Smart Phones: The Next Wave

By Bill Cherry
With communication technology exploding, it’s hard to predict what kind of electronic communication products will exist in five years. But one thing is for certain, the rapid technology convergence will continue.
Currently small light weight hand held devises can receive e-mail, text messaging, access the Internet, do word processing, editing, and run several programs. However one thing these hand held devices will soon be able to do is run PowerPoint needed for business travelers. Within two years the market will see the emergence into smart phones. By early 2009 manufactures will begin rolling out hand held devices with VGA output ports for connections to projectors. This will make it lighter and easier for business travelers to make presentations with compact devises.
We will see mobile laptops and smart phones that are smaller and lighter replacing today’s laptops. In fact, we will see the development of the “ultra mobile� PC which will be smaller, and lighter than PCs used today. Besides the smaller and lighter features of the smart phones, they will boot up immediately. Manufacturers are currently testing a smart phone with the display larger than the typical cell phone, but smaller than the smallest laptop.
 Consumer demand will continue to create rapid development of hand held devices and smart phones, while marketing and manufacturing lag behind the rapidly developing technology. Now all we need is a smart phone with a six  megapixel camera.