6 Things Smartphones can do in the Years to Come

Bend and Fold with Flexible Displays

Right now, almost all smartphones have rigid displays that cannot be bent. This is likely to change in the future as foldable, bendable and flexible displays will become a reality in the coming years. Already, there are rumors that some manufacturers such as Samsung, Xiaomi, etc. are working on flexible displays for their upcoming smartphones. In fact, this concept is a long-rumored one. The bendable or flexible phones need flexible internal components as well such as processor and battery. The OLED screens will surely play a major role in making this possible.

Also Read: Samsung to Launch Two New Foldable Smartphones With Dual Screen Display in 2017

 

Get to Know Your Surroundings with Augmented Reality

The Pokemon Go demonstrated the potential of augmented reality apps and showed a glimpse of what we can actually expect from such apps in the future. With augmented reality, you can point your phone's camera at places and get details about businesses, train or bus schedules, movie trailer from a billboard advertisement, details of a product advertised on a magazine, etc. In future, smartphone makers will be able to create phones that can nail down your location in a 3D environment and the developers will contribute to the same by building apps that can help recognize things around you.

3D Displays to Take Entertainment to a New Level

There are rumors that Apple is working on 3D displays for the upcoming iPhones. The autostereoscopic screens will make it possible to view 3D content without glasses. This technology isn't new as we have already seen the same in Amazon's Fire Phone, but it failed to gain popularity. The Nintendo 3DS used this technology and it has been successful as well. In future, you can see more smartphones with 3D screens and the developers can take advantage of the same to build apps that can make use of the effects and interfaces brought by the technology.

Also Read: New technology to make 2-D and 3-D printing ultra-fast

Interpret Voice Commands Accurately with Artificial Intelligence

Ever since Apple debuted Siri on iPhones, the digital assistants have become popular. Be it any voice assistant such as Apple Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa or Cortana, you would have noticed that it can't always understand what you say. Eventually, it is likely that not all tasks that you want it to complete will be done. This situation is likely to change in the coming years as artificial intelligence will be more advanced and the concept of speech recognition will become more sophisticated. Companies have started considering third-party app integrations for their assistants to unleash their full potential.

Use NFC for Authentication

These days mobile payment is booming with Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and other such systems taking off with the integration of NFC (near-field communication). In the near future, the NFC capability of smartphones will let you do more in addition to just paying for the purchases you have made. A part of this trend is already in existence and it lets you unlock your hotel room, open the door of your home, etc. NFC will soon replace your cards, codes, and keys and your smartphone will play all these roles making it easy and convenient for you.

Also Read: 9 NFC Hacks You Should Know

Integrated Projectors to Become Common

A few smartphones in the market already have integrated projectors and the list includes Samsung Galaxy Beam, Beam 2 and Lenovo Smart Cast. But, smartphones that might be launched in the future are expected to do a better job by letting users do more than they can with the smartphones. It is expected that the projector will enable you to project a slideshow or video on a wall as well as a virtual touchscreen on your desk or table. With sensors and cameras, a smartphone with an inbuilt projector will let you use apps and also complete tasks that are not possible with the touchscreen display on the device.