One of the challenges in creating a new form factor for a mobile device is identifying usage scenarios that can best take advantage of the device’s size, weight, controls, and user interface. There is more art than science in conducting such an exercise, and gadgets often end up being used in ways that had never been anticipated by their designers. Nevertheless, guessing such usage scenarios is always fun, and here is my first crack at it for the upcoming Redux Model 1.

Notepad for Meetings

As far as I am concerned, the most useful application for a Mini Tablet is in enabling personal productivity methodologies such as David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) during meetings. You want an easy way to capture an idea, record a task, or schedule a meeting, and traditional form factors do not work so well for meetings: a laptop gets in the way, and the screen of an iPhone is too small to really use sophisticated applications like Salesforce.com. In order to really make it work, you need something smaller than a laptop that can be laid flat on a table — or be kept under the table — and larger than a mobile phone to use web based applications in a productive fashion. The Redux Model 1’s outer dimensions (8.5" x 6.5" x 0.5") are largely derived from this set of constraints, and should work for people with less-than-perfect eyesight.

Credits: audiopollution

Media Player for Long Airplane Trips

The more you travel (especially flying coach), the more you want to own one of these cheap DVD players with a 5" to 8" screen. They are smaller than a laptop, have longer battery life, and are easier to operate — all important factors on a long flight when your ever-shrinking tray holds a glass full of your favorite ability impairing drink. Problem is, such a device is essentially useless after the flight, forcing you to carry some unnecessary cargo (device + charger). But the more you travel, the less you want to pack, thereby creating one of the most unnerving questions of contemporary air travel: to carry or not to carry. The Redux Model 1, when complemented by its optional magnetic keyboard, has essentially the same size as your off-the-shelf portable DVD player, and a potentially longer battery life. It uses the same USB cable you’re already carrying for charging your mobile phone, and you can use it for many other things after the plane landed, such as reading the news while waiting for your dinner at the restaurant, or getting directions from Google Map while driving in a foreign country.

Credits: Lucasfilm

Newsreader for Public Places

You’re waiting for a party at a restaurant or sitting in a public transportation vehicle, and you would like to kill time by reading some news. Once again, a laptop would be just too big and conspicuous, and your iPhone’s screen is definitely too small to read anything but the headlines. The Redux Model 1’s outer dimensions make it perfect as a newsreader you can quickly get in and out of your bag, and the fact that it’s always on makes it worth reaching out for it, even if your party will show up in a couple minutes. Granted, its screen is not as crisp as an electronic book reader’s (think Sony Reader), but it’s more colorful, and it should let you play YouTube movies as well.

Credits: Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

GPS for Car Navigation

Your household has multiple cars, and you usually rent one when traveling, either for business or leisure. Some have a built-in GPS system, others don’t, and if you are like most people I know, you hate learning their funky user interfaces, especially when traveling to a foreign country and trying to change the device’s default language — last time I rented a car in Germany, it took me more than 10 minutes to figure it out. The Redux Model 1 comes with a built-in Assisted GPS and Quad-Band GSM/GPRS mobile phone that should work in most countries where you will want to be your own driver. Together, they will give you access to Google Maps and some custom applications providing voice directions. Compared to a portable GPS device, you do not need to update the device’s database on a regular basis, it works in any country you will want to go to, and it does not turn into useless cargo the minute you step out of the car.

Credits: Google

Electronic Flight Bag for Pilots

If a plane is your favorite mode of transportation and you have a fetish for computers, you must have dreamed about the time when you will finally be able to replace most of the stuff that makes its way into your flight bag, such as airport directories, maps, regulations, backup GPS, calculator, etc. Granted, Electronic Flight Bags have been around for a long time, but they are either too expensive, or so cheap they become essentially useless. Of course, you could make your own by installing some software on a regular Tablet PC, but you will soon find out that the device is too big, not reliable enough (think virus alert during an instrument approach in actual IMC conditions), and way too power hungry to really be something you can depend on for your survival in case your primary GPS would decide to call it quit in flight. The Redux Model 1 is small enough and lightweight enough to be strapped to your leg (like any pilot knee pad), it won’t give you the blue screen of death unless you really want to see its ugly face, and it has a battery life that will far exceed the range of any plane you’ll ever get to fly from the left seat. On top of that, its built-in Quad-Band GSM/GPRS mobile phone will let you get a detailed weather forecast on the ground, and real-time weather updates in flight (yes, you can use your cell phone up there).

Credits: SkyVector.com

Picture Frame for Seniors

Digital picture frames are cool, but getting pictures in and out is too difficult, especially for seniors. The ones that can connect to a Wi-Fi network make it easier for relatives to upload pictures remotely from the Internet, but they work only if your grand-mother has Wi-Fi at home. Mine does not. Combined with an affordable data plan and a streamlined docking station (no keyboard), the Redux Model 1 would turn into the easiest to use digital picture frame ever released on the market. It would not be cheap ($499 plus monthly data plan), but pictures of your offsprings painlessly pushed to your parents’ residence should be priceless. Warning: the picture frame might be paired with ugly porcelain miniatures of pets or flowers, immediately destroying the aesthetic purity of the Redux Model 1. Such is the price to pay for parental love…

Credits: ish+may

Alarm Clock for Bedside Table

You’re laying in bed and are craving to check your email one last time before falling into Morpheus’ arms — you, email junky! No problem. Just reach out to your bedside table where one of your many Redux Model 1 Mini Tablets is standing on its dock, displaying a couple of your all-time favorite bedroom widgets, including the most-easily-programmable-alarm-clock-in-the-world and the useless-therefore-essential weather forecaster. Click on the Home button — you can’t miss it, your Mini Tablet has only two of them, and it’s the only one you can see — then click on the email icon, and get your last shot for the night, no prescription required. If you have an infant sleeping next door, you can even click on the webcam icon and check that everything is fine with your offspring. Now you can sleep. Sweet dreams…

Credits: The Weather Network

Swag for Conference

Last but not least, the Redux Model 1 is a pretty cool swag for conference, which is what it was designed for at the first place (Cf. first article). Granted, we got a bit offtrack and overboard, but where would be the fun in doing all this is if all we could do was beating the promotional pen and the mint box?

Credits: Monolab

Now, what would you do with yours?