Whoa! Meet the future phones that fold up, have 9 cameras and charge over thin air.

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> Date: July 1, 2018 at 08:19:45 GMT+9
> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Whoa! Meet the future phones that fold up, have 9 cameras and charge over thin air.
> Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com
>
> [Note:  This item comes from friend Geoff Goodfellow.  DLH]
>
> Whoa! Meet the future phones that fold up, have 9 cameras and charge over thin air.
> Lately, our smartphones all look alike. So our tech columnist hunted in labs, start-ups and China’s thriving phone 
> scene to find what’s next for our favorite gadget.
> By Geoffrey A. Fowler
> Jun 29 2018
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/06/29/whoa-meet-future-phones-that-fold-up-have-cameras-charge-over-thin-air/>
>
> Your next smartphone might just throw you a curve.
>
> Picture this: You pull your phone out of your pocket and unfold it like a napkin into a tablet. You press your finger 
> on the screen, and it unlocks. You switch to the camera app, and a spider-like array of lenses shoot simultaneously 
> to capture one giant photo.
>
> These are all things I’ve seen phones do — some in prototype form, others in models you can get only in China. 
> Analysts in Korea say we might see a folding “Galaxy X” phone from Samsung as soon as next year. When I look into my 
> crystal ball, I’m convinced we’re on the cusp of the most significant changes to the design and functionality of 
> smartphones since they first arrived.
>
> The shake-up couldn’t come soon enough. You probably couldn’t live without your phone but feel as excited about it as 
> you do running water. And the water company doesn’t hold an event every year to hype slimmer faucets. From the front, 
> the iPhone 8 is pretty much indistinguishable from the iPhone 6 that came out nearly four years ago. Americans are 
> holding onto old phones longer than ever — 25.8 months, according the most recent research from Kantar Worldpanel.
>
> The tech industry has been doubling down on software and artificial intelligence capabilities, which still hold huge 
> potential. But there’s a lot to be done on improving phone hardware, too, the number one reason most people upgrade.
>
> Longtime tech analyst and futurist Tim Bajarin, of Creative Strategies, tells me he’s also excited by what he sees 
> coming. “When we turn the corner on the next decade, that is when we will start to see a revolution in everything 
> from flexible displays to glasses,” he says.
>
> So I went on a hunt for new technologies in China (where phonemakers are more creative), among start-ups and at 
> industry conferences where the likes of Samsung and Apple find new components. Of course, it’s hard to predict what 
> ideas will stick and what will end up being a gimmick. I looked for ideas that could make phones simpler to use, 
> easier to carry and better for watching video and doing work. And, of course, I looked for anything that might make 
> batteries last long enough to bring an end to the contact sport of hunting for an airport outlet.
>
> Here are five ideas that will, at the very least, make your next phone interesting. Or if not your very next phone, 
> then the one after that.
>
> Fingerprint scanners go inside
>
> The big idea: You can have it all: a phone that’s entirely screen on front and a fingerprint scanner still right 
> where it belongs. When full-screen phones came into fashion, some Android phones moved this key function to the back. 
> Apple killed the home button entirely with its full-screen iPhone X, opting for face-scanning sensors that some 
> (including yours truly) find fail just enough to be annoying.
>
> Recent breakthroughs let phonemakers embed the fingerprint reader inside the screen. Just press your finger over the 
> right area of the screen — indicated by a thumbprint image — and the phone unlocks. Component maker Synaptics figured 
> out how to take a picture of fingers by looking in between the phone’s pixels; Qualcomm created an ultrasonic sensor 
> capable of scanning not only though screens but also metal … and even underwater. So far, the tech has made its way 
> into phones from Chinese makers Vivo and Xiaomi.
>
> [snip]
>
> Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/wa8dzp



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