It’s an old saying that even the newest computer is out of date the day after it is released, and it is fair to assume that the same saying can be applied to smartphone technology.
Now that we’ve broken into 2015 however, what new technology should we expect to see within the next 12 months?
Speedy charging
Hopefully by the end of the year, going to bed with your phone on charge will be a thing of the past as earlier in January, Isreali start-up company, Storedot, previewed a phone battery that can be fully charged in a matter of minutes.
The company’s CEO spoke to the BBC and said that, “We have reactions in the battery that are non-traditional reactions that allow us to charge very fast, moving ions from an anode to a cathode at a speed that was not possible before we had these materials.”
So perhaps the next time that you forget to charge your phone before you go out, you’ll be able to breathe a sigh of relief in the knowledge that you can get it charged to a decent level in only a few seconds.
Flexible phones
Just before we leapt into 2015, in the dying days of December, Apple patented a flexible iPhone and a set of smart glasses.
Although we all had to live through “bendgate” last year, it seems that from herein Apple might well be developing phones that actually do that on purpose.
The patent says that, “Rigid electronic devices may be vulnerable to damage in the event of an impact such as a drop of the device on a hard surface. It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved electronic devices.”
Although it may be some time before we see Apple’s response to Google Glass, we could well be enjoying the emergence of a squishier mobile product in the closing months of 2015.
True Key technology
Also unveiled earlier in the month, the True Key app works by taking a photograph of your face and then determining whether you are allowed access and use the technology in which the app is installed.
Although True Key can be used on a multitude of devices, such as computers and tablets, it could well revolutionise mobile phone security and render stolen handsets useless.
Also used for website access, True Key works on a freemium model that charges £12 a year for installation on over 15 websites.
Curved phones
Not quite flexible, but then again, not flat either, curved phones could well be the phones of the future, especially now that LG has shown off a second version of its curved smartphone at the Consumer Electronics Show.
The LG G Flex 2 is smaller the experimental Flex 1, and also has a special “self-healing” coating that can repair any scratches or scuffs that it suffers while in use.
Aside from its shape, critics have given mixed reviews and writing for the BBC, Leo Kelion wrote that, “LG’s new flexible phone is evolutionary rather than revolutionary. No great surprise since smartphone news from the big tech firms is usually held back until Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress or one-off events.”