I am not a technogeek, so maybe there’s an obvious answer to this.
It seems to me that the last really, really huge leap in cell phone technology was the first iPhone, or the introduction of smart phones in general. In my pocket, I have what is basically a computer, much like I am typing on now. I can browse the internet, and often post using my phone. I can watch live tv. I can watch anything available on Netflix or Hulu. I can listen to thousands of songs. I can take pretty good pictures and videos. I can make a phone call. Etcetera, etcetera.
I’ve been having trouble imagining exactly what’s next. Sure, the screen could get nicer, I suppose. They are getting faster, with better cameras and connections.
But I don’t know what will compel me to get that next phone. It seems like the phone market is based on a two-year purchase cycle - you have a two-year contract, then get a new phone. But I am perfectly happy with my Droid X and its capabilities.
Thus the question : What’s the next major innovation?
My wife came up with a good idea - a new type of flip-phone, a lot like the old Nintendo Game & Watch units, to double the screen size. the size of a current-generation phone when calling, so it fits in your pocket, but unfolding for video applications. Obviously, it needs to be thinner, and they’d need to be able to somehow eliminate, or nearly so, the seam in the middle when the phone is flipped open.
Geeky nostalgia and other pop culture themed phones. I still want one that looks and functions like a Star Trek (TOS) communicator device.
Lately I’ve also wondered if it’s possible to have a screen that converts into a perfectly mirrored surface. You know, to serve as a mirror. One less thing for the ladies to carry in their purses.
What about flexible, thin screens? The power to drive them needs to be small and portable as well, but could it end up decoupling the screen from the cell/computer?
I don’t want to shill for Microsoft here, but I think they’re going down a good path with Windows 8. They’ve essentially tried to merge Windows 7 with Windows Phone 7, and the preliminary results look pretty good. The tablets they’ve been demoing work like this:
Boot up your tablet in normal tablet time (quick). You have Windows Phone widgets that you can use to check email, surf the web, play Angry Birds, etc. Then if you want to use it like a laptop, you hit the “Windows Desktop” app and it launches into full Windows 8.
The upshot is that you get to eliminate one of your devices (iPad or Laptop), you can carry along a stand and a bluetooth keyboard and do actual work on the road. The downside is that it’s an actual laptop - Core i5, pretty heavy, has to have a fan, etc. Battery life is probably pretty terrible.
But I imagine that it’s a natural extension of the way things have been going. Imagine a smaller version that you can carry around and sync via wireless HDMI to a TV or monitor with a bluetooth keyboard.
Smart voice activation. As in, I pick up my phone and I say to it, “Directions to the Wendy’s on Hamilton Rd” and it knows what app to start up and what input to give it, and gives me the directions I want. Or, “How many new emails do I have?” and it checks, and gives me a rundown, “Two new emails; one looks important.”
There’s voice activation now but it’s not very good in my experience. I’m waiting for something seamless and effective.
It’s already been done by the Kyocera Echo. Engadget gave it a decent reviewbut it will probably take a year or two for the form to mature. Definitely something I will watch out for and I would love to see Samsung or HTC make a phone with that form factor.
Another possibility is something like the Samsung Galaxy Note which is a really big,powerful phone with a high-resolution screen and stylus . Not for everyone but I have been drooling over the promo videofor weeks.
Any Droid based phone can more or less do that part. If pull up google and hit the microphone button (or on a non-HTC phone long press the search button) then say “Wendy’s Hamilton Rd, Milwaukee, Wisconsin” it’ll pop up on the screen and from there you can hit the map button to see it or the “Get Directions” button to launch the GPS app.
Granted, I’m not sure if it was the technology to answer the “How many emails to I have” question, but it could be buried in there since the Google search function searches the entire phone not just the internet.
I’d like to see the cameras get better. I just got a Motorola Bionic and the camera is crap compared to the original droid I just gave up.
Yeah, the iPhone can too, but I mean technology to do it without having to fire up google first. Basically, being able to operate the phone like Capt. Kirk operated the computer on the Enterprise. “Phone, tell me what intersection I’m at.” “Phone, read my 4:00 appointment details to me.”
Well, that’s probably part of the next major innovation: devices that are not tied to specific power sources, and processors that run much cooler.
