Whoa! Meet future phones that bend, have 9 cameras, and charge on thin air

Imagine taking your phone out of your pocket and unfolding it like a towel in a tablet. You press your finger on the screen, and it unlocks. You switch to the camera application, and a series of spider-shaped lenses shoot simultaneously to capture a giant photo.

These are all things I have seen making prototypes, others in Chinese models. Analysts in Korea say we could see Samsung's "Galaxy X" folding phone as early as next year. When I look into my crystal ball, I am convinced that we are about to make the most significant changes in the design and functionality of smartphones since their arrival.

The reshuffle could not come soon enough. You probably could not live without your phone, but you feel as excited about it as you are running water. And the water company does not hold an event each year to beat the thinner faucets. From the front, the iPhone 8 is virtually indistinguishable from the iPhone 6 released almost four years ago. According to Kantar Worldpanel's latest research, Americans are holding out longer than ever on old phones: 25.8 months

The technology industry has doubled its capabilities in software and artificial intelligence . But there is still much to be done to improve phone equipment, the main reason why most people improve their performance.

Tim Bajarin, a long-time and futuristic technology analyst at Creative Strategies, tells me that he is also excited about what he sees coming. "When we turn the corner on the next decade, it is then that we will begin to see a revolution in everything from flexible displays to glasses," he says.

So I went in search of new technologies in China creators are more creative), among start-ups, and at industry conferences where the likes of Samsung and Apple find new components. Of course, it's hard to predict what ideas will stick and what will end up being a gadget. I've been looking for ideas that could make phones easier to use, easier to carry, better for watching videos and working. And, of course, I was looking for anything that could make the batteries last long enough to put an end to the hunt for an airport.

Here are some ideas that will, at the very least, make your next phone interesting. Or else your next phone, then the one that will follow.

Fingerprint Scanners Go Inside

The Big Idea: You Can Have Everything: A Fully Fronted Phone And A Fingerprint Reader digitals always right Where it belongs. When full screen phones have become fashionable, some Android phones have moved this key function to the back. Apple has completely destroyed the home button with its full screen iPhone X, opting for face scan sensors that some (including yours) fail to get bored.

Recent breakthroughs allow manufacturers to integrate the fingerprint reader on the screen. Just press your finger on the right side of the screen – indicated by a fingerprint image – and the phone unlocks. The component manufacturer Synaptics figured out how to take a picture of the fingers by looking between the pixels of the phone; Qualcomm has created an ultrasonic sensor capable of scanning not only through screens but also metal … and even under water. Until now, technology has made its way into the phones of Chinese manufacturers Vivo and Xiaomi

Before becoming too excited: The on-screen player was a little more complicated than traditional scanners when I tested it on the Vivo X21, one of the first phones to offer it. And, Apple people, do not hold your breath that will never happen to a new iPhone. Apple said that he thinks Face ID is the future, and it does not back off often of course.

When will I get it ? In the United States, I think we'll see him on the phone next year. Korean tech media reports that Samsung has "confirmed" to industry partners that it would be using a scanner on the screen in its Galaxy S10, although no ruler has ever made it to me. said that.

Cameras Produce More Lenses

Big Idea: The phone cliches could soon compete in quality with grand-horn cameras. How? Covering the back of the phone with a pile of small lenses that rotate simultaneously – and then sew it into a large photo.

We have already seen a version of this in Apple and Samsung phones with two lenses on the back. The second allows you to zoom in and measure depth to create photos with artistically uncluttered backgrounds. Huawei's flagship P21 Pro is the first to include three lenses: a color, a monochrome (to help deep and low light situations), and a 3x zoom

A camera manufacturer called Light pushed this idea. He showed me a concept and prototype phones running with between 5 and 9 lenses – yes, 9 – on the back. He says the design of his phone is capable of capturing 64-megapixel photos, better low-light performance and sophisticated depth effects.

Before becoming too excited: All of these goals – and the processor power needed to assemble – Do not come cheap. An autonomous camera of Light with 16 lenses costs $ 1,950

When will I get it ? Light, who counts the phone giant Foxconn as an investor, says that a smartphone equipped with its multi-lens network will be announced later this year.

