The iPhone took the world of smart phones by storm and set new standards for these smart small portable devices. Other companies have been looking at Apple with envy eyes and trying over and over again to come up with an iPhone killer.
In the past few months we have witnessed the launching of some real good phones like Motorola’s Droid and Blackberry’s Storm 2, other companies have been following suit and launching their own versions of smart phones. 2010 sounds like a promising year for this market, let’s look into what will be big in the coming year. iPhone 3GS, Motorola Driod, Nokia and Blackberry videos are already flooding the social media, and fighting over the touch-screen do-it-all smart phone market share.
The video should give you a good idea of how the phones look and handle, and our summary below lists each phone’s main features briefly.
With the first BlackBerry Storm being such a disappointment and with its touch screen being as repulsive as it was, RIM still didn’t give up on the concept. By releasing BlackBerry Storm 2 they focused on making it quicker and easier to type on. Hopefully this storm will be the touchscreen fix that all those crackberry addicts have been waiting for.
BlackBerry Storm2 Specifications
Enhanced SurePress Technology; no more hideous mechanical moving parts.
JavaScript is On by default
Wi-FI 802.11 b/g
256 MB Flash Memory (Double the memory on the previous one)
2GB Onboard Media Memory (Double the memory on the previous one)
BlackBerry Handheld Software v5.0
Battery Life:
CDMA: 11.2 days standby, 5.5 hours of talk time GSM: 12.7 days standby, 5 hours of talk time
Ever since the introduction of the mobile phone, there has been a shift to add more and more functionalities to mobile devices. We have reached a point where there is plenty of functionality packed into a little device such as a Blackberry or an iPhone but we have also lost something in the shift to mobile computing. The quality of the interfaces has been always dependent on your thumb size.
Now that phones are handling more and more media, the display is being recognized as lacking, and even features such as Wi-Fi connectivity are still being fought over in courts. Soon enough those compromises shall not need to be made.
Here are some of the technological breakthroughs that will help take mobile computing and smart phones to the next level. This is not a promise of flying cars and personal robots – Roombas aside – but these are technologies that are currently available, and in the future will probably play a part in enhancing the mobile computing experience.
Virtual Keyboard:
Virtual Keyboard
One of the biggest qualms people have with their phones is the QWERTY interface that is often too small and restricts typing speeds. There is a perfect solution to the problem: a Bluetooth Laser Virtual keyboard which will project a keyboard on any flat surface. The keyboard promises to deliver the same experience as a regular keyboard even down to the keystroke sounds. If the laser can pick up a gesture as a keystroke, it might be made to evolve into something more picking up on gestures such as point and click and variety of other interface options. This device will now set you back $150.00.
The Wi-Fi alliance, which includes Apple, Microsoft, Cisco and Intel amongst its members, announced that they will release a new technology that will make it easier for electronic gadgets to exchange data. The technology will be called Wi-Fi Direct, which will allow each device to act as its own “hotspot“. Wi-Fi Direct is expected to be certified in mid-2010 and will be built into new devices, while older Wi-Fi enabled devices will be able to download a firmware update that would provide older devices with Wi-Fi- Direct capabilities.
Wi-Fi direct will offer the same data transfer speeds currently offered by Wi-Fi and will allow devices to communicate over the range of 300ft . This places the Wi-Fi Alliance into direct competition with the Bluetooth protocol, finally, which has been the leading protocol for short-range peer-to-peer connections. The much loved to be hated protocol is more energy efficient than Wi-Fi but Wi-Fi Direct already comes enterprise ready by supporting the WPA2 protocol and providing the required security for the connection to be trusted and adopted.
While this might be great news for smartphone users, it might also put a dent into the 1$ Billion dollar market of Wi-Fi access points. The prospect of being able to extend your network indefinitely using gadgets and devices that are already available to you is certainly exciting.
This technology is certainly enticing. Beside the fact that it finally resolves issues that Bluetooth had problems with, mainly security and range, its high bandwidth opens up the window for another exciting prospect. Using the WiFi Direct technology anyone can provide wireless access to the entire neighborhood with little to no start-up cost. Maybe, just maybe, it will usher in the age where we are drowned with free wireless Hotspots wherever we go. Now let’s just hope that smartphones batteries become a bit more efficient and provide us with a bit more juice!
Do you currently use Bluetooth? Do you think you will still need to use it after the introduction of Wi-Fi Direct? Will you ever buy another wireless signal repeater?
