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Tomorrow's Cell Phones
bart_scriv writes "Businessweek looks at the future of the cell phone, starting with some existing button-free prototypes and moving on to more outlandish and whimsical designs. From the article: 'New technologies drive many of the new designs. One example: Synaptics ClearPad, a new type of touch screen that will become commercially available later this year. Unlike today's touch screens, which aren't entirely transparent and often not very sensitive — we've all had to endlessly tap one with a stylus to get a response — ClearPad is clear, so it can be used as a sensitive overlay to a cell-phone display. Another innovation likely to change the cell-phone's appearance: flexible displays. An electronic ink screen prototype, developed by Koninklijke Philips Electronics and startup E-Ink, is thin and flexible like paper so it can be worn wrapped around a cell phone. Users can unwrap it to view a map on a larger screen. Eventually, the display could be used to watch video.'"
The most important use of the cell phone is to get a girl's number. In a loud club, a phone without buttons would fail at this most important of duties.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
I can't even complete a freakin' voice call, on the network with "the fewest dropped calls." I live in a metropolitan area and have never had a call last more than 5 minutes, even in clear weather standing still next to cell tower! How the fuck am I supposed to watch video? Frame, redial, frame, redial, frame, redial? Or do I download it to my phone while I sleep? Oops, now my phone needs a harddrive.
I wish there would be more innovation in basic service!
There have long been rumors of a 6th generation iPod with a full screen display and a virtual click wheel. This invention might make that possible. The track pad could be an overlay on top of a display that spans the face of the entire iPod.
First?
I don't want a touch screen. In fact, that is the precise antithesis of what I want.
I want a cell phone that has few to no menus. I want to be able to operate it without looking, by feeling the keypad.
I don't care if the screen is even in colour, because I'm not going to be looking at it if I don't have to.
I also want to be able to connect it to my computer as a USB modem.
I have been asking for this for upwards of four years. Can I have that, please?
www.wavefront-av.com
What's wrong with buttons? How would replicating the function of buttons on an easily-dirtied touch screen be an improvement? It really does sound like they are trying to find applications for technologies that are not really needed when trying to make a phone call.
It has been a long time sence the watch that a piece of technology (carried on the person) is considered to be styleish. So it is not to suprising that there is a lot of R&D going on to make them more so. Because other then style the cell phone hasn't change much (batteries last about the same as it did 10 year ago, and the rececption is only better because there are more towers), yea they added some stupid features that Teenyboppers like but all in all cellphones hasn't changed much in 10 years. The only reason why people get them is because they are stylish, and you want to stay in fassion.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
As long as it makes and takes calls reliably, that's all we need.
Forget the camera and data transfer capability, as this makes them a target for bans at work, jury duty, the gym, and other sensitive areas.
You can lose something that is loose, so tighten the loose item so you don't lose it.
The only way a slashdotter gets a girls number is when it's written on the restraining order.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
The e-ink prototype that they are displaying from phillips looks almost identical to one that was on Earth Final Conflict years ago. Just like the one on the show, this one has a screen that can roll up to place in your pocket, or expand to reveal a large screen suitable for displaying video.
Yah. I think we can all see how that statistical fashion trend is accelerating.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
The "e-Ink" guys need to shut up until they make their technology work. What they have is an expensive overlay film for existing displays that makes them reflective. What they've been talking about for years are cheap high resolution flexible displays, which they don't have. Eventually, someone may do that, but it probably won't be e-Ink.
"I just want a phone to make phone calls" they will say. "Who wants all those other features? Kids these days...".
It's OK, you don't need to keep telling us, we know and phones for you exist. There is also a large market which wants email, internet, calendar, notes, SMS, video playing, music playback, radio etc on their phone: I certainly do.
If you don't have a simple 4 x 3 array of actual press buttons with numbers in the usual order, with perfect right angles (none of the snaking, swoopy rows), you've failed in making a decent phone. Do whatever you want with the rest of the UI, but don't mess with the basic phone function. I've seen and have had to use some pretty bad phone button designs (where you have to look for each button in order to press it), and to put it bluntly, "I've had it with $#$##@@# bad button design on this $#$##@#@##@@# ". It's not rocket science. Here is a badly designed phone and a well-designed phone. At least as far as being able to dial numbers goes.
