The dawn of the wireless age will prove to be the end of laptop, according to Rich Templeton, the incoming chief executive of chip maker, Texas Instruments. (Intel’s $200 million Centrino ad campaign might make you think otherwise.) Speaking during a keynote session at the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, France, Templeton pointed to wireless technology’s ability to provide “a low-cost, low-power platform to make it practical to expand the value of a cell phone beyond voice [capability]… We’re not far from the day when smartphones are projected to outsell laptop and desktop computers combined.”
Templeton predicts that cell phones will soon become the prevailing devices worldwide for accessing the Internet, listening to music, capturing & watching video, and for organizing personal information. The ability to combine multiple applications into multi-purpose, feature-rich cell phones (beyond just voice) will create a heightened consumer demand for these smartphones. “We’re not far from the day when smartphones are projected to outsell laptop and desktop computers combined… Last year, cameraphones became the best selling cameras outpacing digital still cameras, which themselves surpassed film cameras for the first time.”
“It took about 10 years to really develop digital voice and sleek form factors. Cameraphones have become very popular in just two years, and we’ll see the same thing happen with other features such as videophones and digital TV in just one year,” he pointed out. Well he does have a point. I am not sure how quickly the future he predicts will come, because like everything else, we have some serious problems with the software on cell phones. The Smart Phones are not intuitive enough and many are tough to use. The keyboards are an evolving science, and so are the batteries. Still given the fact that the “thumb tribes” are everywhere, future according to Rich does some feasible. One thing which strikes me as odd, is how locked out of this world is Intel. Microsoft is also on the down lo these days for some odd reason?
I guess the 3G providers are in their own world..just because they can offer this feature rich phones and ask $$$ for the smart phones doesnt mean people will go for it. Think about the Pocket PC. How many of them using it?. I for one hate the clumsy keyboard and such complicated menus. Example- I changed my cell phone from Nokia to LG . Good Lord what they think when they decide this menu’s..They should consult a GUI designer before writing those apps. Most of my friend and me think that smart phones are not for us.. it might be popular with the sales force and the Yuppie community who wants to show off. I think smart phone should have just SMS with basic phone functionality. Last but not least let the FCC open up the airwaves and the cell phone companies concentrate on not dropping the calls.