“Nearly a decade after the iPhone broke the mould for mobile phones the question being asked is whether the evolution of the smartphone has finally come to an end, as even Apple now treats older, smaller 4-inch screens as something new,” Eric Auchard reports for Reuters.
“Industry experts believe innovation in smartphones is giving way to phone functions popping up as software or services in all manner of new devices from cars to fridges to watches and jewellery rather than remaining with handheld devices,” Auchard reports. “The financial stakes are high as the futures of Apple, Google, and Microsoft, the world’s three biggest listed companies at the end of last year, may now turn on who gets the jump on making handsets redundant.”
Auchard reports, “Independent financial analyst Richard Windsor said flexible displays that could be unfolded or unrolled to up to 10 or 14 inches would set phones free from being defined by screen size. ‘What is a tablet computer?’ Windsor asks. ‘Why would you bother having a tablet? That market would just evaporate overnight,'” he said.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Whatever it is, you can bet that Apple will be leading the way.
You cab also bet that Samsung will hurriedly launch a product into that new category which will look nothing like the product that Apple subsequently launches, but then the Samsung one will suddenly undergo a drastic design and user interface change soon after Apple shows how it should be done and will quite coincidentally end up looking very much like Apple’s product.
A good starting point is Apple Watch
Depends how you define a Tablet I guess, for the product he describes is simply a tablet in a folderble form in essense. We don’t see a tablet as a peice of stone with chiselled markings any more so why get tied up with the idea it still has to be a flat solid object any more. After all a TV that goes from a box format to a flat screen is still a TV.
Different users, different needs: Think Different.
1 out of 7 people worldwide have some form of hearing loss, including deafness.
Hearing aids that connect to an iPhone are a definite need and many companies have their apps in the AppStore.
My guess is Apple will eventually make an “in-ear” device, even for the people with good hearing. Why should I have to hold a phone to my ear?
Obviously BT earphones work, but they are messy and prone to loss, based on my use of half a dozen of them.
Agree totally.
I was actually thinking about this when an aged friend mentioned he paid $7500 for a hearing aid. hearing aid salesmen are mostly commissioned. Being a senior, I get “invites” monthly from the local hearing aid dealer.
My thought is that Apple could produce an FDA approved device and sell it for about $500 and attack the huge and expanding market for those seniors with hearing difficulty. Being able to control it with the iPhone or Apple watch would be a big selling point. My friend was complaining after a concert about how it was way too loud for him. Guess it wasn’t convenient to turn down the volume.
There is a company (starky.com I believe) that makes an iPhone-connected hearing aid, ostensibly a Bluetooth type of device. I’d expect this type of device will become more widespread.
As far as Bluetooth earphones/earbuds are concerned, I don’t have any use for them or compelling need for them. I most often use earbuds (an old etymotic er6i) when riding my motorcycle. I specifically need the noise reduction this type of product offers. And when I ride I very often ride 200-500 miles at a time. There’s no way Bluetooth products can work for me. I also use the noise-reducing earbuds when using a riding mower on my property.
FWIW, YMMV, JMO, etc.
Compared to everything else the iPhone does, voice is a minority now.
Or a screen that can tactilely show things, like buttons that can be felt, like a home button… or can create braille for the blind, or show actual keys able to be felt on the onscreen keyboard.
Apple don’t lead the way they refine, and that’s a good thing.
They do both. Once in a while they lead by creating or redefining something dramatically. More often they refine, refine, refine.
They are often (but not always) better at refining than competitors.
However, no company I am aware of comes close to their creation/reinvention track record.
The pieces are coming together for a full fledged personal assistant. We have Siri, data syncing across devices, watches, gps location and now multiple input options with the pencil, voice and finger.
Sometimes Apple seems behind the times because other companies releases products that claim functionality. Only Apple seems to be able to actually put it together in a way that really works. Apple has a longer term goal and we are beginning to see most of the pieces now in place.