Where were you when the voynix came?
There wont be any cellphones tomorrow unless the EU grant software patents to Nokia. How else is a company supposed to "protect innovation"? Listen you worthless geeks, either let Nokia patent mathmatical fact and logic or throw your cell phones away!
I just wonder why on earth is that device listed as phone prototype.
It has been mentioned on slashdot before and it's prototype for electronic paper, as the e-ink name suggests.
There are no atheists when recovering from tape backup.
While everyone is adding PDA and MP3 player functionality to their cell phones, I'm still just wanting the big 3: Reception, Battery Life, Weight. Keep the reception good, the battery life as long as possible and the weight low enough and I'll want it. I very rarely use my PDA and my MP3 player get little to no use as is. Integrating them into a cell phone to make it more expensive to lose doesn't gain me anything.
"Forget the camera and data transfer capability, as this makes them a target for bans at work, jury duty, the gym, and other sensitive areas."
I've got one of those badly-designed LG flip-phones. It has camera buttons on the side, so when you put it in your pocket, the extremely light-touch buttons on the side end up being bumped and put it into energy-consuming photo mode all the time. As a result, I've lucky to see a battery charge last a day. The only way around this is to entirely power down the phone when I am not using it. The LG Flip-phone (which also has terrible button layout) is a great example of something that someone designed but never gave consideration to testing it to see if it was usable.
Where were you when the voynix came?
Button 1: Home
Button 2: Parent's cell/work number
Button 3: Other parent's cell/work number
Button 4: Other relative
Button 5: Neighbor
Button 6: 911
Now the kid can use it to call their parents in case of emergency or other problems, (or just need to be picked up after soccer practice). Can't use it to call their friends since it doesn't have a normal keypad. If you want to be paranoid, add some GPS tracking software so you know where your kid is.
This type of thing may also be appropriate for younger children since it is hard to abuse - except by calling 911 when your mommy doesn't answer her phone. But if your child isn't old/smart enough to know that, they probably shouldn't be out of your sight.
Reading code is like reading the dictionary - you have to read half of it before you can go back and understand it.
"This is Slashdot. Your comment makes no sense."
Not if the girl's number is No. 6; or 7 of 9.
Where were you when the voynix came?
So whats the point of upgrading from my brickphone?
Error 2101: all your sig are belong to us
but this is what I'm waiting for. That should be out at by the end of this year, I believe.
No buttons means,you have to LOOK at the pad when you type.That means its going to be difficult to dial under low light conditions.
An example is ipod.Every time I use Ipod at night before going to bed,I first have to hit some button to light itself up and then work on the menu/pad.
Wincopy
Earth Final Conflict Global
Get Smart Shoe Phone
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
...is price.
I cancelled my family's cell phones because with the price of gasoline we couldn't afford an extra $80/month, Verizon's cheapest plan at the time, for two cell phones. So I cancelled them and we went back to a "land line" via Vonage for $27/month. Yes this is on top of our $50/month for broadband but I'll cancel everything before the broadband connection.
It's amazing how little I miss having a cell phone. Of course I still keep the phones in the cars in case of emergencies - all cell phones will dial 911 for free.
I won't consider cell phone service again until it's around $10/month.
Keep the bells and whistles - give me Third World cell phone prices. If they can have it, so should I.
Steve
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
My fiance, who couldn't be more obsessed with fashion, pretty much stopped at getting the coolest cutest phone available. I have no doubt that if one came out that was really cheap and better, she'd probably switch. I don't think anyone's switching up in price on a phone very often, though. That would imply they bought a crappy one to begin with. Once they trade up, the trading pretty much stops there in my experience.
stuff |
I want a cellphone that is not half assed like everything we have today.
Razr V3 - nice formfactor, volume is way too low, antenna sucks badly, OS kind of crappy, camera a complete joke.
Treo - nice try, let's not have early alpha stuff please?
Some of the Nokia devices get close but they always lack somewhere. Somf of the lacking is the fault of the provider locking it out.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
The future phone will be unobtrusive. Assuming it's not implanted, it will resemble what Secret Service agents use.
