Where next for high end mobiles?
Discussion
I'd like to see water-tolerant screens.
My Xperia Z3 is waterproof, which theoretically should mean it's great for using as a hand-held or handlebar-mounted satnav/bike computer in the rain, but unfortunately whilst the rain won't get in and damage it, it sends the phone mental when it starts raining, because it thinks all the raindrops are you trying to tap the screen!
My Xperia Z3 is waterproof, which theoretically should mean it's great for using as a hand-held or handlebar-mounted satnav/bike computer in the rain, but unfortunately whilst the rain won't get in and damage it, it sends the phone mental when it starts raining, because it thinks all the raindrops are you trying to tap the screen!
[quote=Russ35]Se we've just had the reveal of the latest Samsung Galaxy phone which didn't bring anything major/amazing. Looks like an upgrade to the S7 Edge. For the record I'm a MS mobile user.
The only thing I saw on the video presentation that I think was a first to the market was facial recognition. IRIS recognition Microsoft Mobile have had for 18mnths as well as Continuum which is the same as Samsung DeX.
The latest Iphone didn't bring anything ground breaking apart from something fancy with the camera.
Microsoft haven't released a new phone for 18mnths and I believe have actually got rid of the mobile hardware side and put it under the Surface division.
MS seem to want to try and get full Windows on a mobile. You can already get stick PC's that fit in the palm of your hand. They have also recently been granted a patent on a designs for joining multiple displays, so are they looking at a folding phone?
So what do we expect to see as the next major step in high end mobiles?
I'm also MS mobile user after 6 years of Apple phones. I'm Continuum heavy user and i use my computer only when i'm playing big games, like Elite: Dangerous. I do everything else in my phone, usually in Continuum mode but i also use my phone as a tablet. We have an ipad too, but i don't use it anymore. My phone is HP Elite X3, so it is quite big phone with good hardware and battery life.
What is the next big step? MS brings x32 softwares to mobile. I believe that high end mobiles are going to be a "x3" phones. ie you can replace your laptop and tablet with a phone. You can do almost everything with your phone in a very close future: using AutoCad, MS OFFICE, 3D modelling etc. Powerful PC's will stay, because virtual reality and gaming needs a lot of computational power.
I'm not sure does Apple want this tho... They want to sell you all of their product range: phone, ipad, laptop and iMac.
The only thing I saw on the video presentation that I think was a first to the market was facial recognition. IRIS recognition Microsoft Mobile have had for 18mnths as well as Continuum which is the same as Samsung DeX.
The latest Iphone didn't bring anything ground breaking apart from something fancy with the camera.
Microsoft haven't released a new phone for 18mnths and I believe have actually got rid of the mobile hardware side and put it under the Surface division.
MS seem to want to try and get full Windows on a mobile. You can already get stick PC's that fit in the palm of your hand. They have also recently been granted a patent on a designs for joining multiple displays, so are they looking at a folding phone?
So what do we expect to see as the next major step in high end mobiles?
I'm also MS mobile user after 6 years of Apple phones. I'm Continuum heavy user and i use my computer only when i'm playing big games, like Elite: Dangerous. I do everything else in my phone, usually in Continuum mode but i also use my phone as a tablet. We have an ipad too, but i don't use it anymore. My phone is HP Elite X3, so it is quite big phone with good hardware and battery life.
What is the next big step? MS brings x32 softwares to mobile. I believe that high end mobiles are going to be a "x3" phones. ie you can replace your laptop and tablet with a phone. You can do almost everything with your phone in a very close future: using AutoCad, MS OFFICE, 3D modelling etc. Powerful PC's will stay, because virtual reality and gaming needs a lot of computational power.
I'm not sure does Apple want this tho... They want to sell you all of their product range: phone, ipad, laptop and iMac.
The only hope for MS I think is if they/or another hardware company announce something running win10 that is a game changer. Something that will make the app developers believe that it will get marker share, so making it worth their time and money doing a win10 app.
But the billion £ question is what could they reveal? A device running full win10, good for the business user, but for the every day user not much point. A folding phone or a phone where you could attach a second screen giving a bigger screen might do it, would be good if your using it to do a lot of internet, games, video.
Personally I would like to see someone forget about trying to make every phone update thinner and somebody actually make a phone a little thicker so that they could put a bigger battery in it.
But the billion £ question is what could they reveal? A device running full win10, good for the business user, but for the every day user not much point. A folding phone or a phone where you could attach a second screen giving a bigger screen might do it, would be good if your using it to do a lot of internet, games, video.
