A world in your pocket
It’s the tenth anniversary of the mass market breakthrough of smartphones. And it isn’t just technology that has seen rapid developments since - both our private and work lives have been changed irreversibly since the dawn of the ‘pocket computer’.
“An iPod, a phone, an Internet communicator!” As Steve jobs repeated this mantra on January 9, 2007, the audience broke into raucous celebration. They understood immediately that Apple’s founder was not talking about three separate devices, as initially announced, but of a single device. The iPhone was born.
‘PDA’ market leader Palm upgraded its devices with mobile network connections relatively late. The Treo 650 (2004) cost 730 euros and featured a GPRS data connection with a maximum download speed of 85kbit/s
2017 marks the tenth anniversary of this landmark occasion. In fact, smartphones had been around a few years longer. Nokia, Palm, Blackberry, HP, and others had developed them as niche products in the years leading up to 2007. But it was Apple that made the digital multi tool mainstream.
Android arrives a little later
Apple was presented with a major competitor when Google entered the market with Android OS, eighteen months after Steve Jobs’ historic announcement. Currently, the availability of Android’s operating system has allowed it to outstrip Apple in terms of units sold.
Before the smartphone, we arranged meetings for a fixed location at a set time
One thing can be said of Apple and Google in equal measure: over the last ten years, their touchscreen based phones have had a massive effect on virtually all areas of life. Before the smartphone, we arranged meetings for a fixed location at a set time. Nowadays, friends send an instant message or call each other to decide where and when to meet. Opening times, free parking spaces, restaurant reservations, price comparisons: for nearly every activity and every need, there is a smartphone app.
European users had to wait until late 2007 for the much anticipated iPhone. Prices went up as high as 600 euros depending on tariffs. The first iPhone did not have UMTS, and the App store did not even exist yet
Only a few years ago, business travelers hunted for WiFi spots to send emails or connect to central company servers. Now, they can answer their colleagues anywhere on the planet in seconds. Connected navigation systems with precise traffic reports are no longer reserved for top-of-the range luxury cars.
Only a few years ago, business travelers hunted for WiFi spots to send emails or connect to central company servers. Now, they can answer their colleagues anywhere on the planet in seconds. Connected navigation systems with precise traffic reports are no longer reserved for top-of-the range luxury cars.
With a smartphone holder and a charging cable, these functions become available in even the smallest of cars. And streaming technology means you can listen to music, watch video clips, or even entire TV shows on your smartphone, wherever you are.
Smombies, souls who wander the planet like the undead, clinging to their phones
The rise of the smartphone has its downsides. It’s not just car drivers who respond to messages and check their Facebook feeds while driving. Even pedestrians spend too much time with their eyes glued to their screens. Kids have coined a term for this phenomenon already: ‘Smombies’, or smartphone zombies are souls who wander the planet like the undead, as their attention is entirely consumed by their phones.
Google didn’t just sell Android (by 2011 in version 2.1) via third-party manufacturers, but also began marketing its own ‘Nexus’ series from 2010 onwards. The HTC-built devices were crammed with the latest technology and cost around 400 euros
Heads down generation
Others talk of the ‘heads down generation’. One thing is sure: when drivers and pedestrians are more focused on their displays than traffic, accidents are inevitable. In 2016, a study in the USA found that only grasping for your phone while driving raised the risk of an accident by around 500 percent; reading and writing messages increased it by 1,000 percent. DEKRA Accident Research observed the ‘smombie’ trend in six European capitals. ‘Smombie capital’ was Stockholm, where 23.6 percent of people were observed using their phone while walking, followed by Berlin with 14.9 per cent.
40 times the processing power in 10 years
Changes to usage behavior — both the positive and the negative — are not the only consequence of the ten year smartphone boom. The high performing mobile computers have become such a staple of daily life, that the immense technological development is easy to overlook. But the new iPhone 7 has forty times more processing power than its ancient ancestor of 2007.
After a short-lived joint venture with Ericsson, Sony decided to forge its own path in the mobile phone world again from 2012 onwards. One of the first purely Sony-branded products was the 400 euro Android smartphone Xperia S
At approximately 87 billion calculations per second — otherwise known as gigaflops — it outstrips the 1985 supercomputer “Cray 2” by a factor of 45. While the original iPhone had an internal storage capacity of 16 GB, the largest current variant of the iPhone boasts 256 GB: enough for even the most prolific smartphone user’s photos, videos, and music.
At approximately 87 billion calculations per second — otherwise known as gigaflops — it outstrips the 1985 supercomputer “Cray 2” by a factor of 45. While the original iPhone had an internal storage capacity of 16 GB, the largest current variant of the iPhone boasts 256 GB: enough for even the most prolific smartphone user’s photos, videos, and music.
The camera has developed from two to twelve megapixels. A plethora of technical improvements including image stabilization, multi color flash, and additional lenses provide brilliant image quality. Apple has announced that fall 2018 will see a tenth iPhone. It promises to set new records in a variety of technological areas.
The culmination of the arms race in screen size, features, and processing power: the Galaxy S8+, released in April 2017 (from 900 euros) has a 6.2 inch display in a 18.5:9 screen ratio that covers almost the entire front of the phone
How smart will our phones get?
Calling, surfing, and listening to music. That’s how it began. Nowadays, phones replace cameras, deliver ready-made photo albums, and act as pocket cinemas. Business users rely on them as a portable office. The next step will be developing their assistance functions. Preferences, interests and behavioral habits will be coupled with dates and relevant information to formulate viable suggestions.
Artificial intelligence is turning voice commands into an increasingly realistic verbal exchange. The price for this service is deep insights into one’s personal and private data. Industry experts note signs of disintegration of the smartphone as we know it. In the future, connected independent components, like bioptics, could take the smartphone’s place. Think of a display lasered straight into the user’s eye with a smartwatch as the main hub, with other bio sensors incorporated into jewelry like rings, necklaces, and bracelets.