As far as buttons, it will probably be either eye-movement activated using an eyeglasses-mounted device or remote-activated using buttons worn as jewelry or carried in your pocket, like a car key-fob. Video for those who want it will be via an eyeglasses-mounted "floating" display.
Expect routine vga-resolution-or-better web browsers on video phones in the next few years.
Interestingly, the last time I bought a new phone it was because it was literally cheaper to buy a new one with airtime than to continue with my old one's plan. I'm not the only one "forced"/incentivized into buying a new phone to save cash.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Wanted: Robust inexpensive mobile phone that can be purchased at local brick&mortar. Extremely loud (but mute-able) ringer preferred.
... never gonna happen.
NOT Wanted: Potentially *hot* phone from eBay, which requires any hacking at all to use any given service provider. Phone that can play music, check email, make coffee, and/or dance the jitterbug. Service agreements.
J
Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. - John 14:6 NLT
I had a Samsung i300 that had no buttons, just a touch screen. It was a pain if I had to use the thing while I'm eating fried chicken or pizza. It also sucked because I couldn't dial by touch. I just want buttons. Nothing bloody wrong with buttons.
The perfect sig is a lot like silence, only louder
It puzzles me that people use a "quantum leap" as a term for a large jump, when in reality it is the smallest jump possible.
Cell phones could go a long way, but I think that something like this limits the environment too much.
I'd like to see some innovation in naming of these things. My suggestion: cell-everthing-but-the-kitchen-sink-"phone"
Except that, AFAIK, current e-ink isn't well suited to video, thanks to the relatively long update times.
I am glad that they started including a secret compartment for valuables. That way if someone tries mugging me then they will only see the 120 carrats of diamonds and not think that I have anything worth stealing.
Cell phones are computer replacements for the general public. Eventually displays will get good enough, input will improve to an adequate state and cpus will be fast & low-power enough. Once technology gets to a point where you can browse the web in some sort of reasonable fashion, [desk|lap]top computers will become a niche market item.
there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
Damn whippersnappers.
I think you mean 976.
Personally, I'd love to see a merger of touchscreen technology with something along the lines of piezoelectric polymers. This would make it possible to create flexible, touch-sensitive interfaces with surfaces that could be deformed to provide tactile feedback.
To further elaborate on your points, an important part of keypad layout is the tactile design of the buttons. I want to be able to find the "home" key of the keypad (5, 0, whatever), similar to how the 'F' and 'J' keys have little bumps on a standard 104-key keyboard. Also, it is *essential* that the call and end buttons are distinguishible by touch. I want to be able to answer/hangup my phone quickly and without looking at it (in the car, in the dark, etc.). My Nokia garbagephone passes the first test but fails the second. It's annoying as hell. I'd get a different one I can't have a cameraphone at my job (plus this was cheap as free).
My LG VX3300 that I got free from Verizon does that. I did have to buy the $35 cable, but it plugs into my laptops usb port and works like a regular modem. The billing is just air time, so on nights and weekends it is free to use. That is great because during weekdays I am almost always near a real internet connection anyways.
The one drawback is that it is a modem. It is not a broadband connection. The speed is similar to a 56k modem. Don't expect to download your favorit Linux Distro. Not even DSL.
I find the related article on logistics of Nokia phone factories more interesting, at least considering the volumes: 900k phones per *day*, from 275 million components.
2 006/gb20060803_618811.htm
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/aug
Slideshow of Nokia Salo plant may also be of some interest. Everything on the photos looks reasonably like it did back '96 when I saw it on a tour, though...
It allows a larger screen. Most people want a full sized screen and a full set of controls, without the device being any larger. The Sony-Ericsson P900 uses a compromise where the button flap folds down, but it's not great. Personally, I think you could probably manage this by putting the buttons on the back, but that perhaps people find that configuration disconcerting or impractical for some reason.
You will still have to touch the screen in order to turn on the backlight, how is that different to pressing a button to do the same?
