Some say that the iPhone changed how people interact with their mobile phones, and for the most part it’s been a change for the better since touch has paved the way for simpler user interfaces, but one thing we all hate, regardless of which platform we use, is the crap that our screen accumulates over time. Technology has been helping to solve the issue, starting with the oleophobic coating on the iPhone 3GS back in 2009, but the smudge factor is still a problem even in today’s advanced smartphones. This is where Nokia comes in. Their Research Center in Cambridge is working on creating a “super hydrophobic” coating that literally makes water bounce off a screen. Nokia says that this coating could also be used on the inside of a device, so that should your smartphone fall in the toilet you’ll be good to go to take it out, wash it off, and start making calls on it again.
Better research will hopefully, someday, solve the fingerprint issue, but what we really want to see addressed is battery life. Now yes, smartphones are infinitely more capable than their dumbphone counterparts, but that still doesn’t explain why some of Nokia’s dumb phones last for over a month on standby while the equivalent smartphone needs to be plugged in on a daily basis, otherwise it refuses to live. We need to see breakthroughs happen in energy density, the time it takes to charge a battery, and reduce power consumption. As we move to smaller transistors next year that’ll certainly help things, but we also need to see breakthroughs in displays. They eat up far too much power, even the newer organic models since they need to operate at full blast to render white.
Baby steps, but we’ll get there eventually, you just wait and see!