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An idea for HTC...

Draiko

Well-Known Member
Jun 13, 2010
212
67
Here is a copy of something I've written to HTC about. What do you guys think of it?



Dear HTC,


If you want to really change the face of computing forever, listen up...


The EVO is the first mass-market device that's fully capable of implementing this idea well and that's why I'm addressing you.


Since you're already releasing a TV media dock for the EVO, you only need to come out with 2 new hardware devices.


The first would be a slender light-weight low-cost tablet-like shell that contains a touch screen, speakers, a slot on top with a microUSB and micro HDMI port, and a battery. It should allow the user to simply slide the EVO into the top (like a cartridge) without blocking the cameras. It would up-res the entire UI to the bigger touch screen and turn the EVO into a tablet while charging the EVO's battery. Sell it for $100-$200.


The second would be a desktop docking station that allows the user to keep a monitor, speakers, keyboard, and mouse plugged in. When the EVO is docked (upright), it would pipe the UI to the monitor, charge the EVO, and enable the keyboard and mouse. Sell this dock for no more than $50.


One device. One connection. One bill. One platform. Unlimited possibilities.


Do this for all of your upcoming phones and usher in the future of computing.



Thank you,
Me


PS - if you want, you could even build a 3rd Palm Foleo like device as well that would turn the EVO into a netbook.
 
Thanks! I believe that the patents on these ideas are already taken.

I'd be very interested in the "tablet sleeve". I can build a prototype, I just need someone who can mold plastic like a pro.

All it would take is a molded plastic body, some padding, speakers, a battery, a small voltage regulation system, a touchscreen, a media dock, a rom that supports full video out, and a bit of circuitry to pass button presses and touch events from the large body to the EVO.

I was thinking of using a Pixel Qi display once the touchscreens come out.

I want to crowdsource some support for this.
 
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lol, not to seem heartless and cold, but that is just funny.

You miss a small point. Even though cellphone users and makers want to make the one product to rule them all, the cellphone telecoms do not.

Let us take a look at some problems.

1.) Our own phone. If you strip all the sprint crap off the phone and reduce it down to base form, it is a beautiful phone. But a phone that will do anything means people will do any thing. So they will use the phone, which cost sprint money. The Sprint does not want you to use the phone for anything, in fact sprint would be just happy if you bought the phone, placed it in a drawer, and paid the bill. But if you are not going to do that then they are going to tell you which browser to use, which navigation, which tv app, which app for everything, and then cripple those apps to make then just on this side of unusable. The reason that evo does not function properly is not because of htc, it is sprint. Bad battery life, sprint, bad phone app, sprint. They cripple everything hoping to make it slightly less useful.

2.) Iphone, is a prime example. Since att was the only telecom that would allow apple to have full authority of a phone, no other telecom would. The iphone has become heavily used. Since that point, att network has started to come off the rails. With this heavy use, att had to invest millions for updating a network, limit data use with pay by gigabyte, and still dealing with an insane amount of dropped calls. Iphone destroyed att network. This is what happens when you make a phone with usability completely in mind. Look at the other phones on att's network, they are crippled to almost unusable. Why? Because att does not want to deal with the problem they will cause on top of the iphone. ATT is a the prime example of what happens when you make a 100% usable phone on a normal carrier network, without some crippling.

3.)Nexus one. Just like the iphone, the nexus one was a phone made to be 100% user friendly. But tmobile decided not to sell it in the store, but only allow google to sell it on the web. Verizon, sprint, and att in the end said no, because they could not cripple the phone. By allowing the phone to be only sold online, tmobile got out of the worst effects of having a 100% user based phone on their network. But this also led to the demise of nexus one. If google could have sold the phone in the store they would have, hell, if they could have made a phone for every telecom they would have, but the facts of it are they could not. If you make a phone 100% user friendly, with no chance of the phone being locked down, they telecoms will reject it. Just like the nexus one.

4.) Which brings us to verizon. They are one of the most picky cellphone companies on the face of the planet. They demand that little things like gps be locked down and only used for a fee. They do not bend or break on any issue unless they have to. Dont believe me? Droid X has a physical piece of hardware that will brick the phone if you tamper with the boot portion. Why? Because by rooting you allow the user to create a phone of their own free will. This phone will become user friendly, and in the end, become more used then other phones that are not. Now Verizon has the most play room, because it has the most network to play with. But when it gets down to it, verizon needs you to stay in their box.