I think they sell the jazzy camera/music phones with lots of features because they are getting money on all of them. Want pictures? - they have them, and they will charge you to send them anywhere. Music and ringtones - same thing. The phones cost more at the front end (though more than they cost to make? I don't know) but they include the possibility of making more money with the services.
The features you want, while useful, don't allow the cell phone company to make money except when they sell the phone. The lost phone GPS might be a chargeable service, but they might be able to do that now, without other security features. The other features don't let them make money, and I don't know that there are enough providers (because of coverage issues - it seems like only a few big companies have enough coverage to be useful, and others are only useful within a narrow range) to generate a market push to compel the cell phone companies to ask manufacturers to include them. In addition, the price of the phone (the only place they can recoup the cost) might be increased enough to make them uneconomic.
Add to that list, the ability to record your calls to a removable 2GB flash memory card. When this becomes ubiquitous then all those customer service reps and salespeople you speak with over cell phones might stop being such pathological liars when speaking to you over the phone becuae you can then play their own words right back to them.
(and recording your own phone calls is perfectly legal in most states, it certainly is in mine)
A few phone makes/models are starting to be made that do this, but for some reason all the US national carriers are refusing to offer such phones unless they can cripple the hell out of the advanced features.
Sending your kid to school carrying one of those things is one of the most insulting things you can do to him. The other kids will take it away from him and make fun of him for carrying a "baby phone". You might as well dress him in a pink "OMG PONIES!!!" t-shirt and make him ride a tricycle to school.
GoldVish just began selling a phone for $1.26 million that features diamonds and a secret compartment.
So that compartment must be where Paris keeps her morning after pill.
Other than that, what use does it have? If you keep anything important in it, you're insane! They will most likely not sell more than 100 of these, and everyone and their grandmother will know what they look like, and exactly where the compartment is!
Even if someone doesn't know about the compartment, what good will it do you when the first time you get a call, some pick-pocket swipes it.
As a rule, I never trust dark brown ketchup.
..but isn't a Quantum one of the smallest measurements possible?
;-)
Therefore, the article reads; "The Smallest Leap for Cell Phones", which just about sums it up for me
Here's my idea. Instead of buttons they could have a small plastic wheel with holes along the circumference that represent the numbers 0-9. You stick your finger in the desired number hole and spin the wheel to a starting point. Release the wheel and it spins a back to it original position, inputing that number. No more buttons! Just one plastic wheel with finger holes in it. To hell with having to "button" all these phone numbers. I want to "wheel" all my phone numbers. I wonder if I should patent this?
I think the idea is that it is the smallest jump possible that makes it different; in other words, there is a substantial change. I guess you can add as small an amount of energy to a radiating body as you want, but if you don't add a quantum of energy, it's not going to produce a photon.
But you're right, too many people seem to take it to mean a large leap rather than a leap that ratchets up to the next notch.
404555974007725459910684486621289147856453481154 in hex is "You sank my Battleship?"
[GPG key in journal]
"If these trends continue, eyhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Pah.
The starship Enterprise had that technology 40 years ago.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
Not only you advise to use a phone released 2 years ago, but you link to a search engine that virtually died in the early-2000s! :-)
(I hope I didn't insult anyone
There's some fair points to be raised, though.
1. The actual function of the phone call is still shit poor. I live in a HUGE metropolitan area, and there's still random and inexplicable dead zones. If they can't deliver an audio stream, how are they going to deliver a video stream?
2. More features means more to break. There's a car analogy lurking about. They either have to stream the video, which I'll believe when I see, or it needs to be stored locally, and now I need either a iPod-style hard drive, or gobs of Flash RAM. There's more than raw processing power required- each feature can add significant ancillary hardware requirements.
3. Lots of workplaces simply ban pnones with cameras or any sort of recording ability, so it becomes a moot issue anyway.
The only features you list I can see as practical are email (or text messaging), and the calendar/notes (PDA-level functions).
I have a basic Motorola no-frills phone built to MIL-SPEC standards. It may not take pictures and has a pedestrian ring sound, but I can bounce it off a concrete wall and it still works fine.
