What makes the phone 'Smart'

Rohin Dharmakumar/Forbes India

There are some significant component-level developments taking place behind the scenes.1. SUPERSENSORS
Sensors today can measure temperature, location, blood pressure, ambient light, moisture and physical activity. Qualcomm even has a $10 million X Prize to develop a Star Trek-like ‘tricorder’ that can measure various parameters and diagnose 15 diseases.

2. SUPERBATTERIES
Inherent limits around the Li-ion batteries mean they’d need to get bigger to power the new-gen phones. Here’s where Lithium hybrid batteries, fuel cells, nanotubes and bendable batteries will find an opening. With these, you can expect an increase in battery life from 12-18 hours to several days.

3. SUPERPROCESSORS
The year 2013 will see at least three leading chipmakers release 8-core processors. Processing power will become a commodity and almost irrelevant. You will be able to run as many apps, open as many web pages or hold multiple live video calls, without a hiccup.

4. SUPERSCREENS
There’s Samsung’s fl exible OLED screens. Meanwhile, Corning has announced a curved, flexible glass, Willow Glass. With these, phones could ‘unwrap’ to become tablet or a newspaper.

5. SUPERCAMERAS
Radical innovation, like the Lytro, will allow you to take a photo fi rst and focus later at leisure. Toshiba has already developed a smartphone version of a similar camera that could be out in 2013.
Illustrations: Sameer Pawar

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