It's tough to predict the future, especially with cutbacks to R&D budgets in the face of a global economic slowdown. Still, it's always nice to see a forward-looking corporate-slide related to mobile handsets from the taller, blonder half of that Sony Ericsson partnership.
LTE and
fast CPUs are certainly no surprise, nor is that 1,024 x 768 XGA screen resolution that Japan's superphones are
already bumping up against. The most compelling vision is that of the embedded camera sensors: 12-20 megapixels capable of recording Full HD video by 2012. Adding more fuel to firey speculation that handsets are about to
find themselves embroiled in a megapixel war. Fine by us, just as long the optics and image processing are there to support such a resolution. Even though 12-20 megapixels seems high compared to the 5-8 megapixel cell phones we see today, those numbers are entirely within reason when you recall that Samsung hit
10 megapixels in Korea two years ago. In fact, we wouldn't be surprised in the least to find Ericsson's mythical device on the market well prior to 2012. Combined, these features certainly make for a tantalizing glimpse at the wireless handset future.
posted November 7th 2008 5:30AM
I'm sure at that stage we'll have some highly combustible, hydrogen based battery that will last us 1 month! lol
this is stupid. The goal should not be to cram as many bloated features into a handheld as possible. The goal should be to make the core features as good as possible. For instance, what is the point of a 12-20 MP camera if the picture quality is shitty? Even with micro-four-thirds technology, you can't fit a camera's guts into a phone. And without good optics (which you can't make tiny according to physics), the images will suffer. I also love how they are hoping for both "Full HD video" and "1 GHZ processor." Lastly, the 100Mbps mark is not a handset issue, it's a network issue. Rolling out 3G/HSDPA wasn't exactly easy for these providers. We've still got approx. 95Mbps to go before that is a reality.
forgot most important point. I'd happily trade faster broadband for better signal coverage. Hey Sprint, let's try working out sending a reliable EVDO signal across the nation before we try and break any speed records.
The cellphone industry is going to hell. First of all who needs 8mp on a phone? They need to stop bumping up the resolution and just work on the optics and processing. Then when they have that down work on the web browser and other features that are being more scrutinized now a' days. Any phone with a 1GHz CPU will NOT be bought by me. Imagine putting that thing to your ear?!
It is really hard to imagine a cellphone taking higher-quality picture than my digital camera, but I'm pretty pumped for the future possibility of taking HD video on my cellphone.
How come there's no mention of battery life? With all these features in the future, batteries will need to have at least five times as much power compared to batteries nowadays (which as we all know already is bad - right iPhone and other smartphones?). Some sort of natural charger (like solar or what have you) that's built in to the phone would be preferable. That, or just a battery that can last for a couple of weeks of use without dying.
-sigh-
Can some one sale me a phone thats just a phone (+sms), but that works for a month non-stop?
That would be my dream phone.
I'd be perfectly happy with a black and white screen too if it was an ultra-sharp high-contrast paper like screen.
I dont want extrafeatures (especialy pointless magapixals) untill we have a better "form" of the phone.
Building a phone into a pair of glass's would be a step much more important then any of those mentioned here.
(then you could have information overlaid onto the world without waving your arms about...you could have a virtual screen as big as you wanted effectively)
"This is all possible due to the advanced accelerometer in the handset, taking into account the position and orientation, the 3D holographic projector situated beneath the screen,"
-sigh-
People still buying into the myth that holograms like that are remotely possible.
YOU CAN NOT GET LIGHT TO STOP IN MIDAIR.
It *has* to rest on a surface so it can reflect back at you.
Everything...absolutely everything...you see claiming to do so is a trick. -Light cant reflect off nothing-.
If you want things to hover in midair, your best bet is some augmented reality glass's.
Those are possible, and achievable with present tech if invested into.
Cell phones projecting star-wars holograms are not.
Not in 5, 10..or I bet even 50 years.
Getting phones to stop and bounce back is -incredibly- hard.
If you got a load of high-power lazers you can make a dot or too appear in midair by causing pocket explosions. But thats never going to be adaptable for a colour 3d projection out of a handheld device.
The funniest thing about all of this is that none of this is really news. All of these specs have been known for 2 years now, the parts that will make it possible are already in development. Most people actually expect the camera to be a 16Mpixels, and the reason isn't for larger pictures. The pixel sizes will shrink and the extra pixels are for the algorithms that will run to improve the images.
The 1GHz processor is already a given in the application processor.
The phones will also have an HDMI connection and will record and playback HD video capability. The arguement is whether HD is necessary or makes sense at all.
Additionally:
Automatic copying of all data/voice/video/location 24/7 to the local authorities, automatic approval for DRM requesting forms pop-ups with automatic submission to the supreme council of the RIAA, then at located RIAA.gov.
Special improved acrylic lenses that make the 12mpixel resolution seem almost as good as VGA resolution, almost., in bright sunlight.
I can't hardly get over 2 or 3 megapixels on most camera phones. I don't see why i cant geta 5 megapixel qwerty quadband 3g phone with sd slot =)
The megapixel thing really gets my goat... Why does it matter so much? Mmmm great, about 5500 x 4000 pixels of grain and blur producing file sizes of 20MB JPEG (maybe more?) taking ages to transfer or load. FFS Why??
A review of Canon's new 15.1MP 50D concluded - http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos50d/page31.asp - that:
"It appears that Canon has reached the limit of what is sensible, in terms of megapixels on an APS-C sensor. At a pixel density of 4.5 MP/cm² (40D: 3.1 MP/cm², 1Ds MkIII: 2.4 MP/cm²) the lens becomes the limiting factor. Even the sharpest primes at optimal apertures cannot (at least away from the center of the frame) satisfy the 15.1 megapixel sensors hunger for resolution."
Are Ericsson planning on embedding lenses sharper than Canon L-series primes, or are they perhaps going to fit a full-frame 35mm sensor?
Well the demands on glass in the compact world already far exceed any DSLR. After all a tiny sensor such as these use have much higher pixel densities. It is easier to use higher quality optical glass however, as price is calculated in weight, and smaller cameras need much less of it.
That said there are obvious limits. I doubt in fact that any compact today has a sharp enough lens to actually exploit the kinds of resolutions they tout.
Notice I only mentioned compacts though. That's because in most cameraphones the lenses are cheapy, perhaps even compatible to what you'd find in a disposable.
come on people dont you get this like projections? i mean they are basically account for moores law, by 2012 shit like that will be the norm you know?
i personally cannot f'ing wait until like 10 years from now to see how our wireless infrastructure is like.
What they haven't mentioned is because it is an SE it will only contain enough memory to store a couple of dozen photos. When are the producers of the walkman brand of phone going to try and compete with ipod and zune? I don't want to reload my music every time I want to listen to something different, the connection works too slow. All my music should be on my walkman already. They have lost the rep they had in the days of tape and cd