This paper will be discussing trends in cellular technology
and what is store for this technology in the future. Additionally, the topic of surface computing
will be addressed and its relation to cellular and computer technology. Cellular phones have progressed even quicker
than the personal computer, offering updated devices seemingly every few
months. A cellular phone of today is
more powerful than the pc from the 20th century. It wasn’t that far off in the past when the “modern”
cellular phone consisted of a handset, cord and a battery that was so large
needed to be carried in its own bag.
Over the years, cellular manufacturers have been cropping up to get a
piece of the cellular market.
Blackberry, was the cellular giant that others would have to beat. With it’s unique design and fully functioning
QWERTY keyboard, it didn’t take long for the consumer market to take
notice. Others companies took notice
also and a surge of new designs and interface were popping up at every cellular
phone service. HTC, Motorola, Samsung
all created phones that put Blackberry on the back burner. These companies even today, are in a constant
tech war to produce the next “big” thing.
Currently, the Apple Iphone5, is the flavor of the month. Even though, cellular technology makes incremental
advances in design platform, usage, and screen resolution, over the years they add up. With Apple’s
advent of SIRI, users were able to have a voice command/recognition program,
that greatly increases the user’s interface.
Apple is continually striving to stay on top of its market share and
have developed new designs and platforms that will most likely be utilized in
the near future in one form or another. In
2010, Apple developed a new fuel source cell, to replace the current technology
of battery, to improve the life of their iphone. In fact, it is reported with the use of this
new fuel cell, the iphone could, in theory, go weeks without having to be charged. Apple does have a patent pending on this
product, so it could very well be implemented in the next few years on their
platforms, including personal computers and the ipad. As stated earlier, some discussion would be
based on surface computing and how it applies to cellular technology. Surface computing, enhances the user’s
interface by implementing the screen as a workstation for all the tasks and
functions. Touchscreen are not a new
idea in cellular technology, most “smartphones” use them today as the
standard. What can be expected though,
in touchscreen applications, is the material of glass used to put on the
phone. Corning, who are the company that
supplies the glass for iphones, have developed a product that is called Willow
Glass. Willow Glass is a flexible design;
the company is hoping that future phones will incorporate this product. By doing so, designers can have more
creativity on the design of the next generation of phones, by being able to use
more curves in the phone design, to the point where it could conform to parts
of the body. So what other advancements may
we see in the next 5 years? Using Moore’s
Law, it is expected that in 5 years, smart phones will be 10 times more
powerful than today’s smartphone. In other
words, it will be as powerful as the typical laptop computer we are using
now. You can expect to see a possibility of a Heads-Up-Display or HUD. The glass itself may lend itself to
glasses-free 3d viewing; the use of transreflective glass may be utilized to
reduce energy consumption. Memory will
be up to 4 to 8 gb, with 32gb being the norm for storage. The use of indoor positioning (think of it as
very specific GPS, using proximity down to centimeters) will be utilized. In the next few years, you could see the demise
of login/ password use. Instead, the
phone will be able to identify the user, thru the use of biometrics sensors,
like for example fingerprint scanners to accurately identify the user. It also has been suggested that this
technology may even replace the keys to unlock your car, an office, your front
door of your home all within the use of the future smartphone. While on the topic of biometrics, it is not
implausible that the smartphone can monitor and record your vital signs; such technology
would not only optimize one’s own health but assist physicians who would just
need to download the stored information and view the results and thus allowing
them to make a more accurate diagnosis. The
smartphone of the future will take away the current cons of its
forefathers. The worry of storage,
battery life, networking will be a thing of the past, as it becomes a more
intuitive device not only for touch screen applications which only reacts, it
may be able to predict those chooses the users makes, assisting along the
way. As the storage goes to online
(think Cloud), information access has just increased as the smartphone becomes
a part of your personal computer and the server. I t acts as a temporary buffer while
continually search for relevant data thru the use of an uploading sensor. In the future, this cellular technology will
be the mainstream as is SIRI is today.
The subject of surface computing and how is this going to
affect the technology currently in use.
To begin with we have to understand surface computing, luckily this
discussion will center on a new product from Microsoft, which is called, appropriately,
“Surface”. Before we get into the “surface”,
let look at what the technology of surface computing is all about. The technology for starter consists of
cameras to sense objects, hand gestures and touch. It then processes this input and result is
projected on the screen. Oddly enough most
everyone has used surface computing in the form of using an ATM, doing a check
in at a hospital where you navigate thru a screen to get to your desired
area. Restaurants use them as
interactive menus. Recently, the use of
surface computing has been limited to the commercial setting, until Apple
created the Ipad, You have the Kindle and Nook and some other variations of
surface computing. These devices are
commonly referred to as tablets and Apple hold the lead in market shares of the
product known as the IPAD. However,
Microsoft has thrown its proverbial hat in the ring with the introduction of
the “Surface.” Coined as the “tablet
that is a great PC- a PC that is a great tablet”, the “Surface” may be the new
king of the hill, if it is able to steal the Apple’s thunder. Utilizing Windows 8 and applications
specifically for the “Surface”, is it currently the most up to date platform on
the market. This idea of having the
latest and greatest is what Microsoft is counting on to lure consumers that
have to have the newest and best item in technology. It also doesn’t hurt that the “Surface” will
have all the support and designs backed by Microsoft. It gives the consumer the sense that with Microsoft
in its corner, it obviously has to work better than everything else. So where does the next generation of surface
computing go, probably in the same vein as the cellular technology is heading,
more user interface, voice recognition commands, biometric identifications and monitoring, the use
of more efficient batteries for longer life, flexible glass technology for
variety of designs as well as custom user interface. Look for increased networking, cloud storage
or online storage to increase its own physical storage capabilities. You will see a computer that is more
intuitive that can assist the user instead of just reacting to user’s
commands. Finally you may see the
emergence of Quantum computing which will be able to analyze tons of data at a
rate our current digital computers will never achieve due to its binary
language.
In
conclusion, cellular technology and the use of surface computing can only
become more advanced as we head into the future. What may be seen as implausible in the past,
is quickly reaching reality now. It may
come a time where the technology becomes so advanced that the computer may
become a part of the biological user, thus only needing nerve impulses from the
brain to do the bidding of the user at will.
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3.
Manama,
B. (2012, January 07). The future of computing. Retrieved from http://searchproquest.com.soutuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu
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D. (2012, June 18). Microsoft reveals Surface Windows 8
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