What To Expect From Smartphones In 2018
The smartphone industry witnessed an exciting year in 2017. The year is not yet over and we have already had an enticing indication at the future of smartphones. The year saw smartphones updated with more user friendly operating systems and mobile manufacturers launching Full Screen Smartphones. AR and AI technology obtain high attention. Such wonderful tech enables us to live much more conveniently. So what will be the top features to expect from the phones in the year 2018.
Under-screen Fingerprint Scanning: This year, several mobile companies unveiled their products with a full screen. However, having a real all-screen experience means no home button or fingerprint scanner on the front. Some brands replaced the Touch ID with Face ID while some moved the fingerprint scanner to the rear of the phone. In 2018 we will see many manufacturers working on developing a Fingerprint Sensor under the screen. This technology is however not mature yet, but we expect that it will be applied to the mobile phones in 2018.
Augmented/Virtual Reality: Exploiting the camera and motion sensors, AR technology fuses the virtual and real realms together. It can help the society in education, business, healthcare, game playing and other fields in our day-to-day lives. Increasingly smartphones in 2018 will introduce AR technology, post that we can see more and more apps making full use of the technology to make our lives more convenient.
Larger screen-to-body ratio: 2017 saw numerous smartphone manufacturers attempting to achieve large screen-to-body ratio and also smaller bezel. It is a reality today, as dual curve display phones and smartphones with large screen-to-body ratio are now available in the market. People are responding positively to this change. It is set to trend next year.
Iris scanner and face recognition: Apart from fingerprint recognition, smartphone companies are embarking on other ventures such as face recognition and iris scanners. Iris recognition uses mathematical pattern-recognition techniques and is considered as one of the most accurate biometric modalities. Fingerprints can be replicated but the same is not possible for a retina scan. Only living persons can use iris recognition because, after the death of a person, the iris disappears after pupillary dilation. The elaborate "distinctive characteristics" of Iris recognition technology for detection are more accurate.
Fine-tuning of form factor: We may not expect any drastic changes to the current trends surrounding the body design of smartphones, but there can be more fine-tuning of the form factor. Nowadays, glass bodies are replacing metal bodies. The elite glass body design has curves that make it more comfortable for users to hold a smartphone. Some smartphones also have antenna lines moved towards the edges of the display. According to the current trend in smartphone development, the rise of a new build material is questionable. Plastic is less likely to be used in flagship phones. Smartphone manufacturers will continue to strike a balance between corners and curves in the body design.
Dual camera: The camera module of the smartphones is often the primary focus according to the views of smartphone users. Limited by the size and structure of smartphones, there isn't enough space for changing the size of the aperture like professional camera lenses. But a fixed aperture cannot achieve a certain change of the depth of field - and that's where a second camera lens is important for achieving the depth of field. Two cameras create two images of the same object, and, in sensing the disparity between the images, can infer how close the object is to you.
