Most people would agree that smartphones were the most exciting technology to come to fruition over the last decade. The question, therefore, is where they are going next. How can manufacturers continue to improve them to transform our quality of life? Phones now come in all shapes and sizes, all plan types, too. This means whether you pick a pay monthly option or SIM only deals, you’re going to get something that works well. Phones are developing and evolving and you can really strike gold with the right one!
When you think about it, it is a surprisingly open question. Companies like Samsung and Apple could continue to iterate on their current winning formula. Or they could bolt in a completely different direction, depending on what technology and tastes decide?
Remember, companies have experimented with highly futuristic products before. Google, for example, launched Glass back in 2012 with the hope that people would walk about with computerised spectacles, like cyborgs. The idea didn’t really take off.
So what’s going to happen soon with regards to smartphone technology to make you trade in old mobile phone handsets? And what is likely to occur in, say, ten or twenty years from now?
Mind Control
Mind control is becoming an increasingly popular idea among specific sectors of the tech community. The idea is to create some kind of interface with your brain and then use that to feed instructions to your phone. So, for instance, you might have the thought that you want to open your web browser and before you know it, your phone is already getting on with it.
This tech might sound hopelessly futuristic, but researchers already have working prototypes in labs around the world. You sit people in a chair, attach a bunch of sensors to their heads, and then use the signals that they generate to power a device.
The problem with this technology right now isn’t the interpretation or translation – it’s rolling it out in a consumer-friendly way. Because each person has a different brain structure, you have to train these devices to read everyone individually. You can’t just download a universal app and expect it to work for you.
The next phase in the rollout, therefore, will be to create smart software that reads outputs and provides likely on-device actions. The user can then answer quick questions about their intent to refine the program specifically for them. Expect this technology to arrive in some form within ten years.
Wireless Charging
When Nicola Tesla was first experimenting with the science of electricity, he envisioned a wireless world. He thought that you might be able to transmit electricity through the air instead of relying on pylons and power lines. It turned out he was right, but his ideas apply at the small scale, not that of the grid.
Despite the science having been around for more than a hundred years, implementing wireless transmission is proving more complicated than many people imagined. Right now, the best wireless chargers still require phones to be in physical contact with them. Unless you place your device directly on the pad, it won’t charge.
Now, though, there are a bunch of companies working on exciting and compelling alternatives. One of them is called Energous. The firm says that it is working on a technology that will charge compatible smartphones from feet away. So you could theoretically plug this charger into the wall, and it would charge all items on a nearby desk without you having to bother plugging them in.
The technology is, of course, just a stepping stone into a world of long-distance charging. It might be possible, for instance, to transmit power to devices over meters or even hundreds of meters. In a world like that, people would have power all the time, and manual charging would become a thing of the past. Developments in battery technology would become mostly irrelevant. It’s an exciting prospect.
Phones That Stretch
For some time now, companies like Samsung have been investigating the idea of handheld devices that can switch between form factors. Wouldn’t it be good if you could have a phone that stretched out into a tablet, and then folded away neatly like a phone again?
Stretchy phones might seem like a long way off, but we already see the first glimmers of hope that this might be possible. Samsung already has a phone where the screen folds out. And other device makers are learning about the technology.
How practical the devices will remain to be seen. Whether people will use them to the extent that manufacturers imagine is yet to be seen. Stylus utilisation on existing handsets, for example, is famously low. It seems like a good idea, but there aren’t all that many practical uses for it.
Phones That Change Colour
Most handsets are either black, white or some tone of grey. These colours are boring, but also slot into a wide variety of settings. You can whip out your phone at home or in a social situation, and it doesn’t matter.
Many of us, though, would prefer our handset to be brighter than they are. We don’t want dull colours cramping our style. But we also don’t want to whip out a bright yellow device at the office – it doesn’t look professional.
Manufacturers, therefore, are investigating the possibility of making devices where you can change their exterior colour in the settings. The idea is to encase the handset in a transparent screen and then project colours onto it, such as red, blue and green.
Taking the concept a step further, apps could control the colours and adjust them automatically based on location or mood. It would transform the user experience.
Better Display Technology
People love reading from E-ink screens (the type you get on Amazon Kindle devices). But they like the fact that regular OLED screens have deep blacks and are usable in the dark. Until now, nobody has managed to combine the best of both technologies, but that could change. Firms are currently investigating the prospect of creating a hybrid OLED/E-ink display that provides the sharpness of a reader, but the versatility of a regular phone.
Which of these technologies are you most excited to try out first? And which do you think will arrive in the next few years?