Here are some features smartphones users would probably be looking out for, say in the next five to ten years. This is probably hard to predict with accuracy due to the fast pace tech evolutions have been riding on. Yet, as we await with anticipation, let’s observe the existing trends and make some wild guesses on where smartphones are heading. Some of the listed features are already in existence but still crude, while the rest still remains a dream.
FLEXIBLE SCREENS
It may soon be the case where smartphones are able provide a large screen to watch and play your favorite movies and games while maintaining a pocketable size. Screens can be folded and unfolded, all thanks to Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) technology. This paper-thin screen can even project future-features-smart-phones from both sides of the screen, so you can show pictures or videos to your friend on one side while using the other as a control. This feature may surprisingly go viral sooner than expected
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With such physical flexibility for smartphones, some companies even have plans on make wearable smartphones for the masses. For instance, Nokia is currently conducting research on their concept device, Morph (http://research.nokia.com/morph), which offers users the option of wearing it as a wrist watch or unfold it to use as a typical handset as and when required. It all depends on the task the users are engaging with.
IN-BUILT PROJECTOR
If flexible screens are not enough to compensate for the small screens on smartphones why not integrate a projector within? Samsung Galaxy Beam was released back in the second half of 2010. It features a built-in DLP (Digital Light Projection) WVGA projector that is able to project future-features-smart-phones/ at up to 50 inches in size at 15 lumens. What good will this do? Well, for one thing, future smartphones can actually be turned into an interactive gaming consoles without a need for a TV screen; all you’ll need is a flat surface. Instead of a physical controller, you can use your body or your voice. Similar to Kinect, a smart camera and a voice control function can capture your movements and voice commands to let you interact with objects and future-features-smart-phones on the projected screen.projector-phone
Of course, you can imagine the drainage rate on your smartphone’s battery life and there’s also the other issue with luminance i.e. the amount of light it outputs. In-built projectors for smartphones must be small, and as the paradox sits: the smaller the projector is, the lesser light it will be able to give out. With better technology though, issues such as these will be addressed in time, making projectors a part of a new experience you can now engage with your smartphone.
3D SCREENS & HOLOGRAMS
Smartphones may have already reached the peak for their screen resolution with Apple’s ‘Retina Display‘, which actually provides a resolution that is sharper than what the human eye can perceive. Yet, even then, we still want more. Mobile companies are now moving from 2D display for smartphones to 3D feature display for the smartphone screen. At present, we have a couple of 3D smartphones in the market, such as the LG Optimus 3D, the Motorola MT810 as well as the very first Samsung AMOLED 3D. So what happens after 3D display?
Well, the next path could possibly be holographic projections. In essence, holographic projections will mean a combination of 3D display features and projections from the smartphone. According to Mobiledia Network, MasterImage 3D had previously showcased their ongoing development on a projection system that allows smartphones to display 3D holograms at the annual Mobile World Congress last February. If you want to talk about the potential of holographic projections in smartphones, it’s great. 3D displays can be integrated with elements of movements when it comes to user interactions with the phone. For example, you can resize your photos by using your hands to ‘pull’ or ‘compress’ the holographic photos that appear in front of you, move objects by ‘grabbing’ them from one place to another, etc. If you’re a fan of Tom Cruise’s ‘Minority Report’, this would be your dream come true.
SEAMLESS VOICE CONTROL
Voice control has been receiving much attention since Siri made headlines. Voice control has existed in many earlier mobile phones even though the voice recognition function was crude at best. Research has been made to advance the development of voice control, but it has proved to be a paramount task.
Siri might have signaled a breakthrough to the way voice control and recognition programming ought to be made. Instead of recognizing commands via sound waves like most voice-recognition systems, Siri interprets diction and syntax in a similar fashion to how we recognize speech. Such Natural Language User Interfaces prove to be more effective and accurate.Voice control
The interest with voice control for computers and especially smartphones has always been there since the pioneer MIT research, “Put That There” studied different ways to communicate with computers in 1980. With the newly improved voice recognition app, Siri, as well as the greater capabilities of smartphones in the years to come, seamless voice control seems to be a viable goal. That, combined with gestures may bring interactivity to a new level for smartphones and their users.
AUGMENTED REALITY (AR)
The term ‘augmented reality‘ or AR when used in the context of computer technology refers to what we perceive through our senses (usually sight) enhanced through the use of computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics and GPS data. Simply put, AR makes available more information for us users by combining computer data to what we see in real life. Using the camera on your phone, you can point it somewhere or something ‘live’ to get an electronically rendered form of the object or information overlay of where you can find the nearest cafes or dining places, for example.Argumented reality
Smartphones being portable serve as a good platform for AR to work. You can just whip out your phone to get the latest and relevant info for what you are searching for – information which you would otherwise have to call and ask or search online before heading out of Wi-Fi coverage. Most AR apps available now utilize some form of Global Positioning System (GPS) to facilitate location searches and this feature is likely to develop further over the next couple of years because of its potential. So why isn’t it in all smartphones yet?
It seems that the primary limiting factor is the limited recognition accuracy for ‘live’ views when we point our camera lens at places, buildings or even people. For AR to work seamlessly and reliably, the technology for recognizing places, things or people must be of a certain standard.
One example on the use of AR via smartphone can be found here. Expect more of such apps to be made available in the market in the years to come.
POWERFUL SMARTPHONE ATTERY
Battery life is the only real problem left to overcome in smartphones, as while screens and processors are improving every year battery technology isn’t, which is why most handsets struggle to last much more than a day with moderate usage. With all the future features packed in a smartphone, the need for a very powerful battery is inevitable.
That could all change before too long though, as a new study published in the Nature science journal points to batteries which have the potential to offer five times the energy density of the lithium-ion units we’re using currently.
This possibility is opened up by the development of lithium-oxygen batteries. These were previously hard to create because the lithium superoxide used by them was thermodynamically unstable.
However, it’s been discovered that crystalline lithium superoxide can be stabilised in a battery by using a suitable graphene-based cathode.
Not here yet.
Don’t get too excited yet, as Larry Curtiss, one of the co-authors of the study, notes that “a lot more research is needed.” But says that “this discovery really opens a pathway for the potential development of a new kind of battery.”
This isn’t the first new battery tech we’ve heard of, from a modest 40% boost in performance promised by future Sony batteries to week long life there’s a lot of research happening.
But so far none of it is ready for commercial use and most of it looks to be years off. So the future might have a lot of juice, but for now you’d best keep track of your charger.
Recently, the automatic voltage adjust that is featured in most of recent Infinix chargers shows there is a plan to produce smartphones that would not be equipped with the traditional 3.7V battery. The 5V – 12V adjustable changer points to the arrival of smartphone batteries with voltages as high as 9V.
ALL SET FOR SMARTPHONES OF THE FUTURE?
It’s exciting to expect these features in our future smartphones, but I wonder what it will take for us to get there. I’m talking about the price we may have to pay in exchange for such awesome features in our smartphones. Apart from that, there is also the other issues that can work up a storm: must our privacy be compromised for augmented reality to work at its fullest potential? Can marketers exploit our private details to obtain otherwise inaccessible data about us, our likes and preferences?
Also, with so much incorporated into our smartphones will the case of total dependence of the user on their mobile devices be a problem? Everyone is waiting to see what the smartphone industry can offer, and how the masses will react to the emergence of new and better smartphones along with the multitude of issues that come with each technology that is introduced to public use. I’m very curious to see how things will unfold, are you?
http://www.gioneearena.com/6-smartphone-features-to-expect-within-the-next-decade
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