The NEW iPhone 4G?
2010 was a year of innovation. Not only did it dictate what will happen in 2011, but it sparked a new movement in mobile devices and technology overall.
Here are a few of what, I predict, 2011 may be the year of:
4G Network
2010 was the birth of 4G. 2011 WILL BE the year of 4G (although the very definition of 4G is questionable).
Sprint has just started rolling out its 4G network in July of 2010 to some US cities. By 2011 and on to 2012, Sprint will have covered the US. Verizon and T-Mobile has just launched its 4G Network and AT&T should soon follow. 4G should be available to most consumers by the second half of 2011.
Tablet/Slate PCs
Apple conquered the tablet market in much of 2010 due to its iPad. 2011 will have been the other tablet companies’ time to catch up. Although I believe the iPad will still conquer the tablet world in much of 2011 due to its upcoming iPad 2, I’m sure that other companies would soon pick up their slack and truly create a revolutionary tablet of their own.
Solid State Drives (SSD)
The price-point of a decent sized SSD have always driven consumers away from actually buying them. If only you have the cash to burn and the openness to tiny drive spaces would you be willing to buy one at such a ridiculously high price.
SSD does have its benefits: faster speed, no moving parts, cooler than a hard drive and most importantly less power consumption. What it lacks is capacity and price.
With the recent introduction of Apple’s MacBook Air 2, 2011 may just be the year the SSDs would flourish and platter hard drives would be the CD of the DVD-era.
Cloud Computing/Cloud Storage
As we’ve seen with the Chrome OS, I predict 2011 will be the year of cloud computing. People will not be tethered to their files on their physical hard drives anymore but by working “in the cloud”, people are able to access their documents anywhere and everywhere they please.
Wireless Everything
From TVs to cars, I predict 2011 would become the year of true wireless freedom!
TVs would be able to stream content from computers to set-top boxes and gaming systems.
Cellphones will have the ability to sync and charge wirelessly.
Cars will have integrated syncing controls (I know this is a long shot, but hey, what the heck?)
- Some higher end cars will have a charging cup/holder where you just place your phone in the cup and off it charges, syncs with your car and talks to your car.
- When I say talks to your car, your car continually evaluates itself and sends that data to your phone so you can review it at a later date to see how your car is doing.
- Most if not all cars will have a bluetooth function. I strongly believe all cars should have this safety feature. Not only bluetooth for calling but also for texting. Your car would read the text aloud to you… or not (if you choose to decline it) and if you want, you can reply with a voice message. Not only will that feature be a convenience to its consumers but also a safety feature for those pesky texting while driving people.
Charging. Gone are the days of mangled wires of phone chargers. You would simply drop your device on to a mat and it will charge without a cord. I want to see wireless TV sets – ones that you won’t have to plug-in!
In about a month, the iPad(2) will be announced. Here are a couple of things that we might be expecting from the announcement:
Dimensions:
Depth: 0.25-0.28″
Height: 9.5-9.56″
Width: 7.3″-7.4″
Display:
Retina Display
9.7″ (diagonal)
2529 -by-1897 pixel resolution at 326 ppi
Capacity:
32 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB flash drive
Processor:
2.1 GHz Apple A8 custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip
Sensors:
Accelerometer
Ambient Light Sensor
Gyroscope
Input and Output:
Dock Connector Port
3.5-mm Stereo Headphone Jack
Built-In Speaker
Microphone (One up top and another at the bottom for noise canceling)
Camera, Photos and Video:
Video recording, HD (720p) with audio
24p, 30p, and 60 fps Recording Modes
One front-facing camera (3-megapixels or VGA)
One rear-facing camera (5-megapixels)
Tap to focus on still and video
Photo and Video Geotagging
Still Image Facial Recognition
Which ones of my renderings do you think will most likely be the updated iPad? Version 1 (the iPod touch-esque one) or Version 2 (the iPhone 4-esque one)?
Hit me up with your comments below!
