Developments in mobile technology are occurring so rapidly that even the likes of Nokia don’t know how to cope. But there are certain trends that are here to stay at least a couple of years, and it’s good to know them so that you need not change your gadget with your toothbrush.
Tablets
Almost every manufacturer that makes mobile phones has either already launched a tablet or has one in the offing. While netbooks already exist tablets are different because they are more portable and look better than netbooks.
The other difference lies in the fact that while netbooks are miniature laptops manufactured for cost reasons, tablets are fashionable products.
Moreover, tablets use better processors than netbooks do, and are beginning to be as powerful as laptops. Nvidia, for instance, recently announced a dual core 2.4 GHz mobile processor.
Due to the absence of physical keyboards, which are replaced by touchscreens that respond to gestures, using a tablet is at times more comfortable than using a much bigger laptop.
Cross platform application development
Increasingly, applications that work across platforms such as Android and Windows are being developed.
For example, recently a Qt (Nokia development platform) developer released a suite called Necessitas, which will enable people to create applications that will run on Android as well. The company will also make Symbian apps compatible with Windows Phone devices. BlackBerry too is considering making Android apps compatible with its tablet OS QNX.
True convergence
Digital living network alliance or DLNA, which is aimed at making electronic gadgets capable of interacting and sharing with each other, has more than 160 member companies, and an increasing number of gadgets are DLNA certified, which enables them to interact with one another.
In terms of device capability, mobile phones already serve for health monitoring and distance education, and as cameras, music players, alarms, radios, and mini PCs.
So, mobile phones will make many other devices obsolete while making many devices much more useful. For example they could make your TV an internet device!