Bottom line, it is not that htc does not want to make a perfect product with all the features and ideas you stated, but once they did, sprint would not carry their products. One of the very first things that is created in the manufacturing process is a usage scenario. How is phone going to be use and how much effect does that usage have on the network. Once that is seen, they think of ways to reduce the usage and think about adding extra fees. Like the 10 dollar fee we currently pay. Because they could not be competitive and still make a phone that would not effect network usage.

So hate to break it to you, but someone just got the email, thought it was a great idea, ran into the boss's office, and he just laughed. "Sit down, we need to talk".
 
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Damn River! If your assertions are true, then it is quite disheartening! It seems as though Android, if implemented in it's purest form (i.e. Nexus One), then such an implementation would be antithetical to the carrier's interests. Although I am pretty sure I know the answer to the question I am about to pose, I am interested in your take nonetheless. Why would carriers embrace an open platform such as Android only to turn around and restrict it?

Also, your post, if true, means that Sprint and perhaps T-Mobile are the carriers that are best situated to provide something akin to a "pure" Android experience due to comparatively low volumes of subscribers and tons of network bandwidth (both 3G and "4G", Hspa+)...

To the OP, I would TOTALLY buy that tablet!
 
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Thanks! I believe that the patents on these ideas are already taken.

I'd be very interested in the "tablet sleeve". I can build a prototype, I just need someone who can mold plastic like a pro.

All it would take is a molded plastic body, some padding, speakers, a battery, a small voltage regulation system, a touchscreen, a media dock, a rom that supports full video out, and a bit of circuitry to pass button presses and touch events from the large body to the EVO.

I was thinking of using a Pixel Qi display once the touchscreens come out.

I want to crowdsource some support for this.

Loving the idea Draiko! I'm a marketing consultant so if this ever comes to fruition, give me a shout LOL
 
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Loving the idea Draiko! I'm a marketing consultant so if this ever comes to fruition, give me a shout LOL

I want to move forward with a prototype and hopefully show companies that there is user interest in these kinds of devices.

I want the focus to be on the tablet sleeve unit for now since the media dock can be paired with a BT keyboard and mouse and become a PC dock (once the full UI HDMI output is available of course).

Cyanogen is working on a way to do full UI HDMI output on the EVO, so that part of the software work is in progress.

I'm going to explore passing touch events from an external touchscreen to the EVO through the microUSB port.

Audio won't be a problem.

I envision the body as being just a larger EVO-looking unit.

Here's my list so far...

Materials needed:

1. Excellent 7-10 inch touchscreen (haven't decided on form factor yet)
2. Molded plastic body
3. Excellent mini speakers
4. EVO media dock
5. Inverter board to handle HDMI output from EVO to touchscreen
6. 2 or 3 EVO Batteries
7. capacitive buttons
8. Voltage regulator that can supply power from several EVO batteries to the screen, the buttons, the speakers, and charge the docked EVO.


I can work on software and do some electrical work. I have absolutely no experience with molding plastic so that's my weak link.

My goals for the final product will include:

1. Pixel Qi touchscreen display with increased resolution
2. Several user-serviceable standard EVO batteries (can work using just one but option to include more for longer life and provide a single convenient area for the user to store extra batteries when on the go)
3. Excellent stereo speakers
4. EVO's audio jack will still be used for headphones. This keeps usage simple and cuts back on cost (ever so slightly).
5. Both cameras will still be usable when docked. EVO docks in the top-middle of the tablet. One half of the EVO's back is exposed while only the top part of the EVO's front bezel (from edge of EVO to edge of actual screen) is exposed.
6. Docked EVO gets charged
7. Separate microUSB port for charging at bottom of unit
8. Separate microHDMI port on bottom to hook unit to HDTV
9. Lightweight. I want the final unit to weight 1 pound or less... EVO included.
10. Padded EVO dock on top to ensure the EVO is safe and snug
11. Thin but robust
12. Simple PNP operation. Slide in your EVO and everything just automatically turns on and starts working. Slide it out and everything automatically shuts off.
13. The same 4 capacitive buttons on the EVO should be on the bottom bezel of the unit. The front of the unit should look as EVO-like as possible.
14. Low cost. $100-$250 per unit if mass produced.

I'll try to cook up a visual of what I have in mind and post it on here soon.

Any advice and/or help is welcome!

Crude Photoshops (This was quick and dirty, items like buttons are not to scale):
j5czu.jpg

pKRjC.jpg
 
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I want to move forward with a prototype and hopefully show companies that there is user interest in these kinds of devices.

