Is there a teeny next-gen laptop in your future?

Computerworld - An old business saying advises, "Find a need and fill it." That's the impulse behind a new group of mobile devices that, while having varying capabilities, have this in common: They are sized and priced between smart phones and traditional laptops.

In particular, many feel that smart phones are too small to comfortably browse the Web or write any but the shortest e-mail messages, while laptops are too expensive and too big.

"From a size perspective, there are laptops and there are mobile phones, and in between those two is a big question mark," said Bryan Ma, director of personal systems research at IDC. "Theoretically, there's a place for these devices."

However, Ma and other industry analysts use words like theoretically because, while the impulse leading to these new mobile devices is understandable, they question whether the devices solve the perceived problems well enough to be successful.

Within this group of new mobile devices are variations in terms of size, platform and target market. Here's how the experts handicap the various devices.

Smart-phone supplements

Nokia's N800 Web Tablet and Palm's just-announced Foleo don't look anything alike, but they share the same mission and the same platform -- Linux.

"I'd call them special-purpose machines," said Jack Gold, principal of J. Gold Associates LLC.

In particular, they supplement smart phones, making mobile browsing and e-mail a more satisfactory experience for mobile users. The Nokia device, which connects via Wi-Fi, is not much bigger than a smart phone but has a much bigger display. The Foleo, which will be released later this year, looks like a small laptop with a keyboard and 10.2-in. display but has few built-in applications beyond those for e-mail and Web browsing. It connects to the Internet via a Bluetooth connection to a Treo.

"Physically, they're very different, but they both address the screen-size issue for mobile phones," Ma said. In other words, they're aimed at making it more comfortable to use the Web and e-mail while mobile.

Prognosis: Foleo hasn't been released, while the N800 has hasn't found traction in the marketplace. Yet, the long-term prognosis for both is poor, the analysts say.

"There's a market for consumers who want a better experience than you get on a smart phone but don't need all the functionality of a laptop," said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis for NPD. "The problem is that the concept is ahead of where the market is now."

Ma said another problem facing both devices is explaining them to potential buyers.

"Both Foleo and N800 are very difficult to explain," Ma said. "You get five seconds to explain it to a consumer, so there's a huge education barrier that needs to be overcome."