Garmin HUD Navigation

Nice idea. It would be great to see this as a common accessory for smartphone drivers:

STORY | GARMIN PR

A river runs through it. The display that's like electric Play-Doh.

via Mashable

The world isn't flat. Perhaps our someday displays will reflect that.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTCI0UM0G0s

Real-world objects and digital info work hand in hand.

via Diginfonews.

Interesting proof-of-concept demo from Fujitsu.

Will it trend? 5 is like so 5 minutes ago. Will ~6-inch smartphones trend with consumers?

KEY MOBILE TRENDS: big smartphones/small tablets, form factors
EVENT HORIZON: Immediate.

via The VERGE
SAMSUNG PRODUCT PAGES >>

A smartphone with a 5.8-inch and 6.3-inch display. Why not? This isn't amazing news per se, as this Samsung device has been widely leaking and it's really just another phablet as we've seeing. And even though these are bigger than Samsung's 5.5-inch Note, Samsung is calling these "smartphones."

Other than the size of the screen, the specs are not amazing: no LTE, 1.4GHz Dual Core, 720p, ...

The big question is: now that 5-inch displays are established as the flagship norm, is it already time to bring out the really big guns? It's in the hands of the consumers now.


SAMSUNG: SEOUL, Korea, April 11, 2013 - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, today announced the Samsung GALAXY Mega, a device that combines the portability and convenience of a smartphone with the power, multitasking capabilities and extensive viewing experience of a tablet. The newest addition to the GALAXY family balances an optimal viewing experience on a 6.3-inch HD screen, yet is ultra-thin and portable enough to put into a pocket or hold in one hand. The GALAXY Mega offers a mix of popular smartphone and tablet features such as an effortless user experience, a split screen, multitasking between video and other apps and more...

The Samsung Galaxy Mega smartphone with 5.8-inch display. (Needs something to scale it.)

Flexible follower: holograms?

KEY MOBILE TREND: holograms, form factors, displays.
EVENT HORIZON: ten years.

And after flexible? I'm looking forward to hologram displays:

Cool vision.

How soon to the flexible form factor? Some flex signals from the past few days.

KEY MOBILE TRENDS: form factors, flexible, materials, displays, follow the components.
EVENT HORIZON: five years.

For your consideration:

-LG could beat Samsung to market with commercial flexible displays >>
-Apple Patent Reveals Advanced iDevice Flex Display Features >>
-Apple job listing for 'flexible display' engineer >>
-Flexible keyboard, clickable buttons >>

Back in the year 2000 I saw a really nice, super sharp color mobile display at an industry trade show. However, I didn't see any mainstream phone with a screen like that until around 2005. That's an example of the time gap from component demos to store-shelf ready implementation.

Yes, companies that design components begin hocking their wares years before they will implemented in products. In fact, they start showing off working and non-working prototypes behind the curtains in deep non-disclosure agreement meetings. Ordinary folks like us don't get a peak until development work is nearly complete. And then it still takes years and years for real products to hit the streets. There are few surprises for industry insiders.

Now we're getting to a point where flexibility is getting close. How close? From experience, I would say five years until some mainstream product hits a mall near you. The displays are getting there, the batteries, some of the guts. We could start to see modularity, with wrap-around displays here and there a bit sooner.

There is hope: the most boring market in the world will become more flexible someday. For now, however, the world remains flat.

Another look at Samsung's YOUM flexible display technology happy, pretty people video:


image via Patently Apple:

Smart glasses. 3 of 4 search giants could be in. Good vision or blind hype?

Is this the start of the post-smartphone era? The future of search?

Related story: RUMOR: MICROSOFT ALSO RELEASING SMART GLASSES >>

KEY MOBILE TRENDS: smart glasses, post-smartphone era, wearables, AR, proactivity, lifelogging.
EVENT HORIZON: Four years.

Smart glasses: there's lots of noise now, but exactly where is the market opportunity? The search is on.

Companies are throwing their chips on the table. There's Google, Baidu, Vuzix, Motorola Solutions, and Sony. I have also heard talk of advanced heads-up display accessories coming from adjacent industry players, so expect a headset computing flood during the next four years. In fact, now Microsoft is rumored to be developing a product in this category as well. Clearly there are those who see market potential.

It's interesting to note that the world's largest search service providers —Baidu, Google, and possibly Microsoft— are entering the un-market for such devices. Despite the fact that prospects are entirely speculative, the greater risk for these players is being absent early and then very late to market: search of the future could be very contextual and augmented right in front of your eyes.

The great unknown is not the technology or pricing, but rather it is consumer acceptance of the the product category. While interest in Google Glass appears sincere among developers and the "innovator" consumer class, mainstream adoption could face a long line of hurdles.

The concept is not entirely untested. Head-mounted displays or near-to-eye displays have been around for more than a decade. I've tried several of these headsets at industry trade shows over the years and have found the experience rather bizarre, like watching a move through a child's View-Master. But studies have shown that users of NEDs did enjoy the experience and were positively surprised by the display quality. But if you are wondering why you don't see many people wearing NEDs on your morning train, check out the picture at the bottom of this post.