I want the focus to be on the tablet sleeve unit for now since the media dock can be paired with a BT keyboard and mouse and become a PC dock (once the full UI HDMI output is available of course).

Cyanogen is working on a way to do full UI HDMI output on the EVO, so that part of the software work is in progress.

I'm going to explore passing touch events from an external touchscreen to the EVO through the microUSB port.

Audio won't be a problem.

I envision the body as being just a larger EVO-looking unit.

Here's my list so far...

Materials needed:

1. Excellent 7-10 inch touchscreen (haven't decided on form factor yet)
2. Molded plastic body
3. Excellent mini speakers
4. EVO media dock
5. Inverter board to handle HDMI output from EVO to touchscreen
6. 2 or 3 EVO Batteries
7. capacitive buttons
8. Voltage regulator that can supply power from several EVO batteries to the screen, the buttons, the speakers, and charge the docked EVO.


I can work on software and do some electrical work. I have absolutely no experience with molding plastic so that's my weak link.

My goals for the final product will include:

1. Pixel Qi touchscreen display with increased resolution
2. Several user-serviceable standard EVO batteries (can work using just one but option to include more for longer life and provide a single convenient area for the user to store extra batteries when on the go)
3. Excellent stereo speakers
4. EVO's audio jack will still be used for headphones. This keeps usage simple and cuts back on cost (ever so slightly).
5. Both cameras will still be usable when docked. EVO docks in the top-middle of the tablet. One half of the EVO's back is exposed while only the top part of the EVO's front bezel (from edge of EVO to edge of actual screen) is exposed.
6. Docked EVO gets charged
7. Separate microUSB port for charging at bottom of unit
8. Separate microHDMI port on bottom to hook unit to HDTV
9. Lightweight. I want the final unit to weight 1 pound or less... EVO included.
10. Padded EVO dock on top to ensure the EVO is safe and snug
11. Thin but robust
12. Simple PNP operation. Slide in your EVO and everything just automatically turns on and starts working. Slide it out and everything automatically shuts off.
13. The same 4 capacitive buttons on the EVO should be on the bottom bezel of the unit. The front of the unit should look as EVO-like as possible.
14. Low cost. $100-$250 per unit if mass produced.

I'll try to cook up a visual of what I have in mind and post it on here soon.

Any advice and/or help is welcome!

Crude Photoshops (This was quick and dirty, items like buttons are not to scale):
j5czu.jpg

pKRjC.jpg

ROFL

Not too sure about the idea, but that pic is halarious.
 
Upvote 0
I want to move forward with a prototype and hopefully show companies that there is user interest in these kinds of devices.

I want the focus to be on the tablet sleeve unit for now since the media dock can be paired with a BT keyboard and mouse and become a PC dock (once the full UI HDMI output is available of course).

Cyanogen is working on a way to do full UI HDMI output on the EVO, so that part of the software work is in progress.

I'm going to explore passing touch events from an external touchscreen to the EVO through the microUSB port.

Audio won't be a problem.

I envision the body as being just a larger EVO-looking unit.

Here's my list so far...

Materials needed:

1. Excellent 7-10 inch touchscreen (haven't decided on form factor yet)
2. Molded plastic body
3. Excellent mini speakers
4. EVO media dock
5. Inverter board to handle HDMI output from EVO to touchscreen
6. 2 or 3 EVO Batteries
7. capacitive buttons
8. Voltage regulator that can supply power from several EVO batteries to the screen, the buttons, the speakers, and charge the docked EVO.


I can work on software and do some electrical work. I have absolutely no experience with molding plastic so that's my weak link.

My goals for the final product will include:

1. Pixel Qi touchscreen display with increased resolution
2. Several user-serviceable standard EVO batteries (can work using just one but option to include more for longer life and provide a single convenient area for the user to store extra batteries when on the go)
3. Excellent stereo speakers
4. EVO's audio jack will still be used for headphones. This keeps usage simple and cuts back on cost (ever so slightly).
5. Both cameras will still be usable when docked. EVO docks in the top-middle of the tablet. One half of the EVO's back is exposed while only the top part of the EVO's front bezel (from edge of EVO to edge of actual screen) is exposed.
6. Docked EVO gets charged
7. Separate microUSB port for charging at bottom of unit
8. Separate microHDMI port on bottom to hook unit to HDTV
9. Lightweight. I want the final unit to weight 1 pound or less... EVO included.
10. Padded EVO dock on top to ensure the EVO is safe and snug
11. Thin but robust
12. Simple PNP operation. Slide in your EVO and everything just automatically turns on and starts working. Slide it out and everything automatically shuts off.
13. The same 4 capacitive buttons on the EVO should be on the bottom bezel of the unit. The front of the unit should look as EVO-like as possible.
14. Low cost. $100-$250 per unit if mass produced.

