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INTERVIEW: MOTOROLA
FABIO OLIVEIRA
Manager
Motorola Mobility Mexico
“When consumers perceive that something will enable their lives to be easier, that’s innovation,” says Fabio Oliveira, the Manager for Mexico for Motorola Mobility. He makes an important argument: new technology
must be disruptive for customers to assign real value to it. If a new technology is “nice” but not life-changing, notes Oliveira, the consumer is likely to use it a few times and then put it aside. “If it doesn’t add benefits, what’s the point?” he asks.
Consider this maxim as it applies to smartphones. How innovative is virtual assistant software if it cannot answer most of your questions? Why would you want to play a revolutionary new video game if it takes forever to download or stream to your phone? And what good is augmented reality if it only plays Pokémon Go?
INTO THE DEEP
What is indisputable is that current technologies found in digital devices are improving literally at this moment. Deep learning—a branch of artificial intelligence that attempts to mimic the function of the brain’s neocortex—will enable computers to recognize patterns as they receive input, be it from speech, images, or sounds.
For example, Oliveira explains, smartphones may be able to lower healthcare costs because users will have “basic assistance—a smartphone can learn your daily activities, remind you to take your medicine, check your blood pressure, and so on.” In practice, this means that smartphones will become true partners in users’ decision- making in everything from finding the best place to get a deep-dish pizza to driving your car more safely to ... well, no one really knows the endpoint of deep learning.
VIRTUAL IMAGES, AUGMENTED REALITY
Plenty of projects are revolutionizing the use of smartphones. Oliveira speaks of a recently developed technology that turns a smartphone into a 70-inch projector for sharing images. This may also enable smart watches and other wearables to project screens, keyboards, number pads, or other virtual tools onto a surface. Flexible screens, modular designs, and collapsible handsets are other innovations that could broaden the range of smartphone products by early next decade.
Oliveira describes a future in which “devices are trying to connect with each other to be much more interactive and make people’s lives easier.” The most beneficial improvement may come in the form of augmented reality (AR), and it will not be limited to searching for Pokémon or Bulbasaur. Using their smartphone cameras, consumers will be able to look at a store’s sign and see information about its products. Taking a picture of a mass transit vehicle could enable the user to see its schedule, while an image of a movie poster might reveal its trailer. All kinds of immersive educational experiences and situational learning opportunities could be available on a whim and at the touch of a button.
NEXT STOP? YOUR BRAIN
Though it may seem farfetched, it is possible that smartphones as we know them today may cease to exist in 20 years. Glasses-like headsets and contact lenses that take the place of traditional screens are already being tested, and pocket devices that project images in front of the eyes are not too far in the future. Nanobatteries, low-power computer chips, and 5G technology will enable a quantum leap in the size, speed, and power of devices.
But if you believe the predictions of visionaries like Elon Musk, smartphones may one day be eliminated entirely. In April 2017, Musk announced his latest venture, called Neuralink, which aims to facilitate direct communication between brain and computer. In theory, the technology could, for instance, permit direct remote communication between individuals or allow users to build neural relationships with vast quantities of data through a cranial implant or a tiny external device.
Given this futuristic depiction of human–computer amalgamation, it is understandable that many consumers might be intimidated or downright scared of these advances. Still, Oliveira believes that humans are infinitely adaptable. He says that when it comes to these technologies, people “should not be afraid of what’s next, and should embrace it.” After all, it was a mere 20 years ago that brand-new “banana” phones were dumb, clunky beasts. Why shouldn’t you be able to tap your head and speak device-free to a friend halfway around the planet 20 years from now?
5G technology is expected to become available to consumers in 2020, but it will undergo a test run of sorts at next year’s Winter Olympics in South Korea.
The Smartphone Future: Better, Best, Obsolete?
Smartphone capability is growing by leaps and bounds. Will the technology become so advanced one day that the smartphone itself will cease to exist?
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