The screens fold back

The big idea: We had a flip phone. Now here are the flip tablets. At a display industry conference in May, the topic was about prototype screens that were flexible enough to roll and beat in the wind. A company, called BOE, showed a gadget that he dubbed a "phoneblip" with a 7.5-inch screen that folded seamlessly into a phone and vice versa … without breaking. Fans of the HBO show "Westworld" might have seen the sci-fi equivalent in the folding tablet characters to control the killer robots.

It has been at least ten years since this happened. Samsung introduced in 2013 a video on the Wowee folding phone concept at CES. The first collapsible screens went into curved TVs and phones that turn on the edges. We have now crossed a threshold where we can make screens that fold over and over – and soon we will be able to fold the screens as abruptly as a piece of paper, "said Helge Seetzen, the president of the Society. for the display of information. How it works? BOE says that it's got rid of the traditional color filter and backlight, and replaced the rigid glass with plastic. Bending does not break the pixels because everyone is so small; It's like how a single human can walk seemingly flat on the earth, even if it curves.

Before becoming too excited: Work prototypes are one thing – producing millions of screens that can bend and unfold is much more difficult. Anything that has hinges (hidden behind the screen) could be easier to break than our current solid devices. But one thing is for sure: switching to plastic could make phones and tablets more shock resistant, even though they might be easier to scratch. When will I have it? next year, even though the former may have seams. Some analysts believe that Samsung's collapsible phone (nicknamed the "Galaxy X") will go into production in November and will cost $ 1,850 when it will be launched in 2019. Seetzen says that screens that fold like paper are at five years.

The big idea: Battery life is the biggest problem with phones today. Now imagine if you rarely had to think about your battery because your phone was constantly recharging. It sounds a bit crazy, but the researchers have found ways to transmit low levels of power in the air. Companies like Energous and Ossia send energy using radio frequencies, while Wi-Charge, a competitor, uses infrared light closer to lasers.

I saw functional prototypes of both technologies. For these charging systems to work, it must of course be in a room equipped with transmitters. Energous says that these could first be integrated into other gadgets, such as computers and speakers, so that they can load gadgets nearby. Wi-Charge says that he's looking to get into the light fixtures.

Wait, will that make us fry? The manufacturers of the technology say no because they use such power levels. It is true that we are already surrounded by energy by radio waves and the sun. Energous says that it does not expose bodies to more radiation than mobile phones, and WiPower automatically interrupts if anything between its transmitter and its receiver.

Before getting too excited: No wireless charging technology is nearly as fast as plugging in your phone, but probably that's less important if your phone charges all day. And companies have promised this kind of technology for years. They are finally eliminating regulatory hurdles, but now they have the dual challenge of using gadget manufacturers – and finding out how to get emitters into homes, airports, and cafes.

When am I going to # 39; get? Energous claims that hearing aids that support a first version of its technology (which requires closer contact) arrive in a few weeks. According to him, devices that are charging over medium and higher distances are more likely by 2019 or 2020. Wi-Charge says he hopes to be able to recruit gadget makers as early as next spring.

Glasses for not having to look at your phone

The big idea: The glasses are what will follow, on which the technology industry matters, because they would allow us to stay in line without looking at the screens. Start-up Magic Leap has raised more than $ 2.3 billion to make a "lightweight, portable computer" that looks like a pair of welding goggles. Apple has also filed a patent application for eyeglass technology, and CEO Tim Cook frequently talks about the potential of augmented reality, the technology that fuses computer images with the real world. (A form of AR tech is what fueled the Pokémon Go craze.)

The first AR glasses are already out. I've tried one of a start-up called DreamWorld that offers a 90-degree field of view and responds to the gestures of my hand. It weighs only about half a pound because it plugs into a phone that performs the treatment and holds the battery. Smart glasses are likely to require nearby phones until the pieces shrink enough to let them replace the phones entirely.

Before becoming too excited: Was not Google Glass a flop? Yes. Very few people want to walk around wearing a face computer. And then we have new social norms to consider, such as: If your glasses take a picture of a person – or are looking for information about a person, how can you let them know?

When will I get it ? DreamGlass DreamWorlds is available now for $ 400. The more user-friendly glasses that do not require heavy wires or gears are at least five years later. Magic Leap has promised to ship a developer-driven version of its Magic Leap One sometime this year.