“What kinds of new products will be helping Apple pay its bondholders over the next several years?” Quentin Fottrell wonders for MarketWatch. “Though the company has always been secretive about new gadgets in the pipeline, some tantalizing innovations may be on the way.”
“How about an invincible iPhone that survives a dunk in the toilet? Apple acquired an exclusive license for ‘Liquidmetal’ use in electronics in 2010, but hasn’t used it yet. This material can be produced to create new shells for iPhones, iPads and iPods, and ‘the hermetic bonding and sealing process could render an iDevice waterproof,’ says Jeff Haynes, editor at TechBargains.com,” Fottrell writes. “Apple also filed patents for fuel cells that could power devices for days or weeks on a single charge, he says, and liquidmetal would be a way to seal the cells while still providing plenty of power.”
Fottrell writes, “Fingerprint and retina identification and flexible screens could also enhance both the security and durability of Apple devices, analysts say… Apple could also move out of the home office and living room — and into the kitchen. ‘It would be interesting to see Apple develop home appliances,’ says Darren R. Hayes, assistant professor at Pace University’s Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems in Westchester, N.Y.”
Read more in the full article here.
Transporters
gee, what a fascinating and insightful piece.
That Fottrell ought to change his name to Foretell, just to reflect the level of insight he has into Apple’s distant future. Did MDN read this article at all before they publish them?
Hoverboard
30-years ago … let’s see 1983. What was going on in the tech world in 1983? Oh yeah … Apple had Lisa. There were Osborne computers. Atari was giving computers a shot I think. Was there a Mac? Uh …. not outside of Apple there wasn’t.
Still waiting for all those flying cars that were promised 30 years ago. We might see a new prototype every few years, but I’ve yet to see one being used for routine use.
One thing you can be pretty sure of is that if you try and predict how technology will be in 30 years, you will be wrong.
Analysts can’t even predict what Apple will do in the next quarter, or indeed agree about what Apple actually accomplished in the previous quarter, so talking about Apple 30 years from now is pointless.
In 30 years we will have reached the singularity. The possibilities are endless. But my prediction is a nano bot that can enter the blood stream and destroy pancreatic cancer.
If the Apple board is stupid enough to keep Cook on board that long, it is most likely that the 2043 Apple product lineup will be lightly updated versions of the products you see offered today.
– the Apple TV will still remain a “hobby”
– iWatch and integrated Apple television vaporware rumours will persist, though
– Cook will still not have offered a retina display on Mac desktop machines, which he will allow to wither on the vine with less than 5% market share
– the one new “iPhone 20S” will be the best overall smartphone, but it will be the only phone Apple makes, and thus hold a minority market share against the onslaught of competitors from every direction, which by then will have copycatted Apple’s stores too.
On the other hand, 30 years from now, some good news might occur. Google’s autonomous cars will have killed enough people to be outlawed on public roads. Somewhere on the planet, an intelligent regulator will step forward and ban mobile phone use in the car with an effective solution — most likely a dashboard dock that will allow you to use safe hands-free functions but will block all cell phone signals from within the car if the mobile device isn’t docked. Oh, and best of all: the Facebook fad will have passed, and petrol will be so expensive that people will actually start walking, biking, and communicating vis-a-vis with real friends.