The Future of Mobile Phones – What Can We Expect In Terms of Features and Functionality?

The evolution of mobile phones is quite interesting. Even if you leave aside everything and just focus on the changes in the mobile world in the last decade, you’ll find how drastically mobile devices have changed for the better in terms of hardware, software, tools, technologies, trends and everything under the sun! For instance, think of the scenario 5 years ago, when people weren’t even aware of something called ‘apps’ and today, as you can see for yourself, mobile apps are everywhere!

But mobile (or mobility) is a vast and never ending topic and it is difficult to get a general idea of the features and functionalities that mobile devices will bring forth in the future. To make it simpler, let’s take a look at five popular domains and see how mobile devices will have an impact on them in the near future.

Mobile Devices In Education

Cloud computing, which is still at its nascent stage, will be a full-fledged feature in all mobile devices of the future. In fact, many schools are already making a move by discarding textbooks and replacing them with mobile devices like tablets. Combine this with the power of various cloud based storage services, and students will be able to have all their documents, files or books related to their studies, right at their fingertips, and all at one place on the ‘cloud’. Think of the cloud like a huge library of resources, which can be accessed through a mobile device. Something to look forward to isn’t it?

This is good news for the education sector; this will lead to the creation of mobile driven classrooms that will support remote learning. I see a future wherein students will never miss another class or assignment (even if they are down with flu)!

Mobile Devices In eCommerce

Nowadays, numerous mobile users are using their devices for using services of various online retail stores. For this, many devices provide high speed connectivity to the users. Take the example of Samsung’s Galaxy SIII or iPhone 5, which have enabled 4G LTE – a high speed internet connection for their users. If this is the situation today, think of the future scenario, where mobile devices will be able to support much faster connectivity (5G, 6G and so on and so forth)! This will enable users to enjoy various aspects of eCommerce (mCommerce rather) right on their mobile devices.

Productivity

NFC (Near Field Communication) is an emerging trend in mobile devices. Basically, what happens in NFC is that mobile devices with NFC enabled chips, can be used to exchange any data simply by bumping devices into each other. For instance, if I have an app and want to share it with my friend, then all I have to do is to gently bump my device with my friend’s device. By doing this, the app will get easily transferred to his device! Isn’t it interesting? As of now, this technology is limited to only a few handsets, but in the future, all mobile devices will be NFC enabled, and you’ll be able to exchange – videos, songs, apps and many other data effortlessly and securely.

Entertainment

Mobile devices are used for a variety of entertainment purposes. Take the case of the iPhone; iPhone users use the smartphone as a – gaming console, to watch a movie, as an mp3 player or as a still/video camera because it has a number of smart features and functionalities. In future, mobile devices will have higher resolution display, bigger and better screens, enhanced battery life, power packed processors, more megapixels camera (already Nokia PureView 808 has a 41 mega pixels camera) and many other features and functions, which will make them an out-an-out entertainment platform.

GPS/Navigation

Turn-based navigation, 3D Street view, voice based directions, finding parking spots, third-party app integration, re-routing and traffic overlay are some of the avant-garde features that exist in GPS/Navigation or Maps apps present nowadays. So, just imagine what will the future hold?

Most probably in the near future, users will be able to sync their devices with their friends, families and colleagues and see their location in real time.  Also, mobile devices might take the place of drivers – all you’ll need to do is set your destination in the GPS/navigation app and dock your mobile phone in your vehicle and sit back and relax. You’ll reach your destination smoothly, without actually driving the car. Easy!!

To Conclude

All these examples provide a mere glimpse of what the future mobile devices hold. With new tools and technologies that keep coming up every day, you never know what capabilities will these ‘wonder devices’ will bring to the table!! So, let’s wait and watch, what mobile devices will offer in the next few years.