Evolution is an eternal process where change is constant. It is quite fascinating to see how the things would get transformed in to a new phase that is completely outlandish when compared to the origins. Take for example, the evolution of phone technology which has begun its journey in 1876 when Alexander Graham Bell called over his assistant through an electrically transmitted method. This is the humble beginning of a new technology called ‘telephone’. In a dominant era of telegraph, no one could ever believe that a ‘speaking telephone’ would come up in the place of ‘undecipherable dashes and dots language of a telegraph.’
Telephone technology did not take the world by storm overnight but Bell has prophesied the rise of this new technology will have its recognition in due course of time. Within ten years from then, in the USA alone more than 137,000 phones were installed.
From those basic two-way prototypes, telephone, has undergone a metamorphic transformation to the latest multitasking smartphones like Apple Inc’s iPhone. This sojourn was full of experimentation and excitement. But what is in store for today’s future? What new technologies are coming up and how would they change the phone technology? Let us see some of them.
Open Source Phones
We heard about open source software tools but now cell phones that are built on open source technology would be hitting the market any time. Major companies like Yahoo and Google are being roped up to help on this emerging technology in phone industry. A new open source Android OS called Tizen has been created and can support smartphones, tablets, notebooks, in-vehicle infotainment devices etc.
WiFi Phones
In this ‘unlimited’ world, making long distance calls particularly international calls is still a limited service. Also, it is the costliest service that everyone cannot afford subscribe. People can buy 0800 number to make free calls from UK landlines and 0800 numbers are not bound to a specific location within the United Kingdom so a business can receive calls from all over the country.Though VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology has made the international calling as a free service, this is also limited to the computers only. That means one cannot make VoIP call without having a desktop or laptop. But now, this dream would become a reality. WiFi phones would be bridging this gap by enabling VoIP calls.
Mobile Augmentation
In this fast paced world, people crave for ‘all-in-one’ solutions to save time and effort. Though the Smartphone technology has given some sort of ‘all-in-one’ feeling to the users with its ability to accommodate tools & apps that can do diversified activity, tech-savvy users are looking farther than this. Industry experts are foreseeing a ‘mobile augmentation technology’ in near future which can redefine the Smartphone meaning. One expert gave a simulated scenario to understand what this new technology would do for you! Think that you are in a new city and standing in front of a building wondering what is it? All you need to do is to point your mobile towards the building and read through what appears on the screen. Your phone might tell you the history of the building, its current occupiers which would include your favorite restaurant chain and its business hours too. That would be the power of upcoming augmentation of mobile technology.
Real Virtual Keypad
In this era of touch-screen phones, people still prefer to type the message or email by using the physical keypad attached to it. This is because they feel it more accurate and convenient than the virtual keyboard which often imprint wrong alphabet due to high sensitivity of the touch screen. Research teams of various phone manufacturers are working hard to create a virtual keypad that feels and behaves like the physical one. This would be a new technology worth watching when the upcoming models feature it.