I'll try to cook up a visual of what I have in mind and post it on here soon.

Any advice and/or help is welcome!

Crude Photoshops (This was quick and dirty, items like buttons are not to scale):
j5czu.jpg

pKRjC.jpg

Draiko WOW! I had no idea you had this fully thought out with details and specs. I would love to help you with marketing however I am not the least bit handy or experienced with computer parts. Regarding the molding plastic, I am so pissed because I used to be the director of marketing for Shuttle Technology, which were a huge cellular phone accessory manufacturing company in Taipei, Taiwan. Guess what there specialty was... YUP Plastic molded injection. They even manufactured holsters exclusively for cingular back when the nokia 8200 series was popular. I can give them a shout to see if they are still around or put you in contact with one of the partners.

Also, another thing you should consider is most of us have cases on or evos so taking one on and off each time we used the tablet wold be a pain. What if you offered some type of slim sleeve or at least an easier solution to remove and put on the case for convenience. I think the possibilities are endless and yo are definitely onto something hot and innovative which will surely catch on.
 
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It is a solid train of thought, but, without trying to sound like Buzz Killington, I don't see this working within the parameters that you set. The main thing is that I don't see a reasonably quality piece getting near your price points. These items will be specific to a device that, relatively speaking, doesn't have a large number of potential buyers. Then you have to eliminate the consumers that wouldn't want/need something like this. By that point, your number of potential consumers has shrunk significantly. So, how do you pay for the research, development, manufacturing, etc.? You have to sell it for more than $200, that's for sure.

Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to have what you are proposing, BUT, not for $200 and certainly not for anything more.
 
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It is a solid train of thought, but, without trying to sound like Buzz Killington, I don't see this working within the parameters that you set. The main thing is that I don't see a reasonably quality piece getting near your price points. These items will be specific to a device that, relatively speaking, doesn't have a large number of potential buyers. Then you have to eliminate the consumers that wouldn't want/need something like this. By that point, your number of potential consumers has shrunk significantly. So, how do you pay for the research, development, manufacturing, etc.? You have to sell it for more than $200, that's for sure.

Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to have what you are proposing, BUT, not for $200 and certainly not for anything more.

It could work. Economies of scale would bring production costs down. The costs would come down to the basic cost to produce a media dock plus the cost of two speakers, a battery, and a screen. Most of the needed software modding is being crowdsourced by cyanogen.

A prototype hardware would cost around $500-$700. The fact that HTC is already manufacturing 90% of the hardware needed would mean lower production costs for them which is why I chose to write them instead of going full force on my own.

First step would be to buy something like this and port the driver over to android.

10.1 inch LED Multi touch Monitor with HDMI/DVI INPUT new products Sunny Island Technology(Hongkong) Co.,LTD.
 
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Draiko WOW! I had no idea you had this fully thought out with details and specs. I would love to help you with marketing however I am not the least bit handy or experienced with computer parts. Regarding the molding plastic, I am so pissed because I used to be the director of marketing for Shuttle Technology, which were a huge cellular phone accessory manufacturing company in Taipei, Taiwan. Guess what there specialty was... YUP Plastic molded injection. They even manufactured holsters exclusively for cingular back when the nokia 8200 series was popular. I can give them a shout to see if they are still around or put you in contact with one of the partners.

Also, another thing you should consider is most of us have cases on or evos so taking one on and off each time we used the tablet wold be a pain. What if you offered some type of slim sleeve or at least an easier solution to remove and put on the case for convenience. I think the possibilities are endless and yo are definitely onto something hot and innovative which will surely catch on.

Awesome! I'd love to see if this project would be viable by putting together a team on here! I've already considered the case issue and was thinking about making the dock accommodate an EVO with a case and have it ship with a removable padding insert. My main concern with that would be the unit's thickness.
 
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It could work. Economies of scale would bring production costs down. The costs would come down to the basic cost to produce a media dock plus the cost of two speakers, a battery, and a screen. Most of the needed software modding is being crowdsourced by cyanogen.

A prototype hardware would cost around $500-$700. The fact that HTC is already manufacturing 90% of the hardware needed would mean lower production costs for them which is why I chose to write them instead of going full force on my own.

