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The success of the smartphone is unprecedented. Billions of them have been sold and at this point they are almost impossible to live without. But that does not mean that smartphones are particularly interesting. In fact, they are downright boring. Even the newest and technologically advanced devices cause some yawning. The new Samsung or Apple device can have a camera and more GB of RAM than you know what to do, but also: Who cares?
That's the way with technology: what was once a breathtaking novel quickly becomes stomping. And as smartphones are everywhere, they have begun to feel mundane.
When something is so entrenched in our daily lives, it can be hard to imagine what might succeed. But if you pay attention, you may be able to spot some clues. Samsung recently hinted that it could release a foldable smartphone with a flexible display later this year. And the Chinese manufacturer Nubia has introduced a mobile smartphone that surrounds the wrist of a user. Both ideas suggest that the smartphone will not be fully replaced by a single, entirely new product. Instead, our future devices will be adjacent to a smartphone. They will enhance our existing smartphones by being more adaptable, capable and portable. They could even be shapeshifters.
Why change the smartphone at all? Contemporary devices are immensely powerful and can be many, from sophisticated cameras to virtual reality tools. But this very power can be its own source of frustration. Going around a modern smartphone, it's a bit like owning a sports car in a city: it's safe, it's fast, but you can never really open the gas and enjoy this speed. Likewise, a new iPhone can be as technically powerful as a laptop, but its form factor – a small touch screen – limits the way you can use it. There is room on the market for a device that combines power and versatility.
That's why the prospect of a foldable smartphone is more than just a gadget. According to CNBC, Samsung's mobile director, DJ Koh, suggested the device would have a continuous, flexible screen that opens like a laptop. According to previous concept videos, such a device could have a front display, so that it works like a normal smartphone when it is folded, and also a larger screen on its inner surface that develops when unfolded.
This idea evokes a previous concept of Microsoft called "The Courier", which tried to evoke the innovative idea of a "digital notebook". On such a device, you can scribble ideas or sketches with a stylus, browse news or type e-mails, with the option to open it for more space if you need it. It's a good idea. The size, more than anything else, often hampers the smartphone as a productivity device. A foldable screen is a way to solve this problem.
Of course, sizing is not the only way to innovate when it comes to smartphones. Recently, at IFA 2018, an annual consumer electronics show in Berlin, the Chinese company Nubia introduced a prototype smartphone wrist. Unlike, for example, an Apple Watch, which is intended to be used with a smartphone, Nubia device is a complete smartphone with a flexible screen that surrounds the wrist of the user. Despite some real challenges with this specific device – applications should be specially designed for its big screen – the idea of a complete smartphone and hands free is nonetheless compelling.
These two devices offered are based on a flexible screen, which is not a coincidence. Perhaps for the next iteration of the smartphone to be more adaptable, it must be literally flexible. At present, all smartphones are essentially the same rectangular plates, and this must change.
Such a change will probably occur slowly. The desktop computer was the dominant computing device for at least two decades before being replaced by the laptop. But it will not be just a device that will destroy the smartphone. Instead, it is much more likely that a variety of devices will emerge for consumers with different needs – some people will want a notebook sketchbook for ideas, others wanting maximum productivity, and more. Others want even fewer features to reduce distraction.
All that comes next for the smartphone, it will be anything but boring.
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