Predictions for the Future of Mobile Phones and Mobile Broadband
As we roll on through 2008, the mobile world is evolving quick. Very quick! So quick, in fact, that at times it’s hard to keep up. What’s ‘in’, what’s the new thing we simply have to have? Well, let’s have a look, and see what we can expect for 2008!
First of all, and this should be obvious, mobile phones are going to become more advanced. Much more advanced. What we reckon of as top-end camera phones now, for example, will gradually slip down the pecking order, until that spec of phone is classed as a budget feature. And as smartphones get smarter, ‘dumb phones’ (oh ok, let’s be charitable and call them ‘feature phones’…) will certainly stay on suit, growing smarter, and gaining ever more features to set them away from each other from the struggle. Maybe it would be a excellent thought to look at some specific examples!
Camera Phones
At the moment the best cameras you can get on mobile phones are found on the absolute top-end of the market. Phones like the Nokia N82, the Sony Ericsson K850i and the upcoming Nokia N96 all have 5 megapixel cameras. Not only that, but they all have distinguishing features that set them away from each other from other camera phones. The Nokias have Carl Zeiss lenses, while the Sony Ericsson has Cyber-Shot technology. In fact, the average camera phone nowadays is floating around the 2 or 3 megapixel mark, compared to 2 years ago, when 2 megapixels was a top-end phone! Plainly, as we go forward, they’re going to get even better. I won’t be surprised if we see 7 and 8 megapixel camera phones in the end half of 2008. It’s one of persons things that has a particular inevitability about it. You just know it will happen. And it will be cool!
Music Phones
Camera phones aren’t the only ones evolving. Just look at music phones, too, most noticeably the upcoming Sony Ericsson W980i (part of its personal stereo series) and, yes, the Apple iPhone. The Sony Ericsson features the latest personal stereo player, with such advanced features as shake controls (simply shake the phone to change tracks!) and SensMe. That second one is particularly impressive, because you tell the phone what mood you’re in, and it automatically works out what music will fit that mood, nearly like its reading your mind! And no matter what your opinion of the iPhone (personally, I don’t like it), it does have an exceptionally cool version of iTunes built in. The possibility of music phones is hard to predict, but given that all the really huge developments in music phones have come in less than 2 years, the possibility’s sure to be mind-blowing!
GPS Phones
One feature that’s not been seen on mobile phones much up until now, but that will make a massive splatter in 2008, is GPS. We’re by now seeing more phones being announced with it built in (the Nokia N96, Sony Ericsson X1 Xperia and Samsung G810 spring to mind) and that number is only going to increase, allowing broadcast to get full navigation on their mobile phone. But it also opens up a cool feature called ‘geotagging’. Basically, if you see a touch cool (like some monument… insert your own example, here!), whip your phone out, take a photo of it, then tag that photo with location info. And then, send that photo on to a friend. They won’t just be able to see the pic, they’ll be able to find the same monument (or whatever you inserted as your example)!
Super-Duper-Smart Phones
Ok, I confess, I made that name up, but I’m making a point. Smartphones of today will be nothing compared to the smartphones of the possibility. You want examples? Well, take the Sony Ericsson P1i, available now. Stunning phone, 3G data speeds at 384 kbps, 3 megapixel camera, QWERTY keyboard. Very, VERY nice phone. Now consider the Sony Ericsson X1 Xperia, a recently announced smartphone that while not a direct replacement for the P1i, outclasses it in every single that you can reckon of way! So, it has a megapixel camera, full Windows Mobile boundary, huge QWERTY keyboard and built in GPS. Oh, and it can connect to the net at up to 3.6Mbps, nearly 10 times quicker than the P1i. Smartphones of the possibility are simply going to boggle our minds!
Mobile Broadband
This is the huge one… This is the single thing that is going to most revolutionise the world in 2008. I’ve spoken about mobile phones, but mobile broadband s a touch else entirely. Basically, imagine the internet on your laptop. But not through WiFi. No, it’s using a fully mobile signal, connecting to a cell tower, just like mobile phones do. So, it really is the internet ANYWHERE, and because it is right broadband, not some pale imitation, you’ll get speeds, at present, of up to 7.2Mbps. And that’s now, only a couple of months into the evolution of mobile broadband. When contemplating how quick it will become, well, there’s no way to tell, but one effects for sure. Mobile broadband is the possibility. And it is going to change the world!
Related posts:
- Mobile Phones Plus Broadband Equals… Mobile Broadband!
- The Future of Mobile Phones is Now!
- Mobile Phones and Mobile Broadband – the Secrets of Choosing the Perfect Deal!
- Nokia 5800 Product Focus – is This the Future of Touchscreen Mobile Phones?
- The Mobile World in 2008: Mobile Phones and Mobile Broadband