First step would be to buy something like this and port the driver over to android.

10.1 inch LED Multi touch Monitor with HDMI/DVI INPUT new products Sunny Island Technology(Hongkong) Co.,LTD.


There are no economies of scale to be had with a low-penetration device that would have even a lower rate of adoption. Prototype for $500? Have you ever even been involved in prototyping an electronic device, getting it certified, and then scaling it up?

This is comical.
 
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It is a solid train of thought, but, without trying to sound like Buzz Killington, I don't see this working within the parameters that you set. The main thing is that I don't see a reasonably quality piece getting near your price points. These items will be specific to a device that, relatively speaking, doesn't have a large number of potential buyers. Then you have to eliminate the consumers that wouldn't want/need something like this. By that point, your number of potential consumers has shrunk significantly. So, how do you pay for the research, development, manufacturing, etc.? You have to sell it for more than $200, that's for sure.

Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to have what you are proposing, BUT, not for $200 and certainly not for anything more.

Also, the evo-specific device is a proof of concept. Ideally, I'd want something more modular that would work with any phone that had a microusb and a microhdmi out.

It would be an attractive alternative to an iPad and would present a simpler and more secure solution that required less tech support and maintenance. Perfect for consumer and enterprise markets.
 
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Why would carriers embrace an open platform such as Android only to turn around and restrict it?

Not to derail the topic, because this is still close to the topic.

Android was a no choice. Iphone was locked to att. If you want an iphone today, it is still att. Nokia just could not hack it in United States market. RIM has fall soo far behind the curve, it is not even in sight any more. What did that really leave for anyone but att?

Palm, well that failed miserably. Google is part of the open handset alliance. Google force Verizon and ATT to open up there 700 d block spectrum, in return sprint and tmobile had to help google with android.

But even though the first android phone was created in 2006, nothing was done until 2008. Why? Because we still had a good market of windows and rim to hold apple down. When it became clear the windows could not get anything done and rim could not help but only to shift consumers into get an iphone. Something needed to be done. Tmobile decided that it need an iphone killer, google insisted on nexus one, they fought it out. Then verizon and sprint needed something that can come close to iphone.

The reason they accepted the open source nature is because it was the best bet to hold consumers against the iphone. Rim, Windows, Palm, and Nokia just could not cut it. But now we are seeing the issues with accepting android, the locking down of phone, the force use of software, and if you attempt to get around it, you lose your warranty and you can now brick the phone.

When the nexus one was released, all the cellphone companies tried to kill it off as quickly has possible.

Hardware manufactures where easier to convince. Google made it clear that either they officially supported android, or Google would start to support their hardware anyway. This would make android viral. Would also quickly eat into their hold on their own phones and the telecoms would demand that something would have to happen.

Combine the fact that iphone was the dominate phone on the market, no one was going to catch them. Google started to make friends with the weaker telecoms for money and stand against att and verizon with cold hard cash. Then add a healthy dose of hardware was going to be converted one way or the other. There was very little could stop android from taking off.

So I stand over you and say I am going to shoot you in the head or the leg. It is going to happen, what is your choice? Why not direct to less harmful ways of hurting you?
 
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Crude Photoshops (This was quick and dirty, items like buttons are not to scale):

pKRjC.jpg

lol, we heard you like the HTC EVO, so we put an HTC EVO into an HTC EVO, so you can use your phone while you use your phone!

Really though, this idea is cute in theory but it's silly in reality. Among the myriad of issues already raised by some of the responses, by the time any prototype is made a totally different, and probably better, 4g/EVO-esque phone will be out.
 
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lol, we heard you like the HTC EVO, so we put an HTC EVO into an HTC EVO, so you can use your phone while you use your phone!

Really though, this idea is cute in theory but it's silly in reality. Among the myriad of issues already raised by some of the responses, by the time any prototype is made a totally different, and probably better, 4g/EVO-esque phone will be out.



The idea was born through my disdain for the iPad. I personally feel that the iPad is an unnecessary device and a waste of money. One cannot ignore the traction it's getting especially within the enterprise.

So, if people want an iPad-like device but they have issues with what the iPad can't do and they balk at the iPad's cost... why not come up with something better?

Android is arguably better than iOS and it is here right now. WebOS and Win Phone 7 look promising.

RIM is supposedly working on a Blackberry pad but I have very little faith in Blackberry OS 6.

EVO has all the necessary hardware to make this happen and give the user a great experience. The one majorly reported caveat of the EVO is battery life... well... I wanted to solve that as well.

