Last week saw a lot of buzz in the consumer tech space as Apple released the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and an entirely new iPhone X in the first ever event held at its new headquarters.
Although most of the details about the new phones were already known, they were still met with fanfare (mostly) by reviewers, especially the iPhone X which marks a definite shift for Apple’s flagship product and maybe the entire smartphone industry.
Although the many, many tech companies have been trying to best each other by providing cutting edge tech in their smartphones, for the last few years, the whole space feels kind of stagnant right now, though the incremental updates over the years sure add up to become meaningful advancements.
One of the reasons for it could be that, we as consumers, simply can’t think of anything new that these companies could possibly do to keep us buying new phones. I mean we can already do a million things on our phones, today. So, what else is left? As it turns out, a lot!!
Augmented & Virtual Reality
AR and VR are two of the most exciting emerging technologies right now. They are not smartphone exclusive whatsoever and already work well with dedicated headsets with standalone smart glasses in the works that might one day even replace smartphones altogether.
That is still a ways off into the future and so, smartphone makers are quickly equipping their phones with AR and VR capability. This will ease the average consumer into this new world within the familiarity of the smartphone.
AR/VR are totally different experiences and interfaces to computing that allow for easier and more interactive access to information where the virtual objects are overlaid into the real world (in case of AR) or you are taken to a virtual world (in case of VR).
Having such powerful technologies in the palm of our hands will allow us to do things that we couldn’t have even imagined before and it will make life and work a whole lot easier.
Batteries & True Wireless Charging
Smartphones today have one major flaw, and it’s that of their battery capacity. They are so advanced and can do so many things and we use them so frequently, that the battery just doesn’t last as much as we would like it to.
This forces us to reach for our chargers or charging mat too many times to be justified for the 21st century modern world. Things like inductive charging, which companies are marketing as wireless charging have helped, but we need a more advanced solution.
There are two ways this will be done in the coming decade. First off, newer battery technologies could finally see the light of the day which last for at least a week and second, we will finally witness true wireless charging that works like wi-fi.
Imagine a phone that can charge a long distance away from the charger. This would essentially end the battery woes once and for all because even if you had a low capacity battery, it could be kept charged all the time and worrying about charging would be a thing of the past.
More Speech Based
Smartphones are so mass adopted today because they engage our senses and are therefore natural to use. They have killer displays that engage sight, we are able to touch our content as they have touchscreens, and now we are also able to speak to them in a manner that they can understand and respond to our requests.
Virtual assistants like Siri, Cortana, Alexa, Google Assistant, all started out more like gimmicks that let you do a few things, but over the past few years, thanks to machine learning and other technologies, they have all become so much more capable and a lot more useful.
This is a growing trend in the smartphone industry which is pushing us to use our voice for more and more of the tasks we want to achieve with our smartphones and I think it is by far the most natural way we can interact with technology. I mean, just speak and it shall be done. Almost magical, isn’t it?
Technology should be invisible yet functional and this allows for exactly that. With our offices and homes increasingly going smart with all the smart appliances, having to use our phones with fingers for each one would be a lot of work. Therefore, speech seems to be the natural direction going forward.
Foldable Screens
Foldable screens have been in the prototype stage for quite some time now but as technology progresses, we might see a foldable smartphone not too long from now.
This has been very difficult to do mainly because of the limitations of other parts of a phone like the circuit boards and batteries, but scientists have been trying to make these flexible as well.
Foldable screens could free us from having multiple devices and could be our one stop shop for all things digital. Just think about it, a single device could be your smartphone, your tablet, and even your laptop, all because you can fold the screens into multiple sizes!
Storage wouldn’t be an issue as those have gotten really advanced, charging wouldn’t be an issue when true wireless charging is here, and processing power wouldn’t be an issue as chips are really advanced now and will only get faster and more powerful, allowing for a less complicated digital footprint.
A world awaits us so unknown
When we hold a new smartphone.
Perhaps once an 8, 8+ or X
such a phone is so complex.
Virtual reality augments my friend
Wireless charging a charge to send
Foldible screens will make the scene
speech based phones all crisp and clean
Say you need some intellectual intercourse
speak up with a voice that's not too horse.
the smartphone must smartly comprehend
The muffled thoughts from which you send.
AR VR technology to see
soon common place for you and me.
sauravrungta cell phoned post we read
The future's bright what lies ahead.
And so a comment poetic I share
in verse to readers everywhere.
My friends dare not to be alone
Invest your crypto in a new smartphone.
Wow You made a poet of the post? That's brilliant. Super creativity man. I love it :D :D
It seems to go in pulses. You get a new breakthrough idea that sets the standard and "teaches" people what they wanted but did not know of themselves before the product was in their hands. Then competition works to perfect whatever breakthrough that was. Milking the cow while it is what people want. Then it all happens again.
I can't say I was impressed by any of the improvements done by the previous mobile phone generation before the touch-phones. So there too you had the same thing. Nokia etc gave us something new that we wanted, it was fine-tuned, improved and had some arbitrary features added to them, and then came the smartphone/touchphones.
So what will be next up? Well if I knew I wouldn't be here.
(Or actually, I would, as I quite like my job).
But I think it's obvious that we don't need advanced computing power inside every unit we use (phone + tablet + PC + laptop + smart-TV + smart-watch + smart-toaster..) instead we will own our access to a server that stores what we own and provides the data that the device we currently hold needs to display , not necessarily run. So I think we'll have anything that can become a screen or a surface to write on, made most convenient for the use-case, which we will then connect to the web and then run whatever applications we need.
You are absolutely spot on about these things coming in pulses. That way people get new features and the companies get their profits! Win-Win.