Things I need in a phone:
:/
Durable - it needs to be able to withstand small nuclear explosions and/or an Irish Wedding. My cellphone is my ONLY phone, for both business and personal calls
Bluetooth - When I'm working and am using both hands to type etc, I need to be able to use a wireless BT earpiece
Internal Antenna - Don't want that antenna catching on my pocket when I'm trying to answer a call
Quad-band GSM - I need to be able to use my phone world-wide, so no crippled, USA only CDMA crap, please
Things I like in a phone:
Flip-phone style, with external display
Smallish size, but this is no biggie
Things I don't need/Hate:
Camera
Music
Games
Internet
Goofy colors (yes, that includes fake-metal silver paint that wears off after 10 minutes)
Goofy keypad styles
It seems that there are a decreasing number of phones that fit the bill for me... most of the new phones coming out seem to be focusing on goofy features rather than making a better, more durable phone. I understand why the manufacturers do this, but I wish they would put out more basic phones - although a lot of the basic phones that are out now omit the Bluetooth
Seperate the phones from the company that provides the phone service and you will see an increase in options, functionality, price, and service quality at a rate that far exceeds anything ever seen including what the breakup of AT&T brought to the home phone industry.
carrier specific phones + long contracts = bend over one more time please
Don't like what your getting? Switch to another company and repeat that process.
Oh, your 6 month old phone does not work? Well it looks like it got wet so no warranty coverage for you, bend over again! Oh, you want 600 minutes? No problem, lets start that contract over for two more years and re add the same exact SMS messaging package you had before, but this time it is $15 for 100 messages and not $10. Okay, sign here and bend over again.
Maybe they think they can make phones without buttons more cheaply than phones with buttons? The technology wouldn't be useful to users, but the manufacturers/cell phone companies could make more money on their phones?
I don't care about the phones (other than that they work) - I would prefer electronic replacements for my magazines/journals where they would actually be physically readable, and I'm hoping that anything that makes the components for them cheaper or easier to make will accelerate their generation, but that's selfish and OT.
Speaking of niche markets, I've been looking for a cell phone for my parents (in their 70s). They need a phone with large buttons, clear well-lit screen with a large font, and a loud ringer. I'm surprised none of the standard phones you get with major US plans have these features. Don't people with arthritis, bad vision, and/or bad hearing deserve cell phones too?!
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
I currently carry two cell phones (one is work, one is personal), often an iPod. I have my gmail setup to notify me on my cell via text messaging if I receive email from close friends and family. I can check my email with Opera, or even with POP3. As well, I like to blog. I like to snap pictures of the odd thing that I might not see everyday, but I don't want to carry a big camera around. I'm a gamer too.
Enter the Nokia 6682, a cell phone that is a year old and only recently was introduced in North America. (Can't wait for the N80! WOO!) This is my personal cell, and if my work let me forward the work cell phone, I would take all calls on my personal phone. Functionality with Outlook is seamless with Nokia's software.
Bluetooth lets my phone talk to my laptop with no cables. It automatically syncs my tasks and dates, and has a POP3 client. It automatically uploads new pictures and vidoe taken. It runs the S60 platform so I can install anything, from push email technology that mimics Blackberry to emulators. I have NES, SNES and Gameboy emulators installed, as well as Wolfenstein 3D (Doom for S60 is available, but requires 4MB of RAM, 6682 has 2MB for RAM, 10MB of local memory and replacable 64MB MMCmobile chip). It will soon have a 2GB stick in it, effectively replacing my iPod. I keep my pictures of family and friends in it. The camera is 1.3MP, and pictures are good enough to post on a blog. Nokia has released LifeBlog that lets me post directly to my blog (livejournal) with zero effort. Moblogging is second nature to this thing. I've got news for you; this thing picks up teenage girls by itself. The fucked up part is that no one is marketing it with the functionality actually explored. Maybe if the wireless providers marketed wireless bluetooth headphones with the phone as a full iPod replacement, there might be more interest.
If you're used to a brick or flip phone that just takes calls, sure, all you're going to want is a replacement. Wait until you've really played with a convergence device before you pass judgement on something you don't understand.
