Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles Wow, just think about it! Only 10 years ago, cell phones were equipped with a measly 5-megapixel camera, a low screen resolution, and 3G Internet. Blew our minds back then, but now they’re all considered ancient relics compared to what we have today. So wait, how awesome will our phones be in 10 years’ time? Well let’s see… You had a hard day at work, don’t feel like cooking, so you decide to order out. You pull your phone out while a driverless taxi takes you home. Your device has some similarities with a standard model from 2020. It's thin and has a large screen. But as soon as you look at it, internal motion sensors with a hidden 36-megapixel dual camera catch your eyes’ direction and turn on the phone. It’s also completely transparent – you see your hand clearly through the phone's body. Yet it still displays all the necessary icons and widgets: time, weather, texts, calls, etc. You choose the delivery function from your favorite nearby restaurant, and the food will be there in 10 minutes. Not only can you see the delivery person moving on the map, but you can also watch them through the built-in camera installed on their scooter. No stealing a fry or two from your food! You ask the taxi how much further it’ll be. The pleasant voice of the A.I. answers, “Just 5 more minutes!” You decide to play a mobile game to pass the time. You open the phone like a book. Now it looks like a small tablet. The graphics in the game are so cool that it seems like you’re watching a video of a real race. You steer the car and get so worked up that you bend the phone. But the screen is okay and keeps showing that clear image. Phones with a flexible screen and battery were introduced back in 2018. Developers' attempts to make the screen larger will lead to it occupying 100% of the phone space in the future. You can watch movies and videos from this portable TV screen anywhere! The taxi pulls up to your house. You exit the game. But you don't swipe across the screen to do it – you just swipe your finger through the air. The camera reads this and closes the app. Then you fold the tablet back into a phone and bend it around your wrist like a bracelet. With this bracelet, you walk up to your house and say, "Open the front door." The phone reads your voice, face, and eye color, and you’re home sweet home! A flexible bracelet-phone isn’t the only cool gadget that may appear in the next 10 years. The development of tiny elastic smart bracelets has already started. You just wear it on your wrist, and the bracelet creates a hologram of your phone’s interface. You can manipulate this interface with your fingers, watch videos, text, make calls. It’s like a phone screen on your forearm! There are only two problems that could prevent you – er, this 2030 version of you – from having such a cool hologram phone bracelet: a small flexible battery that can hold a long enough charge and high-quality hologram that could read your commands. If it appears by 2030, then it might only perform the functions of ordinary fitness bracelets, no more. Well, be patient – they’re working on it! You put your see-through phone on a wireless charger. And this one, unlike the 2020 chargers, juices your device up much faster. In 10 minutes, you’re already up to 100%. And this battery can easily hold a charge for 2 days. Also, some modern gadgets have a built-in function to charge using solar energy, but they aren’t that good, especially in places where sunshine isn't as bright or frequent. Charging by friction with your body will begin to gain popularity. A kind of kinetic energy. Rub the back, and you’re good to go! The pizza is already here! As you’re elbows-deep in pepperoni and cheese, you get a notification on your phone. Without touching it with your greasy fingers, you open your message with a hand gesture. A hologram with an 8K video appears instantly above the phone and shows a message. Your friends are at a party, and they can’t wait for you to get there! Hurry up! You promise to come soon. These phones don’t struggle to load such high-quality videos in seconds. It’s not because Wi-Fi is now available anywhere in the world (though, that’s nice!). It’s that you have a new type of mobile data. But first, a refresher! 1G connection with a speed of 1.9 kilobits/sec appeared in the ‘80s. In 1991, we saw 2G with a speed of approximately 9-14 kilobits. In 2002, we got 3G with a transfer rate of up to 3.4 megabits. Starting in 2008, 4G gave us 1 gigabit. In 2018, 5G came around with its 6.5 gigabits/sec. Mobile data improves every 8-10 years. So 6G should be expected in 2030, and the data transfer rate will increase to 1 terabit/second. That would be like downloading 250 movies in one second! And watching your favorite shows and flicks will be like looking out the window. The picture quality might even be better than reality! But…could your phone even hold that much data? Sure can! Two words: cloud storage. In 10 years, it’ll be more, with almost unlimited memory. But flashcards and internal phone memory will change too. Scientists have already created 5D discs. These are small thin transparent discs that can withstand fire and ice and store 360 terabytes of data for billions of years! Such discs will become as commonplace as regular flash drives in the nearest future and will be embedded in smartphones. You grab another autotaxi to your friends’ party and watch a beautiful sunset outside the window. You get your phone, turn on the camera, and do 100x zoom. The camera shows you a crystal clear image. You clearly see a flock of birds flying toward the departing sun. You see their beaks and the color of their feathers glistening. The phone immediately gives you a notification: "This is a common pigeon." “Still beautiful to me,” you think, and snap a picture weighing 5 gigabytes and upload it to your social media. All within seconds, of course! You’re checking for Likes when you feel the taxi come to a sudden stop. A.I. informs you that there’s a problem with the engine, and the repair service will be there soon. But you don’t have time for this! You do have the tools for it, though – right in the palm of your hand! Or around your wrist… It’s your phone. You get out of the car, open the hood, and see what's inside. Engine, wires, shiny things - nothing is clear. You go into the app with augmented reality and point the camera at the inside of the car. The app carries out diagnostics and indicates to you the broken part of the machine through the screen. It shows how to fix it too. Fortunately, the problem isn't serious, and you repair the engine manually. In 2020, augmented reality apps help us choose furniture, clothes, designs. You can get good advice and recommendations on repairing and decorating an apartment just using your phone. In the future, this function will develop constantly. You can use your phone in all areas. Starting with fixing a car or some electrical kitchen appliance, ending with an external medical analysis of the body. You get back in the taxi and finally arrive at the party. Music, drinks, food, a little fountain in the yard. Wait, that’s Bobby posing with a garden hose. Ha. The house is full of happy people… but all of them are staring at their phones. They’re texting, taking and liking photos, scrolling feeds. Nobody’s talking to each other. You recall how good it was in 2020 when there were no transparent screens or unlimited Internet speed. When the battery would drain after a few hours and there was much less dependence on gadgets. After a few seconds of nostalgia, you go on your phone to chat with your friends… But, you can’t help wondering… how will gadgets develop further? What will this party look like in, say, 2050? Most likely, humanity will completely get away from phones. All the functions of the smartphone will be built into ultra-thin lenses controlled by the power of thought. Virtual will mix completely with reality, and artificial intelligence will be able to replace a real person in communication and, quite possibly, will become your best friend! And I’ll be out of a job. It’s a strange thought. I guess we’ll have to wait and see! Hey, if you learned something new today, then give the video a like and share it with a friend! And here are some other cool videos I think you'll enjoy. Just click to the left or right, and stay on the Bright Side of life!
B1 BRIGHTSIDE bracelet screen hologram taxi camera Here's Your Smartphone in 2030 6 0 林宜悉 posted on 2020/03/07 More Share Save Report Video vocabulary