Yes, there is the social stigma of looking like a Star Trek character, but in addition to the fashion police, consumers will have other concerns. For example, the police police, the potential adverse health effects, and privacy worries.

But for smartphone vendors, the worry could be that the post-smartphone era is in sight. Devices like Glass could combine the latest in miniaturized computing with the freshest business-model thinking. We could begin to see local search and other contextual services become an integral part of devices. So, smartphone vendors, don't look away: the day might come when it's time to get in your customer's face.

CNET's Top-Five Reasons for Google Glass:

A NED nerd. How many of these have you seen around? Sony's head-mounted display:

Biometric touch. Disney Research Labs develop a screen which recognizes one user from another by touch.

STORY >>

DISNEY RESEARCH LABS >>

First, I must confess I wasn't aware that Disney had a research lab which develops such things as advanced biometric touch-based technologies. But they do. And then again, it's not difficult to envision some Disney-specific use cases for unique-user interfaces.

This research project, which Disney calls "Touché," could enable touch-based devices to recognize one user from another simply via the touch of the finger. The technique works by sending "harmless electrical currents" through the user's body, and then identifying the echo via the level of resistance by the body.

The fact that Disney is developing such a technology means that we might see something like this at their theme parks or perhaps in kid-centric tablets for home and for school. But it's not difficult to envision this technique being used as an additional layer of biometric security in smartphones, ATM's, and point-of-sale terminals.

I don't want to sound goofy here, but this Disney project could enhance user interactions and simplify our lives. It could turn out to be a touch of magic.

HP holograms displays.

MIT Tech Review Story >>


KEY MOBILE TRENDS: holograms, displays, components

The long, long-term future of displays is holograms. Hologram move theaters, hologram televisions, hologram computers, even hologram mobiles.

Just like multi-touch input, some smartphone vendor will come along some day and shift the market in a new direction. This is a vision.

Here is some hologram display research from HP:

Is the future of smartphones so transparent? This see-thru smartphone display could enable something new.

MOBILE GEEKS' STORY >>

POLYTRON TECHNOLOGIES >>

Is the future form factor of smartphones so clear?

Transparent displays have been around for a while. I remember getting a look at LG's "Crystal" handset about four years ago. It was stunning, perhaps the best-looking handset I've ever seen. It didn't do much else than look sharp, but that's a great start in life.

So, will clear be the new hot thing someday in smartphones? A Taiwanese maker of glass products called Polytron Technologies is shopping around an early version of their clear smartphone display. Such transparent displays could go beyond just creating good-looking devices: for years, visionary augmented reality use cases have been calling for such technology.

Does this glass provide a window of opportunity for some smartphone maker to bring a new form-factor to market? Maybe. Such things are not always easy to see.

Video from Mobile Geeks':


Great Vision. Augmented Reality in Central Park:

Samsung bends the rules. Flexible screen technology demos via Samsung CES 2013.

The earth is not flat, do not forget that.

Black rectangular screen, black rectangular screen, black rectangular screen, black rectangular screen, black rectangular screen, cool foldable big-screen device you can spread out, black rectangular screen, black rectangular screen, black rectangular screen, bla... whao, what was that?

Was that something different in the world's most boring market filled with look-alike products? Could it be? Could things be about to change?

I would have more hope and be less cynical had I not seen similar presentations year after year. But these things do take time. Here's some hope from the display component guys at Samsung. Device makers looking for some WOW, higher margins, and lines out the door: get on your marks, get set, bend.

Fold it away boys:
(WARNING: the second video below is one of those visionary beautiful-people types.)

Thanks to MB for the links.

PaperTab: Is this the paper of tomorrow?

Flexibility in design: Will Samsung be flexible during 2013? And if phones screens do get softer, will it be just a curiosity?

We've been seeing flexible display components for many years now. Will 2013 be the year they finally get used in some truly innovative ways? Fingers crossed.

When it comes to device form factors, the smartphone business is a snoozer. More than 90% of devices on the market look essentially the same. And let's be honest, they work the same as well.

What happened to the excitement of future innovations? I've seen some pretty cool device prototypes and concepts during my career. Sadly, I suppose most of these are collecting dust in storage boxes somewhere, and others are used as very expensive paperweights.

So, will 2013 be the year of something just a little bit fresh? Maybe. Samsung is expected to show some sort of prototype device using their own flexible screen components. Whether this will be a technology display to interest other handset vendors in their displays or a working Android smartphone from Samsung's mobile unit isn't clear. But we'll see the light soon at CES.

We've been seeing these flexible screens from Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, 3M and other component vendors for approximately four years now. The bigger question is how useful are these if all the other building blocks of a handset are stiff as a board? Would a handset that conforms to the inside of your pocket be a subtle solution to a slight problem? Now it's up to designers and software engineers to think outside the block.

And let's face it, this is what we're all waiting for:

1080 is the new 720. In flagship smartphones & phablets, Full HD could be your New Year's resolution.

— OPPO 1080p display smartphone >>
— SAMSUNG GALAXY SIV expected with 1080p >>
— PANASONIC Preparing 1080p smartphone >>
— PANTECH preps 1080p resolution Android phone >>
— XIAOMI rumored with 1080p >>
— SONY's 1080p 5-inch Z Phone >>
AND MORE...