Personally I would like to see someone forget about trying to make every phone update thinner and somebody actually make a phone a little thicker so that they could put a bigger battery in it.
PH XKR said:
I predict the next big step being a huge uptake of MS phone as an O/S.
For a UI it is fantastic and seem less integration with home/office. The current drawback is app support but that's going to change thanks to their unified app platform. That said, I don't count a lack of thousands of s
te apps as a issue.
I've been a windows phone convert for 3 years, it really is a revelation for usability and battery charge.
So. Next big thing will be Windows Phone.
The unified apps have been around since W8.1. And it still hasn't happened. My Lumia 930 is by far and away my favourite device. OS is smooth, overall operation is excellent. But the lack of apps is a real problem.For a UI it is fantastic and seem less integration with home/office. The current drawback is app support but that's going to change thanks to their unified app platform. That said, I don't count a lack of thousands of s
te apps as a issue.I've been a windows phone convert for 3 years, it really is a revelation for usability and battery charge.
So. Next big thing will be Windows Phone.
The majority of kids/younger people who rely on a variety of apps just can't consider W10M, as the apps that they use aren't available on Windows. Coupled with the complete lack of devices in the high street, MS have effectively given up on the platform.
Continuum/DeX are just a gimmick. High end mobiles are purely high end based on pricing. The spec difference/experience between a £150 phone and one costing over £600 is minimal. Sure, the cameras are slightly better, but only slightly better. And they're faster, but that doesn't make much difference to most tasks.
And the cameras on all of these "high end" devices still don't come close to the overall capability of my old Nokia 808.
FlossyThePig said:
The iPhone 7 supposedly lets you take 4k video, now. What's the point as a lot of people use moron mode, holding the phone vertically, shooting videos in portrait rather than landscape.
Perhaps new high end phones will record landscape video no matter which way the phone is held.
I'm not sure why you'd view that as moron mode? You're putting on blinkers by thinking of only showing video on a TV or monitor fixed in a landscape position. If you're taking video which is most likely going to be viewed on phones or tablets, then moron mode would be filming something in landscape mode when there's much more you want to capture vertically rather than horizontally, such as anything from filming a stand up act through to filming a ski jumper or a waterfall.Perhaps new high end phones will record landscape video no matter which way the phone is held.
Granted, you might question whether you'll actually gain much benefit from playing back 4K video on a tablet, but it's not as though you can't get that sort of resolution in a tablet now, is it?
The only daft bit about it really is selling it as 4K, when that is really only relevant to TV screens.
Kermit power said:
FlossyThePig said:
The iPhone 7 supposedly lets you take 4k video, now. What's the point as a lot of people use moron mode, holding the phone vertically, shooting videos in portrait rather than landscape.
Perhaps new high end phones will record landscape video no matter which way the phone is held.
I'm not sure why you'd view that as moron mode? You're putting on blinkers by thinking of only showing video on a TV or monitor fixed in a landscape position. If you're taking video which is most likely going to be viewed on phones or tablets, then moron mode would be filming something in landscape mode when there's much more you want to capture vertically rather than horizontally, such as anything from filming a stand up act through to filming a ski jumper or a waterfall.Perhaps new high end phones will record landscape video no matter which way the phone is held.
Granted, you might question whether you'll actually gain much benefit from playing back 4K video on a tablet, but it's not as though you can't get that sort of resolution in a tablet now, is it?
The only daft bit about it really is selling it as 4K, when that is really only relevant to TV screens.
Notified today there was a video of my daughter singing from her class, taken by the teacher, a long line of kids singing and it's all shot in portrait, so the teacher is scanning from side to side to get everyone in the shot. It's five minutes long, and I can't watch it.
Videos should be shot in landscape rather than portrait unless specifically selected.
onlynik said:
Kermit power said:
FlossyThePig said:
The iPhone 7 supposedly lets you take 4k video, now. What's the point as a lot of people use moron mode, holding the phone vertically, shooting videos in portrait rather than landscape.
Perhaps new high end phones will record landscape video no matter which way the phone is held.
I'm not sure why you'd view that as moron mode? You're putting on blinkers by thinking of only showing video on a TV or monitor fixed in a landscape position. If you're taking video which is most likely going to be viewed on phones or tablets, then moron mode would be filming something in landscape mode when there's much more you want to capture vertically rather than horizontally, such as anything from filming a stand up act through to filming a ski jumper or a waterfall.Perhaps new high end phones will record landscape video no matter which way the phone is held.
