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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.
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.
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
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?
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
...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.
Service contract.
I'm counting down the days until mine expires on the same network; I think they have the fewest dropped calls, because they have the fewest even connect in the first place!
Just to let you know. They have the fewest dropped calls because they changed how the towers drop a call. it is not called dropped until the tower releases it, and towers are programmed to not release the call for 30 seconds or more after signal is lost, so you press end before it drops. I used to get credit for dropped calls on Cingular, I havent got one credit for 8 months now and a buddy that works in their engineering dept told me thay "tweaked" the software to not let calls drop.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
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 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.
Beware if you're with Cingular. If you don't give them something like 30 days notice to your cancellation, they will charge you for a full month of service _AFTER_ they deactivate your SIM card, even if your contract is over.
Additionally, they do NOT prorate your last bill -- it is always billed to the end of the billing cycle whether or not your SIM card was even active.
Good luck porting your number from them for this reason... they just cancel your account immediately upon the port request, giving you pretty much no opportunity to avoid this extra month of payments. This caused me to be billed to the end of my last billing cycle PLUS an additional billing cycle for not giving them 30 days notice. It worked out to about 1.5 extra months of service I was forced to pay that I didn't receive.
Just be sure you read the fine print on your usage agreement very very carefully... that company in particular is destined to scam you.
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.
The problem these people have is that they precive the extra features as adding expense and more parts. This is largely not true. The phones already have a processor and a display. Radio requires extra parts (but the cost is virtually $0), and the video playing requires a better screen. The better screen just makes everything else more pleasent to use. Other than that the rest is basically software. These people complaining about phones getting more features are in the same category as people complining that computers are too fast and have too much memory. After all, the C-64 computed just fine, and that is what we should all stick with. Anything more is just making computers more complicated and expensive.
It's not a matter of "you old fogeys, stop whining about walking uphill in snow both ways!" It's entirely a matter of function. I'm 26, and my main consideration when buying anything, cell phones or no, is "What does it do, and how well does it do it?" If the new future phones make calls, have clear reception, and don't drop them every five minutes, I'm all for them. If they have a bunch of semi-functional feature bloat and suck as cell phones, I'm going elsewhere. There's still lots of people who want something to work well rather than be shiny.
I'll be honest, we're throwing science against the wall to see what sticks. -Cave Johnson
Usually it's the battery that gives out, and it's cheaper to buy a new phone (what with the promos, etc) than to replace the battery. What I look for in terms of durability is: Are the hinges going to snap? Is the external screen going to get scratched up? Did the phone rank abysmally when compared to others? Is it big enough that I'm not going to forget it's in my pocket and somehow mangle it by accident?
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
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]
Your idea works until you realize that you can easily 'hack' your phone to allow transfers to and from your computer. For example, VZW blocks ALL file / data transfer. Buying the Motorola Phone Tools + a 'bonus' cd unlocks all the features VZW attempted to block.
"This calls for a very special blend of psychology and extreme violence" - Vyvyan "The Young Ones"
ou can prove to them over the phone what SOB's they are
You don't need to use this when you call me, though. I already know I am an SOB.
Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
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.