Believe it or not, smartphones are rapidly approaching their 20th birthday, and they have certainly changed since their inception. Between their video streaming capabilities and their effectiveness in hosting a variety of iPhone app award winning programs, smartphones allow their users to do virtually anything while out and about. Still, there is room for improvement, and the future certainly looks promising. Although it is hard to know for sure what developers have up their sleeves, the following features could be available the next time you are ready to upgrade your phone.
Bendable screens
Although the latest smartphones currently boast a fairly large screen, most users would agree that if they want to watch a movie or play a video game, they would prefer to do so on their television. However, that could all change with bendable screens; Organic Light-Emitting Diode technology is just around the corner, and it will allow screens to be super-sized in comparison to today’s smartphone models. In addition, this technology will open the door to a number of other inventions, some of which are already being researched. For example, Nokia is working on a smartphone that can either be worn like a watch or used in a more traditional manner, depending on the user’s preferences.
Tiny projectors
Just over two years ago, the Samsung Galaxy Beam came onto the market boasting a Digital Light Projection WVGA projector. What good is a smartphone with this capability? Well, there is a possibility that the device will be able to double as a gaming console. Users will simply need to project their game onto a flat wall or other compatible surface and use their voice or their body as a controller. The biggest problem with this idea, though, is that it would be very taxing on your smartphone’s battery. In addition, the projector would have to be small, which means that it might not be able to project the necessary amount of light to get a clear picture. However, it is certainly a possibility for the future.
Better voice control
Siri changed the way that users look at their smartphone. Although voice control wasn’t necessarily a new feature, it didn’t work very well when it simply utilized sound waves to determine a command. Instead, Siri takes both syntax and diction into account, paving the way for a seamless voice control feature in the future. That’s exciting, because it will encourage users to interact with their smartphone in increasingly complex ways.
The future of the smartphone certainly looks bright. It may come at a cost, however; a device packed with the features mentioned above definitely won’t be cheap. In addition, these features could make users even more attached to their smartphones than they are now, which isn’t necessarily a good thing. Still, the benefits seem to outweigh the costs, and the developments in the industry are definitely exciting.