Granted, you might question whether you'll actually gain much benefit from playing back 4K video on a tablet, but it's not as though you can't get that sort of resolution in a tablet now, is it?
The only daft bit about it really is selling it as 4K, when that is really only relevant to TV screens.
Notified today there was a video of my daughter singing from her class, taken by the teacher, a long line of kids singing and it's all shot in portrait, so the teacher is scanning from side to side to get everyone in the shot. It's five minutes long, and I can't watch it.
Videos should be shot in landscape rather than portrait unless specifically selected.
You've given one example where it was indeed stupid to film in portrait mode, but it would be equally stupid for your daughter's teacher to film in landscape mode if she wanted to film all the kids waving from a staircase on a school outing to a castle or somesuch.
At present I don't think the phone as computer thing will catch on. You need a keyboard, mouse and docking station to carry around for this. If you need to carry that around, why not carry a laptop?
Maybe in the future it could work with universal connections between normal PC's and phones but at present I think we're a little way off.
Maybe in the future it could work with universal connections between normal PC's and phones but at present I think we're a little way off.
Vipers said:
Is the new Samsung the one advertised on telly switching on at -20c, can't believe a battery would work at that temperature after too long, maybe a bit misleading.
As far as I know, reduce the temperature, sort of drains the battery. Or have they overcome that now?
That's the S7 Edge (previous one)As far as I know, reduce the temperature, sort of drains the battery. Or have they overcome that now?
Kermit power said:
onlynik said:
Kermit power said:
FlossyThePig said:
The iPhone 7 supposedly lets you take 4k video, now. What's the point as a lot of people use moron mode, holding the phone vertically, shooting videos in portrait rather than landscape.
Perhaps new high end phones will record landscape video no matter which way the phone is held.
I'm not sure why you'd view that as moron mode? You're putting on blinkers by thinking of only showing video on a TV or monitor fixed in a landscape position. If you're taking video which is most likely going to be viewed on phones or tablets, then moron mode would be filming something in landscape mode when there's much more you want to capture vertically rather than horizontally, such as anything from filming a stand up act through to filming a ski jumper or a waterfall.Perhaps new high end phones will record landscape video no matter which way the phone is held.
Granted, you might question whether you'll actually gain much benefit from playing back 4K video on a tablet, but it's not as though you can't get that sort of resolution in a tablet now, is it?
The only daft bit about it really is selling it as 4K, when that is really only relevant to TV screens.
Notified today there was a video of my daughter singing from her class, taken by the teacher, a long line of kids singing and it's all shot in portrait, so the teacher is scanning from side to side to get everyone in the shot. It's five minutes long, and I can't watch it.
Videos should be shot in landscape rather than portrait unless specifically selected.
You've given one example where it was indeed stupid to film in portrait mode, but it would be equally stupid for your daughter's teacher to film in landscape mode if she wanted to film all the kids waving from a staircase on a school outing to a castle or somesuch.
Interesting question... Let's assume the following - everyone who works needs a "computer", whatever that might look like. Emails, documents, presentations, and so on. We also need a phone, some way of connecting to the internet, etc. Phones have already converged with MP3 players, digital cameras and so on, and I see no reason why they shouldn't replace desktop / laptop computers in the fullness of time. However, in order to do that you'd need:
1. Much better battery life.
2. Better input options.
3. Full sized screen.
These could be solved just by having a desktop cradle that you'd slot the phone into, and it would take power, keyboard, monitor, etc. However, you're not really seeing the full benefit until you can really do this when mobile too, so some sort of virtual screen / google glass style display is going to be needed at the very least.
So, I think the mobile phone will eventually be the computer - why wouldn't it be? My iPad has already replaced my home computer for nearly everything I used to use it for, except when I have to type a lot. The reason the phone hasn't (yet) is that the screen is too small and keyboard is too fiddly, and the battery isn't up to it - fix those issues, and you're all set.
1. Much better battery life.
2. Better input options.
3. Full sized screen.
These could be solved just by having a desktop cradle that you'd slot the phone into, and it would take power, keyboard, monitor, etc. However, you're not really seeing the full benefit until you can really do this when mobile too, so some sort of virtual screen / google glass style display is going to be needed at the very least.
So, I think the mobile phone will eventually be the computer - why wouldn't it be? My iPad has already replaced my home computer for nearly everything I used to use it for, except when I have to type a lot. The reason the phone hasn't (yet) is that the screen is too small and keyboard is too fiddly, and the battery isn't up to it - fix those issues, and you're all set.
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