What's Next For Smartphone Innovation

A reader sends in an article about the new features and developments we can expect out of smartphones in the near future. The shortlist: more sensors for tracking the world outside the phone, more gesture-based (i.e. non-touch) input, and integration with wearable computers like smartwatches and Google Glass. From the article: "These under-appreciated components -- the gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer, and so forth -- are starting to get more friends in the neighborhood. Samsung, for instance, slipped pressure, temperature, and humidity sniffers into the Galaxy S4. They may not be the sexiest feature in your phone, but in the future, sensors like accelerometers will be able to collect and report much more detailed information. ... In addition to air quality, temperature and speed of movement are also biggies. [Also, a smartphone that can] track your pulse, or even double as an EKG, turning the everyday smartphone into a medical device. ... [For wearable computing,] your smartphone is still there, still essential for communicating with your environment, but it becomes only one device in a collection of other, even more personal or convenient gadgets, that solve some of the same sorts of problems in different or complementary ways." What do you think will be the next generation of killer features for smartphones?

The killer feature would be

[fisted]

reasonable battery life. I stick with my dumbphone until that happens.

Mooshiness

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

The next killer feature for smartphones will be phones that you can sit on - well sit on and not break.

Also, I expect to see them become a little more distributed. A "brain" you leave in your pocket 99% of the time plus seperate UI devices like pebble watch + headset or even google glass.

KB

[Swoopy]

I want my slide-out keyboard to return. In Europe. On an Android 4.2.2+ phone with sufficient horsepower and working memory, please?

Re:The return of the physical keyboard.

[rueger]

bringing back an integrated physical keyboard

God yes! I'm sure that touchscreen is just divine in southern California, but if you're in the rain, or snow, or it's cold, or your fingers are numb, it's useless. More than once I haven't even been able to answer a phone call because it was raining and the touchscreen was non-responsive.

The thing that smart phone makers seemed to have missed is that an awful lot of what you use a smartphone for actually requires typing, navigation, and desktop-like functions. As much as I've generally like my Samsung/Nexus phone, I'll probably go Blackberry next time just to have a real keyboard - especially if I can remap some of those keys.

Re: Innovation

[icebike]

Depends what they do with the sensors.

Why they track you of course. What else? Look, nobody needs to have their phone tell them the humidity or air pressure.

What is that all about?

Its for crowd sourcing local weather, (or at least the weather in your pocket or purse). But all of that is for someone
else's benefit, not the phone owner. If you were able to legislatively forbid the transmission of temperature, pressure,
humidity across the network, would there still be any rational reason to include these sensors? I would say probably not.

Re:The killer feature would be

[auric_dude]

A privacy app where the user has complete control of everything be it leaking information & data to social networks, their affiliates, partners and assorted purchasers of such stuff. Something along the lines of http://tosdr.org/ [tosdr.org] or the slumbering https://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/06/03-0 [eff.org] .

Re:Innovation

[epiphani]

Durability is not generally designed into current smartphones. Intentionally. Think about the volume of sales, and how they would decrease, if devices didn't break within about 2-3 years. In fact, durability nearly sank RIM - as most people were comparing new iPhones with the original bold - released at the same time as the original iPhone.

2-3 years is an eon in mobile right now. If devices don't die, people don't upgrade.

Make it Generic, Please

[the eric conspiracy]

I want a generic revolution in smart phones. Android goes part way there, but not far enough.

I don't want anything to come from the carrier except packets and monthly bill. Like my ISP. Phone branding by the carrier should just go away. Spectrum should not belong to anyone. Carrier should just be licensed to use the National Allocated Spectrum by the FCC.

Phones should be modular. Want to upgrade the phone battery? Or radio? Add a keyboard? Not a problem. Root access should be expected, not something that has to be obtained by hacking.