. Nipples and riser excluded, the Apple’s wired keyboard is just over a quarter inch thick, making the goal of a half inch keyboard with embedded secondary battery totally reachable. If anything, we should shoot for 3/8".

Another issue is how the tablet and the keyboard connect together, especially if the keyboard is to support wireless connectivity to the tablet over Bluetooth 2.0. One thing the HTC Advantage demonstrated brilliantly is that using a magnetic connection for attaching the tablet to the keyboard is a really cool idea. It’s clean, simple, and makes it very easy to get the tablet in and out. Again, if the tablet is to be used as a social device, it’s definitely the way to go. Nevertheless, this approach also has some significant drawbacks. One of them is that the angle at which the tablet stands on the docking keyboard is fixed, once and for all. Another is that the tablet, when docked on the keyboard, cannot safely be used on ones laps without taking the risk of having the magnetic attachment come lose and the tablet fall on the ground. Yet another is that the tablet would need a built-in stand in order for the keyboard to be used remotely.

This industrial design challenge might very well turn out to be the most complex problem we will have to solve in order to make our new form factor really work, and it sure will be a lot of fun to solve it.

Mockups coming soon…