Future of Smartphones: Motion control?

Over the past decade mobile phones have evolved from contemporary feature phones into pocket-sized powerhouses that have completely redefined global telecommunications, web browsing, social networking, peer-to-peer communication, navigation, wireless connectivity, instant messaging, augmented reality, social gaming, applications development and marketplaces and so much more. It suffices to say that, given the world’s mobile consumer-base statistics, everyone from the tech-savvy to the business executive to your Gran is sporting a high-end mobile device or smartphone.

Comparing global trends, RIM and Apple clearly dominate the US markets with the Blackberry and iPhone smartphones while Android devices are quickly pulling in a fair share of that market and are already exceedingly dominant in the Asian sector. In fact, statistics bigwig Nielsen’s tracking surveys has shown a significant increase in mobile Android sales in the US so much so that it is expected that Android devices will be the number one mobile operating system in the country. And rightfully so, if one considers that just last week, the mantle of the most powerful smartphone was snatched by LG who delivered the jaw-droppingly gorgeous LG Optimus 3D: The world’s first 3D mobile device (note: mobile device. Not phone as that would just be degrading to this awesome piece of tech. Take heed Apple iPhone)

In case you missed the hype, the Optimus 3D is the world’s first Android smartphone that is capable of capturing and viewing 3D video and photos sans the stupid-looking glasses (much like the Nintendo DS). Sporting a 1GHz dual-core OMAP4 processor and 512MB of dual-channel memory with a 3D capable 4.3-inch stereoscopic WVGA touchscreen that can display 2D (up to 1080p) and 3D (720p) videos. Add to this the dual 5 mega-pixel cameras and loads of other awesome features (which you can read about here) and it seems that LG are trailing with a definite competitive advantage. Following suite is the Motorola Atrix, yet another Android dual-core 1 Gig processing powerhouse. Android’s game-changing smartphones or superphones, it seems, are leading in terms of setting standards for the next stage in the smartphone evolution.

Furthermore, if one considers the average time spent on mobile devices in relation to other similar media (computers, notebooks, gaming consoles) in the last three years, then it is a fairly accurate assumption to predict that by 2015, close to 50% of the overall global computing will be done from a mobile or similar device. This is (almost) already true of the Asian and BRIC markets whose mobile influence completely overshadow their American and Europoean counterparts. Mobile computing has been the driving force behind smartphone development and will, in all likelihood, continue to do so.

Extrapolating on the current smartphone trends and features, we can deduce the following key evolutionary points:

• Touchscreen will be and remain the de-facto mode of interaction. That is, until some clever applications developer manages to fine tune the augmented reality visual displays by integrating Kinect techonology with mobile interfaces – allowing users to interact with the device by not touching it (could be useful if you suffer from greasy-finger syndrome).
• Marketplaces for mobile applications will continue to expand as the need for consumer-centric and specific applications arises. The same applies to mobile video and TV-on-demand which has seen a significant rise in the past few years owing primarily to slate and tablet devices. Which brings me to my next point…
• Tablet computers, while still a gray area in terms of its relationship to smartphones (the iPad is significantly not a phone in anyway), has made a rather indirect impact on the development of mobile devices. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab for instance, has been compared to being a large, somewhat bloated smartphone. Manufacturers of mobile devices have started to take note of the one viable advantage tablets have over phones and the lines have become somewhat blurred in terms of what screen size represents which form of technology. Essentially: when is my smartphone a slate-phone? Expect to see more mobile devices churning out the same processing power of a tablet PC and still maintaining the smartphone status quo.
• Innovation in terms of design has been at the back of my mind for some time now, especially if one considers that, despite being sleeker, smaller and thinner, most mobile phones have still maintained the same rectangular shape for the past two decades. Yet, if the hype around the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is worth noting, then we can expect to see quite a few more innovative devices, particularly around smartphone design and augmented reality usage. Still, I’m not too sure those smartphone power bracelets will be taking off just yet.
• 4G: The phones have landed. They’re here, they support high speed wireless connectivity and tethering. There’s only problem: our current service providers aren’t quite pulling their weight, despite the over-zealous claims of 4G by a certain network corporation last year. While the idea of data transfer of 100 megabits per second while moving and 1 gigabit per second while stationary may seem like a dream, our current local infrastructures in South Africa are not viable to support these speeds. There have been some advancements such as spacial multiplexing whereby a series of antennae link to a single transmitter and receiver, thereby amplifying the output transmission. Expect to see more of a push towards 4G this year but bear in mind that it took almost a decade for the 3G standard to be set. Alternatively, just hop on the 4G brandwagon and when questioned, fudge and mumble something about ‘four great speed’.

In a nutshell, smartphones are evolving rapidly and while the nuances around data transfer speeds may be dampening, the processing power, applications marketplace lure and sleek user interfaces are pushing technology boundaries.