As for what's next, yes, everything is going to get 'smart' and connected and you are right that we wouldn't need powerful chips in every single thing. That would be waste of resources. And yeah, AR will play a huge role as I think the whole of computing industry could go towards that direction. It would also enable any surface to be used as screen. If only companies can figure out to integrate this tech in some kind of simple glasses that are indistinguishable from the regular sunglasses and maybe even in contact lenses!
Today we only imagine that a single device could be smartphone, tablet,laptop, all because I can fold the screens into multiple sizes!
I think it will happen less than in 7 years and then you are oldfashioned if you don't have foldable device. Younger generation will call this kind of smartphones, like everbybody have today, grandoldmobile 😁
Anyway mostly I miss charging a long distance away from the charger. That would be cool.
Yeah, it could happen within 7 years as you say. It will finally simply a LOT of things as we would not need to carry 5 different devices with separate peripherals and wires for each of them. Just own one device and you have access to the full spectrum of the digital world. So simple, so cool.
Yes, wireless charging would be a life saver!!
@sauravrugta - I can't wait for my smartphone to be a Jarvis equivalent. LOL
Well - I know that Jarvis is more of an AI based virtual assistant concept in Ironman but the kind of screens and AR/VR combinations shown never cease to amaze me.
You are very right in pointing out that AR/VR, battery capability (augmented by wireless charging) and foldable screens are going to be the cutting edge features in phones of future. Perhaps the next stage, in far future, could be of interfacing the phone capabilities directly with our neuro-network so that we do not need screens or speakers at all.
Thanks for this blog. I really enjoy your technology based blogs. Though I have stepped back from being an executive and am into wildlife/nature based blogs, I am still a nerd at heart and enjoy reading about technology. Upvoted full.
Regards,
I just wish I had a virtual assistant like Jarvis. At least that way I could pretend to be Iron Man :P hahah! Not sure if that is sad or cool ;)
Yes, you are right that phones could very well be connected with our brains directly with the help of brain-computer interfaces and that would mean we wouldn't even have to use speech! Just think about it and it will happen. That would be a godly feeling! lol
Thanks for those kind words. It means a lot :)
Yes - Jarvis would be cool. Siri does not even come close!
Great content, thanks for sharing @sauravrungta! The future seems very bright for smartphones!
Thanks for reading :) Yeah, they are just getting started into the next decade.
great
Thanks!
Technology is literally sucking our brains out & killing us! Let's all go back to pagers ASAP - mark my words, it won't be long before you are forced to watch 120 seconds of Kardashians / Bachelorette / Homely Housewives (?) before you can even pay for your groceries via this "smart" tech! Just one lonely soul trying to save the world over here !!
It's already happening , isnt it ? We are just modern zombies with the short span attention lol
The Walking Dead ;)
haha I would rather kill myself than watch 120 seconds of them!
I hate Siri I never use it. I actually hate my smart fone. I want a good old indusctructible fone that you would make calls and texts with. nothing more
Me too! I have plenty of great computers yet I'm so tempted to want one in my pocket.
Maybe it's because of the assurance of having any information at the palm of your hands.
Yeah, everyone has their own preferences. The problem is that the smartphone actually comes with some useful and in today's world, indispensable features that one can't do without.
I like the idea of a foldable screen
Yeah me too!!
OOOo I've never thought about the foldable screen idea! That would be so neat, plus then I wouldn't go blind because the screen is DOUBLE the size.
As for battery and storage... yes I need more of both, I'm always running out of space.
The foldable screen if implemented properly will be a huge boon for the consumers. No need to carry multiple devices in a bag with different wires for each of them. Just carry one device. How cool would that be?
amazing! They need to hurry it up! LOL :)
This might be significant.
New Computer Input Device YOUR BRAIN…
Yes, the brain will be the ultimate input device. Just think and it shall be done. It would be like having god-like powers! hehe
the tech is crazy
It is, isn't it?
Not a fan of speech based technology like cortana or siri, i feel like they're like invading privacy. But i have keen interest on Vr technology, it overwhelms me.
Everything invades privacy these days. We might as well use them!!
the most important that we (the consumers) dont get obsessed with technology, and put ourselves in financial problems just to be ' up to date to the technology'.
we should just try to find the product that satisfies our personnel needs that's all, not buying every new product that offers new tools we dont really need.
PS : i like your article
tell that to the masses of morons who go around buying all the new gadgets
ahaha yeah, it has almost become a trend nowadays!
You are correct in that.
Being an entrepreneur, smartphones has been part of my life now. However I still would prefers offline at least once a month and connect with the nature. Cheers from Borneo @madeve
Resteemed Coz I like it!
Yup, I have been dying to do so for quite some time now. To spend a week at least without any connection with the tech world whatsoever. So peaceful that would be.
The future is always unpredictable ... Thanks a lot for this information!
Yes it is :)
Of course :D
About sources for charging phones: I want to believe that we will soon be able to recharge it from our body sources :)
That could very well be one possibility if true wireless charging is realised.
Seriously, the only thing holding humanity back for now is battery life. Everyone I know wants a (insert a tech device here) that never requires charging.
On a side note, nobody actually wants an intelligent microwave oven.
Ughh...
Hold on, I need to look at my smartphone screen while this ad plays so it detects I've seen it and rewards me with (somebigcompanyname)coin!
haha you are absolutely right! Hopefully the next decade finally solves that problem!
The technology is overwhelming the universe in a very swift manner i think the concept of books and schools will be totally dependent on the smartphones and computers. Moreover , there will be transparent screens to give more convenient way to rejoice someone and there would be control by gestures . #imagination 😉
The future never ceases to amaze :)
Yeah right buddy
This post was very informative thank you for sharing
you have my upvote
Thank you for reading :)
3DE is tackling the Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality for the next generation check us out @prods3de
Nice info... my vote for you!