Neutiquam erro
Quantum Leap: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dict.asp?Word=qua ntum+leap
Quantum: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/quantum
In short, "Quantum Leap" is meant to mean a large advance. It's a completely separate term than Quantum alone. Like "Alaska" and "Baked Alaska". Sort of.
OK, mr pedantic. "Entering touch-tone phone number sequences". Got it?
Where were you when the voynix came?
I checked into Pre-Pay when I dumped the cell phones. I looked at TracPhone (or however you spell it).
/forever/, I would consider it. But as long as minutes expire I'm not interested.
The scam going on with pre-pay is that your minutes expire whether you use them or not. I ran the numbers with TracPhone and it came out about $30/month - might as well get a normal subscription plan.
Now if I could buy $100 worth of minutes and they were good
Steve
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
Pushing on one of the precious stones unlocks a secret compartment that can be used for carrying medicine or jewels"
english translation:
Drugs.
I looked into Pre-Pay, with TracPhone, but it was a rip-off. The minutes expire whether you use them or not. In the end, it would cost you about $30/month to have an equivalent of what I was paying $40/month for with a "regular" plan. Not a deal.
I would only be interested in Pre-Pay if my minutes never expired.
Steve
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
Use bluetooth for communications between devices! What ever happend to the 'personal' networks hype?
The phone acts like a modem and contact directory-- whole process allows the phone to sit in your pocket untouched.
Camera lets you choose contacts to sent to. Camera fetches photos/video sent to you. Camera can save photos to remote storage over the internet using the phone.
Camera could save to a --
Bluetooth iPod: A disk & media player
Phone ring bypassed when iPod is nearbye--iPod plays song. Phone could use iPod for storage. iPod could fetch media sent to phone. Uses contacts from the phone, could backup.
Phone's voice recognition could operate iPod. iPod Music Store uses modem. iPod could do online maps, using phone's GPS or a bluetooth gps.
bluetooth GPS: provides GPS info to any bluetooth device. places, cars, phones, other people's devices nearbye... Alternatives to GPS would also work. Static location broadcast from a desktop?
Separate devices + standard communications = many combinations not possible with monolithic device.
Add in a snap-on system and some devices could be used as one like an iPod phone or a Camera Phone.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
Tomorrows cellphones are already available in Korea. Someday I hope to use them, but the outlook is grim. Why oh why does the US only offer yesterday's phones?
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
"Verizon sucks $150 a month out of me instead of $70. You get the idea."
Sounds like the difference between a hooker and a wife. Get a divorce.
A Phone that survives the rain, a moment in a puddle or coffie mug.
Surviving a 1m fall onto pavement would be nice too.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
It certainly would be nice if I could use my phone as a memory stick. Engineer a USB connector on to the back and allow me to put a memory card of some sort of the memory size I choose. Better than carrying a stick and a phone and chances of separation are slimmer.
I guess answering it plugged to the back of the server in the server room would be somewhat difficult though.
According to the article's slideshow "It also recognizes body parts. Lift it to your cheek to answer a call."
Um, I really don't want to use someone else's phone if I know they have dialed porn on it.
"Giving money and power to governments is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." - P.J. O'Rourke
If it's the Cingular "phones of tomorrow", they'll be exactly like the phones of today, yesterday, last week, last month and last year, plus a new color for the good ol' RAZR v3 (if Verizon has rolled out a new major service/speed update or ground-breaking phone by then, that is).
The software and business arrangements in the industry are fundamentally broken. The technology is pretty good, and the companies involved manage to screw it up through concerted effort.
any mobile phone in 100$ range that has ...
WIFI, GPRS, QWERTY, decent screen?
Not so futuristic but not available.
