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.'"

Comments

Re:Kids Cellphone

[jtaylor00]

They already have one. It's called Firefly Mobile

Re: dropped calls

[RenderSeven]

Well, yes. Also note that towers may not be owned by the service provider, so the tower operator gets paid per connect minute. Calls generally should hand off to the next adjacent tower when traveling, but since the adjacent tower may not be owned by the same entity the software is 'tweaked' again to keep the call no matter what or however bad the signal may get, to maximize the billing to the carrier by the tower operator. This is why, the second your call is dropped, you look at your phone and have five bars of signal.

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.