One recurring theme over the last few days is stories of 1080p resolution 5-inch smartphone/phablets to be announced at CES 2013 next month (January 2013). HTC, Huawei, LG, Motorola, Oppo (who?), Panasonic, Pantech, Samsung, Sony, Xiaomi, ZTE. Large-screen smartphones with Full HD (1080 x 1920) screen resolutions could become the flagship norm during 2013.

So, if your top-end device is 720, you had better be prepared to sharpen your image. Thanks to screen components from vendors such as Sharp and LG, small screens are becoming amazingly crisp.

Some might argue that Full HD is a little bit too crisp, that is, the average person won't ever notice in screens as small as five inches. But to the naked eye, the number 1080 will always look bigger than the number 720: when checking over a product's tech specs, this could become yet another numbers racket.

So, what's your New Year's resolution?

HTC's DROID DNA. What time is it? Is it time for 1080p?

Picture source: GSM Arena

Philips Lumiblade: "a material that emits beautiful light."

STORY SOURCE: UBERGIZMO

Interesting light prototype from Philips: "a material that emits beautiful light." The surface is the light source.

Picture furniture, windows, even walls, that light up. And this could enable some interesting devices.

Wave hello to a new UI parameter: electrical fields feel 3D gesture input.

TECHNOLOGY REVIEW STORY >>

MICROCHIP PRESS RELEASE >>

Some pedant scientists are quick to remind us that there really is no such thing as touch as we know it. The sense we call touch is actually an illusion. A misunderstanding. A method for the mind to simplify a more complex process of electron avoidance. We can hover and transfer electro impulses, but we never really reach out and touch someone. The universe is actually a very repulsive place.

As far as smartphone user interfaces go, we've been stuck in 2007 for five years now. The monoblock touch form factor now accounts for approximately 90% of all smartphones. The world is flat as a pancake it seems, full of dark dark black, rectangular screens.

When will the next UI shift happen? Follow the components.

Here's an interesting story in MIT's Technology Review about a new technique for devices to sense 3D gesture-based input for devices. Rather then using cameras or accelerometers, Microchip Technology has introduced a way to used electrical fields to sense 3D movment. Microchip calls this enabler "GestIC Technology," and could lead to some interesting user interactions in devices a few years down the road. Picture an accurate gesture-based UI in a car, or perhaps under the car. In the kitchen, or in the garden.

A touch replacement? Probably not. But it's clear that handsets are becoming more sensitive. And thanks to the magic of sensor fusion, data from the growing number of device sensors can be made to work together in wonderful ways.

Perhaps we won't be waving goodbye to touch, but rather hello to another step towards the UI of the future.

3D input cubed. Concept video from Microchip:

A look into the future of screens from Japan.

I always say that future mobile device trends are easy to spot: just follow the components.

Here's a look at screens to come. From Japan:

Squeezeput. Is 3D input coming our way? Will depth soon become the new angle in UI? The pressure is on for something fresh in smartphone form factors.

GIZMODO STORY >>

I recently got a quick peek at a prototype of a smartphone expected to hit the market in the coming weeks. I don't want to give too much away, but I suspect you already know exactly what it's like (a black, rectangular capacitive touch screen).

In the smartphone biz, there are no longer any rewards for hardware innovation. Follow the form-factor flock in a V formation and you just might make it to your destination alive. I do hope some day a lone eagle will come along and shake up what has become the most boring market in the world. Even the market for rather boring white goods such as washing machines and refrigerators has greater variety in form factors than the smartphone market. That's where we are today.

Looking for something new and fresh? Check out NTT DoCoMo's "Grip UI" shown recently at CEATEC 2012. In addition to classic touch-screen input, the proto device supports pressure-sensitive input from the sides enhancing one-handed usability.

I've seen demos and protos of squeezable pressure-sensitive devices for a number of years now as component vendors look to create a hot new wave among vendors. There doesn't look like much form-factor flexibility in the near future; these things take time, but at some point the market will bend under pressure.


NTT DoCoMo's Grip UI. Something fresh. You can say that again.
Video from DigInfo:


Nokia's shows flexibility in design:


Synaptics "Fuse" concept from February 2010. Input all around:

Will “touch-tile” become a new device form factor? Making buttons where there were none.

via SINGULARITYHUB >>

Tactus Technology >>

Is this some wow opportunity for some device vendor?

This tactile display stuff on touch looks pretty amazing, but it's nothing spanking new. Concepts have been around for years. The idea is great: a touch device that can create keys when needed. Want a QWERTY to text, a numeric keyboard to calculate?

Many of us miss real physical keys. But they are becoming an endangered species on smart devices. Could they begin to make an occasional appearance on touch devices of tomorrow?

It will be interesting to see how well solutions like that from Tactus Technology work in the field. But some component vendor is bound to get this right at some point. Then get ready for the touchtile form factor. (Sorry, couldn't help but use another hybrid word.)

The new temporary help? Avatars at airports.

via KURZWEIL's BLOG >>


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI3YBf36twk