The Future Of Consumer Electronics
With the world getting ever more hi-tech and going digital with each passing day, consumer electronics are starting to become more and more like the gadgets predicted in many science fiction movies a decade or two ago. PC World looks at the future of home consumer electronics and sees an interesting future continuing the trend towards hybrid products rather than standalone devices.
However, while the vision is there, the issue of powering such gadgets remain problematic. Despite concepts based on nanotechnology that use solar energy for power, the consensus appears to be that traditional batteries are here to stay for some time yet.
Our digital future may offer do-it-all devices that are nonetheless simple to use; batteries that can be recharged on the fly, perhaps wirelessly; and tech gadgets that resemble nothing available today, say some of the experts who will be developing it.
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Chief among the challenges: building ever-smaller devices that still have long battery life, and crafting simple gadgets that have sufficient features.
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Interestingly, that idea of a “simpler” device was also heralded by Geoffery Frost, Motorola’s chief brand officer, who illustrated his point with a New Yorker cartoon. In it, a man asks a store clerk if he sells any phones that make phone calls. Frost then showed the audience a phone that does a whole lot more: the Motorola E398.
The phone includes an MP3 player with stereo surround sound speakers, an integrated camera, and removable flash memory–and it makes phone calls. Announced in March, the phone is expected to ship this summer.
“The device formerly known as the cell phone is the device you should never leave home without,” Frost said. “It’s the number one icon of self-expression. It’s the number one device people take with them when they leave home, not their car keys or their wallets. Although soon, it will also be your car keys and your wallet.”
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How will we power these devices of the future? “Users don’t want to think about power. They want a device they can use whenever they want, for as long as they want,” said Dave DeMuro, manager of advanced development in Motorola’s energy systems group, on this topic.
Despite recent talk about advances in fuel cells as a potential power source for portable devices, DeMuro suggests “batteries are here to stay for the foreseeable future.”
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