Imagining the Smartphones of the Future

The smartphone revolution has taken us by storm, and in a matter of years we have learned to rely and depend on those gadgets. To think that just a decade ago, telephones were something we just used to make phone calls! Nowadays, that is clearly just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

This is your smartphone, circa 2020

As you surely have noticed, smartphones are getting more powerful and versatile every year, to the point these devices have begun to rival standard computing devices. If you own a top-of-the-line smartphone, it's probably more powerful than your main computer from a few years back! Have you wondered where this kind of progress will take us in a few years' time?

We certainly have, and that's actually the point of this article: to envision what smartphones will probably be like in the next few years, and how these devices will change the way we communicate with one another and even relate with technology. Let's glimpse into the future and imagine.

A Pocket-Sized Super Computer

Granted, a smartphone will never be as powerful as the latest computers available at any given time; even a laptop is never quite as powerful as a fully featured desktop computer: miniaturization comes with a cost, and often there's a tradeoff between sheer computing power or smaller size. Regardless of the fact, technological developments come about fast enough that in a matter of 10 years, smartphones will be comparable to pocket-sized super computers, by today's standards.

In fact, there's a good chance that future developments in terms of user interface will allow us to drastically expand usability of smartphones, and make them more useful and reliable as actual computers. In the future, your phone will easily broadcast video signal wirelessly to any nearby screen, and it will easily take inputs from full-size holographic keyboards. When that time comes, you will effectively be able to rely on your phone for much more than casual browsing or messaging.

Holographic output

Assuming the technology to create full-sized functional holographic keyboards will be available soon (which is a safe assumption, since working prototypes have already been created in the present), then actual video holographic output is the logical progression. Right?

In the near future, video calls may become outdated in favor of more sophisticated holographic systems that allow you to see projections of the people you're calling as though they were in the same room. While no real holographic systems have been created at the time of writing, extensive research is underway. Within a decade, life-like holographic technology will be a reality, and its inclusion in smartphones should be a logical next step.

Astounding Autonomy

It's not like we're so lacking in this department, right? There are modern smartphones that will handle several days of intensive use on a single charge. For many, that's certainly good enough. Personally, we will never be completely satisfied while we still have to remember carrying around our cell phone charger when traveling out of town for a few days.

In between solar energy, kinetic charging systems and wireless electricity transmission, it probably won't take too long before our puny Li-Ion rechargeable batteries become completely obsolete. The day will come when our smartphones will just seemingly draw their energy from thin air, in a way will allow them to keep running virtually forever on a single charge.

Looks nothing like a phone

We're still in the habit of thinking of a smartphone as a phone-like device, but in the future there's no reason why such outdated conventions should stick… especially after hardware manufacturers have developed more sophisticated means of input and output. When that time comes, maybe there will be no need for a touchscreen display in our phones, and maybe microphones will become so advanced, you won't have to rely on using a Bluetooth adapter, or otherwise approach the phone from your mouth so the person on the other end can listen to your voice.

When this time comes, there will no longer be a reason to stick to the current form factor of modern smartphones. By then, maybe smartphones will look entirely different… maybe shaped like a bracelet or a necklace, or another shape that is convenient to carry around. This reasoning may sound a bit scary, but in the future our smartphones may even become tiny chips that will be implanted under your skin. Who knows? Truth of the matter is that modern day smartphones look nothing like traditional rotary phones from 20 years ago. So, 20 years from now… who knows what phones will look like?

Instant Connect with other machines

If the time comes when smartphones become extremely powerful computing devices that look nothing like a phone, whose energy is almost limitless, and whose size is almost negligible. In such a time, there's a good chance our computing paradigms will have shifted quite drastically. Can you imagine a future where computers will seamlessly combine with one another, for increased computing power?

When you get home, your smartphone will just wirelessly connect to your home computing device for extra power. When you're at the office, you can choose to combine your phone's computing power with 10 co-workers, which effectively become comparable to a multi-core super-computer.

Think of all the possibilities! Regardless of how the smartphone of the future ends up looking, or how advanced features it includes, it goes without saying that it will become an even more widespread piece of equipment for the citizens of the future world.

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-By Dominic

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