As the next Apple product comes up in the upcoming WWDC on June 7th (erm, supposedly “new” iPhone announcement date) certain things come to mind as to what the next “one more thing” Apple might throw at us.
Here are a couple suggestions as to what it may be. (though I admit some of them are pretty far off, Im just putting it out there)
1. Apple TV with Bluray player complete with “on the cloud” access to certain materials.
2. An online iTunes wherein users can access their music, video, and pictures on the cloud anywhere and everywhere you are (as long as you have an internet connection).
3. The Mail.app is no longer a local app. As we saw in the MobileMe Beta, everything will be integrated online.
4. Wireless streaming to any iPod Touch, iPad, and iPhone through an Ad Hoc connection to the computer host or through the previously suggested online version of iTunes.
5. Wireless streaming music from iPod Touch, iPad and iPhone to AirTunes.

6. A touch screen Mac. (the iPad doesn’t count. it’s a portable device, not a full computer).

7. Facebook integration to the iPod Touch, iPad and iPhone Photos app. Or flickr.
8. An online version of the Mac OS X. “In the cloud” Operating System.
9. Virtual Desktop built in to Mobile Me.
10. A new mighty mouse/magic mouse.
11. Wireless desktop streaming from your Mac to the Apple TV.
12. Apple TV supporting apps. Though it may come as close when they release the supposedly iPhone OS running AppleTV.
13. iPad versions of MobileMe iDisk, Calculator, Clock (complete with stopwatch, timer and alarm), Weather and Stocks. (though it may be too early for that).
14. iPod Touch, iPad and iPhone versions of iMovie and iPhoto? (one where you can edit stuff and upload them to the web or the “in the cloud” storage.
15. An updated AirPort family.
16. iPad demo version of Facebook integrated to the apps?
17. iPhone OS going more social? Like a universal setting for sharing content?
18. The upcoming iTicket system?
19. A stylus for the iDevices complete with pressure sensitivity.
20. As I said before, the AppleTV will feature apps that are playable on the device with the help of a universal controller or the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad. Just think a bigger version of the apps on your flat screen TV?
21. An iPad Phone system?
22. iPhone tethering wirelessly through bluetooth, wifi or USB or a cord that connects from the 30-pin connector to the Ethernet port on the Mac.
23. An Apple Digital camera/camcorder.
24. An Apple wireless webcam that’s bluetooth compatible and is available for the iPad, Mac, iPhone and iPod Touch.
25. AppleTV as an iPhone app? Seems very likely.
After brainstorming some ideas on what game to create for the iPhone/iPod touch/iPad, I came to the dilemma of having most of my ideas either taken from another game or something that sounds a lot like their original counterparts.
First game for the iPad is Finger Twister. The iPad selects the user to put whatever finger on whatever color on the iPad but the user must keep his fingers on the iPad or else he looses the game. One twist would be to do a timed session, where the user is given only a couple seconds to react.
Next is Monopoly. With the iPhone/iPod Touch support where you can sync the iPhone/iPod Touch to the iPad through WiFi or Bluetooth wherein you can keep track of your expenses, cards and owned land. The iPad takes care of the “banker” role and does the transactions that way and sends it to the appropriate user whoever you’re “renting” to to pass by.
Apples to Apples is next with the same iPhone/iPod Touch support. The “it” person would simply tap the green car in the middle to reveal the word and the rest of the users would simply flick their best cards from their iPhones/iPod Touches. The “it” person would then reveal the cards one at a time and maybe a button to choose which card fits best. One feature could be to have the “it”‘s word card’s definitions float across the screen while everyone’s deciding on which card to use.
Risk would be an awesome iPad game… think about it, shake the iPad to roll the dice, and tap and drag to move your soldiers.
A simple game show game: Deal Or No Deal, Wheel Of Fortune, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, 1 VS 100, Jeopardy, ETC. (with iPhone/iPod Touch support to submit their answers), would also look awesome on the iPad.
You’d think they’ve started making these, huh? I wish to see more games like these that integrate the iDevices features in the future.
So… Is there a game that you would like to see on the iPad?