The phone of the future
The economist is brainstorming about the phone of the future. Good food for thought.
• Chances are that phones will not only look very different – they may not even be seen. They may be hidden in jewellery or accessories, or even embedded in the body.
• In a decade’s time a typical phone will have enough storage capacity to be able to video its user’s entire life.
• Researchers at Nokia speculate that within a decade, the cost of storage will have fallen so far that it might be possible to store every piece of music ever recorded in a single chip that could be included in each phone.
• Tiny projectors inside handsets could allow walls, tabletops or screens made of flexible materials to be used as displays while on the move.
• Today’s earpieces may give way to smaller devices hidden in earrings or worn as minuscule patches on the skin near the ear.
• Voice may turn out to be an interim technology. Researchers are developing sensors that pick up the subtle changes in the larynx and mouth when words are formed, even if there is little or no air going through the windpipe. So future phones might simply be able to lip-read using a sensor hidden in your collar.
• Today the idea of “approximeeting” – arranging to meet someone without making firm plans about time or place, and then finalising details via mobile phone while out and about – is commonplace.
• The ability to superimpose images and sound upon reality means that future phones will create layers on our world.
Link from Bruno Giussani’s blog.