Gosh
...it sucked. Let's go through the slideshow, shall we? #1: Intro that indicates that the cell phone designs of today are on the way out. Why? They're functional and easy to carry. Yay for sensationalism. #2: Yes, a diamond-encrusted phone is the way of the future. With a "secret" compartment that seems rather obvious to anyone who isn't writing a review of the phone. #3: The Onyx. While it's an interesting idea and certainly has its uses--answering just by placing the phone at your ear, for example--I just can't see trying to dial a number with "gestures". Number pads are in such heavy use today because they're easy, cheap, and intuitive. #4: Rotary phone. I guess this makes sense if you don't have a land line but want a dedicated home phone. But...umm...how do you check your voicemail? #5: A big fat ugly wristwatch, a variation on a clamshell phone that just looks akward to hold, and an alarm clock. Yeah, that's where things are going. #6: The Samsung Ultra Edition: I guess the "old-fasioned" cell phone isn't dead. Please ignore the opening lines of this slide show. #7: It sounds similar to something that's been done before, but looks a lot cooler. One thing I can't figure out: in the picture, I can't see where it actually turns into a phone that would be easy to hold or carry compactly. Maybe that's why they say "If it ever gets out of the design stage..." #8: Philips' Readius. Now this is cool. Electronic paper, movie-watching, all the things a phone of the future should be. We could have skipped the other 6 phones and still seen just as much.
120 characters for a sig? That's bloody useless.
I'd like to know why the focus remains on creating "cell phones". In Britain the cell phones work as advertised (i.e. few dropped calls, decent sound quality) and there is excellent coverage of most of the country. Incorporating a cell phone should now be a *feature* rather than the defining characteristic of the device. What we are seeing is a convergence of the PDA with the cellphone to create an internet-connected mobile computing device. IMHO, fast mobile internet connectivity, coupled with a *decent screen* and *device programmability* is where the *real* power comes in.
I carry around: One cell phone, one mp3-player and from time to time one camera. And then I'm still missing a PDA.
All of these could be integrated into one device, and that's exactly what is happening. I don't see why people
are all upset and "I just want it to make calls". I bet most slashdotters carry around at least three different devices.
Besides, the more stuff they crank into one device, the cheaper the basic-version will get.
Hey! That's my sig you're smoking there!
Yeah right. I see an ad flyer with a pizza delivery phone number on it. I then go boot up the old laptop...wait a while and get into the phone configuration program. Then I add the pizza place number. Then I sync with the phone. Now, finally, I use the horrid user interface on the phone to dig out the phone number I've saved as # 716, and call and order a pizza. You are right. This IS a lot easier than just dialing the damn number!
Where were you when the voynix came?
The Treo is not really a phone... It's a PDA with a phone built in as one of it's various features. Too big, too bulky, too expensive. I've used a Treo 650 and a 700w for business trips, nice PDAs but way more than I like to carry around on a regular basis.
cell phones suck because (not scared) you're not typematically dissing anything worse forever for not being cell phones. ROFL.
I would like to see GPS integrated into the phones. This would be handy for integrating it with Google for maps and getting directions from your current position.
With GPS coordinates combined with a camera (and maybe a compass), metadata could be added to pictures that would not only allow an accurate time stamp, but also show exactly where the photo was taken and maybe even which direction it was facing.
Think of the possibilities...
Libertas in infinitum
A device not much bigger than an iPod.
With a screen covering the whole front face.And a slide or pop-out keyboard that's JUST big enough to type on.
With a touch-screen that can be activated/deactivated and tactile depressable areas where 'normal' buttons would usually be.
An always-on internet connection that's quick enough for you to 'google' something in the middle of a conversation without the other party punching you in frustration or walking away. a-la i-mode, but FASTER than current CDMA. At least Wifi speeds.
And Bluetooth, And Wifi, and USB2.0
And a scroll-wheel.
With a multi-megapixel camera that can take video or still
With a microphone to record voice,
With a headphone jack.
And a fingerprint scanner.
With a responsive OS designed by Apple, or at least something good enough you'd think it was.
-- that has an open API so that 4rd party developers find it a joy to program for.
With 100gB storage space.
Battery that lasts at least 2 days with moderate use.
The rest is all software.
Features? I want them *all*. I'm sick of this trend towards having to PAY for 3rd party software for simple features that were once standard on all phones. voice recorder, calculator, decent image browser etc etc. FINE I don't mind paying for specialist software but a decent PDA shouldn't NEED extra software for things which everyone is expected to do on a daily basis.