So... Android is the platform that's ready to do this right now and the EVO is the phone with all the skills to get the job done well. All that's left is a bit of software magic and some hardcore hardware hack-n-slash to make the tablet sleeve.

This is why this "EVO pad" is a proof of concept. Ideally, I'd want a single well-built slender shell that would fit several different models of phones and last the user around 2 or 3 device generations.

I want to keep it thin so ideas like modular bays would be very very tricky and expensive, but a promising possibility. Restricting phones to a single set of body design schemes is also not enticing to phone OEMs.

Making an EVO-specific prototype is something I want to focus on for now (since it is the first device that could actually do it well with a few software hacks), but expanding it out to any phone with micro HDMI and microUSB ports (or comparable) would be the desired end result.

This would be my solution for people who want an iPad but hate all the caveats (no cameras, not very secure, no flash, too expensive, needs a separate data plan, syncing files between devices is a pain, walled garden, Apple restrictions, data caps, no extended batteries, it's just a big iPod Touch, etc...).

I mean... imagine buying an iPad-sized EVO for $200, sliding your EVO in on top, and having a device that would essentially blow away a $629-$829 iPad. Imagine automatically and instantly having all of your phone's capabilities, 3G/4G/WiFi connection, storage, apps, docs, specs, themes, contacts, emails, bookmarked sites, logins, music, pictures, and video. Imagine having zero setup. Imagine not needing to pay for another data plan. Imagine 2-3 times the battery life of the EVO and having extra batteries that you could swap between the shell and your phone.

I would love that.
 
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Why not just an android tablet and a swappable cellular radio (since CDMA doesn't use a sim)?

Hell, you don't really even need the radio swap...wifi tether covers that if you don't have a wifi connection for the tablet. All you really need is an android sync app that allows transfer of all settings from one device to another.
 
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Why not just an android tablet and a swappable cellular radio (since CDMA doesn't use a sim)?

Hell, you don't really even need the radio swap...wifi tether covers that if you don't have a wifi connection for the tablet. All you really need is an android sync app that allows transfer of all settings from one device to another.

Why worry about two devices and two sets of data when you could worry about just one?

If you lose your EVO, just remote-wipe, buy another, and bam... back in business.

If you lose the Tablet sleeve, you're only out $200 and your data is still safe on your phone. Buy another shell and you're all set. The sleeve would be ready to go the moment you'd slide in your EVO.

If you lose both, you only have to configure/restore ONE device and not two.

Users wouldn't have to fiddle around with data syncing over a slew of devices.

Businesses would only have to setup, maintain, support, and upgrade one device per user instead of two or three.

Software licensing and deployment would be far cheaper, faster, and easier.

It just makes more sense.
 
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It could work. Economies of scale would bring production costs down. The costs would come down to the basic cost to produce a media dock plus the cost of two speakers, a battery, and a screen. Most of the needed software modding is being crowdsourced by cyanogen.

A prototype hardware would cost around $500-$700. The fact that HTC is already manufacturing 90% of the hardware needed would mean lower production costs for them which is why I chose to write them instead of going full force on my own.

First step would be to buy something like this and port the driver over to android.

10.1 inch LED Multi touch Monitor with HDMI/DVI INPUT new products Sunny Island Technology(Hongkong) Co.,LTD.

To cover ALL of the costs involved, you would have to sell a LOT, and I mean a LOOOOTTTTTTTTT of these at $200 a piece to turn a profit. That would be hard to do with relatively few potential consumers. Remember, ANYONE can buy and use an iPad, only people with certain devices can use your theoretical device.

There are no economies of scale to be had with a low-penetration device that would have even a lower rate of adoption. Prototype for $500? Have you ever even been involved in prototyping an electronic device, getting it certified, and then scaling it up?

This is comical.

This.

Also, the evo-specific device is a proof of concept. Ideally, I'd want something more modular that would work with any phone that had a microusb and a microhdmi out.

It would be an attractive alternative to an iPad and would present a simpler and more secure solution that required less tech support and maintenance. Perfect for consumer and enterprise markets.

Making it more modular would certainly help your cause, but it takes away from the streamlined look/feel. It is like the difference between a universal car mount that pinches the sides of your phone and a device specific one that your phone slips in to.

I'm not knocking your idea, I think there is some merit to it, I'm just playing devil's advocate. If someone doesn't challenge those thoughts, you end up with a heavy time and money investment before you realize some of the things you should have thought of.
 
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