Predictions on Smartphone Technology

Posted by Lester Madden under General, Smartphones

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David Wood put an interesting post on the Symbian Foundation blog yesterday. He asked what the future of mobile technologies would be hold for the next 5 years. When looking to the future people tend to over predict the long term future and under estimate the short term. Just look at an episode of one of those 1960s TV science programs where they predicted what life would be like in the year 2000. According to their 50 year predictions we should have robots doing our gardening, cleaning our floors and walking our dogs, not to mention travelling to work in flying cars.

In response to David’s question, it got me thinking. Why do I carry a laptop around with me? There are a couple of reasons why right now.

• Choice of applications
• Processing power
• Form factor

You might have your own list but I have racked my brains but can’t think of any other good reasons right now.

Choice of applications: What do I need, well everything I use on my desktop. I don’t want to limit myself to special cut down versions of software. I want my PC experience where ever I go.

Processing power: Smartphones are already mini PCs and in the next 5 years they will only get faster with SMP technologies working their way into devices.

Form factor: That’s a harder one and requires the 5 year prediction, being mobile with a tiny keyboard is great when you need it but I don’t even want to think about typing emails on a small device for 8 hours a day.

Wouldn’t it be great if our smartphones became our laptops of the future. Imagine if your smartphone had huge solid state memory capacity where you could install all your applications, store all your data, and just connect to peripherals like a monitor, keyboard or mouse via a standard Bluetoothish docking station. So you leave the house in the morning with your phone, do your emails using the built in keyboard similar to that on the Nokia 97 while on the train, then when you get into the office, the smartphone finds your docking station and you are ready to work at your desk with a big screen and full size keyboard. When you walk away your data goes with you. No more lugging that big beast around with you.

It will never replace every form factor, nothing ever will, but I’m sure us roadwarriors would love the idea.

Since I called into question the accuracy of those 1960s science programs I should say that some of their predictions have come true just not in a mainstream way, at least not yet.

Moller have been working on production flying cars for sometime now, and have completed over 200 successful test flights.

You can get robot vacuum cleaners that will come out and vacuum your carpet and clean your floors.

Or how about relaxing on Sundays while a robot lawn mower takes care of the lawn.

Robot dog walkers proved a challenge but then why bother with a real dog when you can get a robot dog.

         

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