It's not "bloat" if it obviates the need for a 2nd or 3rd device. In my case that means a camera and a PDA. I currently use a Motorola M1000 (japanese version of the A1000) and it's *almost* there. It's just clunky (bad software), proprietary(transflash, no headphone socket or USB) and SLOW. It has WiFi, but hotspots are so few and far between, and the software makes it painful to connect to them, it's as good as useless.
Most of the things I said above are available on today's phones (or PDAs or iPods). Many phones today have multi-megapixel cameras, Here in Japan you can get one with a fingerprint scanner (not perfect security, but good enough). I have yet to find a device that has them all.
Come on technology. Come on Apple. I have $500+ in my pocket just waiting for this thing and I want it NOW.
Oh and I'm no 'teenage punk', just a 34 year old geek who hates carrying too much stuff, and hates being off the 'net when outside.
j'ai découvert une démonstration vraiment admirable (de ce théorème général) que cette si
The HP calculators gave you the advantage of buttons with the programmability of a touchscreen. They were called soft menus.*
*The only other way which no one's tried is the buttons having built in displays (E-Ink would be perfect here). The only disadvantage is the touch sensitive would lose the advantage of physical character shapes. Now you all see why UI design is hard.
Hmmm. I wonder if a variation on this technology could bring touch to displays?
People who want a cell phone but cant take cameras into places they work (lawyers who cant take cameras into courtrooms for example or engineers and such who cant take cell phones into secure locations).
Basicly, take a Motorola V3 (or Motorola L7 for those who want a candybar style phone) and then remove all the cameras. Remove the MP3 player and MP3 ringtone feature. Remove all the transflash and memory card slots (without cameras and multimedia features, there is no need for that much storage if you put enough into the phone itself). Add in a better contact manager, calender, alarms (the sort of features Outlook has in its calendering module), scheduler etc. Stuff so that these lawyers, business people, professionals etc can keep track of their work, lives etc. Even better would be if you could make it easy to keep the calender on the phone and a calender on a PC syncronised (e.g. via bluetooth or via USB).
I just whant one button and then place the phone on my shirt:
By pressing the button stating who you would like to call and then you can talk.
Picard presses the button. - Enginering! Fix the fasers! NOW! or we are tosted.
.....:::[Svante]:::.....
Maybe you know this already, but from that description, you really just describe the Motorola V3 RAZR so well! Its small, internal aerial, easy to use, and 100m range bluetooth, it actually is metal, and its cheap! I wish someone could answer my problems this easily!
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I want a cell phone that:
* I do not need to carry around
* I cannot forget to take with me
What about a sticker phone, or built into clothing.
or in your access/identification badge at work that is hanging around your neck anyway.
I pay 10 for a plain T-shirt, 20 if there was a fashion guy who 'designed' a print. Probaly made for less then 0.5 by child labour in Asia. How much for a cheap cell phone these days?
And for these 20, I still get wet and cold in the rain.
I'll happily spend 100 on this shirt, if it fits, keeps me warm and dry, and includes some conductive interwoven fabric for connecting your central unit containing your personal 'SIM card'/ID card/credit card and settings.
I will combine this with a 'small' wrist unit for functionality when on the road:
* reading the time, having an alarm
* storing some MB's
* dialing a number
* reading my heart rate when sporting
* communicating to more performant unit at home (PC)
Intelligent clothing is what i would like to see, and current cell phone functionality can all be included. People could even have the fictional e-Ink displays on the front or back of their shirts.
The article states that cell phones have a turnover rate of 17.6 months and that cell phone manufactures are looking more to the fashion world for ideas. I think if they were to provide a consistent method of transfering addresses, pictures, games, etc from one phone to another that it would shrink that window even further. I personally dread getting new phones because I have to spend hours transfering and setting up my numbers, and I leave my old pictures behind. Ringtones are getting a little better now that more phones are supporting MP3s, but proprietary ringtones are lost.
People put an emotional and financial investment into their phones long after they purchase them, and until that sentiment can be transfered, I don't see the window shrinking much.
"It is much easier to pick their numbers from a list. The interface involves maybe two clicks"
That's it? Just two clicks? Or is there some waiting and looking at a screen involved?
Where were you when the voynix came?
Best cellphone carrier ever, but I keep expecting them to cancel my calls halfway through...