Nearly 70 per cent of all devices will get connected to one another by 2014, said Paul Jacobs, the CEO of Qualcomm Inc, while delivering a keynote address on the future of convergence of mobile devices and consumer electronic companies at the GSMA Barcelona summit.
Jacobs said his company was working on some key innovations, one of which is wireless charging of devices without using plug points. It was also bringing in the concept of augmented reality to consumers, under which, mobile devices, for example, can not only scan advertising on paper but get detailed information, video clips and even response of consumers before taking a decision.
Jacobs said sensors were being built around the mobile phone which will make it possible for experts to track the responses on chronic diseases and on fitness regimes being followed by the individual.
But he is not alone. NTT DoCoMo president Ryuji Yamada said his company was already working on some key initiatives which could change the world, one being the simultaneous translation of languages on the mobile phone with the operators offering the translators service.
DoCoMo, for instance, has already demonstrated capability under which the Japanese language will be translated instantly into English. So, while a caller on one side speaks in Japanese, the person on the phone on the other side, who does not know the language, hears it in English.
Yamada said the Japanese company was looking at convergence of mobile devices with that of automobiles, industrial equipment and even broadcasting. DoCoMo was also working with construction machine companies by which it would be possible to remotely control the capacity utilisation of the machine. It has also created cigarette vending machines which have the intelligence not to sell the product to underage kids.
In the automobile arena, DoCoMo in collaboration with Nissan has already introduced the intelligent key system under which consumers will be able to use mobile phones to undertake a bevy of operations, like remote charge batteries, get details of their battery condition, climate control information, identify routes in case of traffic jams and the overall condition of the car.
Responding to a question as to why operators should get into offering such services when there are third party vendors, Yamada said, “We cannot be just a dumb pipe, and while third party vendors also offer such services, in the end we feel we will win the battle.”
Nokia president Stephen Elop, however, said the challenge in the world for the industry is to address the needs of the billions who are still not networked. He said while 80 per cent of the global population is in the range of a network signal, only 20 per cent of them have access to the internet. “For Nokia, the challenge is to bring the next three billion people on the network,” he said.
Underlying the company’s strategy, Elop said the mobile phone is not just for voice. New functionalities are being developed to draw the masses. For instance, Nokia devices are helping fresh water mapping in Kenya. In India, Nokia Money is providing consumers there first tryst with banks.