Yes–ideally, you’ll have only one processing unit for everything that is convenient to take just about wherever you go, and that has total cloud & wireless connectivity and synching. The interface peripherals that can’t–or shouldn’t–get any smaller (screen, keyboard, etc.) will be commonly used equipment that you use like wall outlets.
It does do that, but you still have to push (one) button to activate the voice recognition software. On the droid you can press the microphone on the Google Toolbar (it’s an icon on the home page) or you can long press search button on the phone itself.
That doesn’t seem like it’s too far off, but voice recognition software is always kinda sketchy IMO.
My Honda Insight has two voice control moduals. The one that controls the Hands Free Bluetooth connection to the phone works like a friggen charm. Never misses a beat. The one that controls everything else in my car almost never gets anything right.
Me “Radio 96.5 FM”
Car “Air Conditioner Off”
Me “Air Conditioner On”
Car “Rear Defroster On”
Me “Rear Defroster Off”
Car “Rear Defroster Off”
Me “No shit, good job”
Me “Radio 96.5”
Car "Pardon?
Me “Really, did you just say pardon?”
Me “Radio 96.5”
Car “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that”
Me “wha…”
Okay, so I made up that last one, but it would be a nice little Easter Egg.
Now that I think about it, I’m guessing the next major innovation will be a battery that lasts much longer (or a phone that uses considerably less power). My phone (Bionic), used carefully, services turned off when not in use, etc, will last about 18 hours between charges, just barely. My Droid would do that without batting an eye, while surfing the internet all day and without having to turn off Bluetooth/turning on Wifi when I was at home. I’d like to get back to a phone that could push 48 hours, that way I could wake up, use my phone however I damn wanted to and plug it in at night and not think “Wow, I made it a whole day.”
Here are some innovations that already exist but are not yet widespread:
NFC (Near field communication) for things like mobile payments, sharing info with other mobile devices, buying and using tickets, and identity documents. Biometric security to prevent unauthorized use of the device. Things like fingerprint sensors, voice pattern recognition, and face recognition. LTE (Long Term Evolution) for much faster wireless data transfer.
Early Days: Voice-to-voice conversations replace need for people to meet face to face to communicate
Early-to-Mid Cell Phone Days: Texting replaces need for people to even have voice-to-voice conversations, but requires hunt & peck style discomfort. People still love it.
More Recent Cell Phone Days: Voice-to-Text recognition, allowing you to create an emotionless text message from you voice to send to your recipient, instead of having to put any effort at all into typing or thinking about it first.
Future Cell Phone Days: All communication will be carried out by cell phone software. When calls/texts are recieved, your phone personality will answer and respond for you based on a few preset conditions you entered when your phone first started up. Voila! You never have to put any effort into human interaction again!
I just remembered Microsoft’s famous Vision 2019 videowhich has something like this, even cooler in fact: two edge-to-edge screens which can be held separately or side-by-side or folded together.
As a guess I think augmented reality will play a bigger role in phones in the near future. Phones that translate written/spoken languages effortlessly, dig up the details on architecture and stores by taking a picture, facial recognition software to sync people with their social media profiles, give clues about the emotional signals and body language of people around you, etc. Those things exist, just not widespread now.
The Kinect picks up on emotions based on voice and face. Having something like that in your pocket that can give you cues about the emotional states and thoughts of people around you based on body language, tone of voice, etc. would be handy. I remember a blurb a few years ago about a cell phone developed to pick up signs of sexual interest, they gave it to people at a speed dating session and they really liked it, it helped to clarify where people stood. I’m guessing it led to a lot less awkwardness and rebuffed advances.
Of course we are giving up tons of privacy in the process (digging up peoples online history, learning their emotions and personalities, etc), but that is what I think is next.
As an example, you can supposedly tell if a person is gay or not based on how many gay friends they have on facebook. So a phone that can use facial recognition software to sync with that person’s profile, then dig up tons of info about them to form a personality assessment. I’m sure we give off tons and tons of clues about who we are as individuals that we don’t realize and for the most part people around us don’t pick up on. Phones in the near future will pick up on all that and will probably give total strangers a detailed account of our personalities that only our best friends know.
Basically phones that do a lot of our socializing and research for us.
