Design & Innovation

One of the interesting things mentioned by Mark from Yahoo during our tour is the next generation of wireless technology soon to hit the market. This new technology is known as 4G for “fourth generation” wireless and will come in two versions: WiMAX and LTE. LTE or Long Term Evolution looks to be the favorite in the space and has been selected by Verizon as their network of the future.

One of the leading manufactures of network devices and infrastructure in the LTE space is Nokia. This article talks a little bit about a real world test Nokia recently conducted for LTE: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071228-nokia-4g-wireless-tech-hits-173mbps-in-real-world-test.html

It will be interesting to see all of the new services and features that will be created for this technology. LTE will be so fast that it will feel like the user is connected to a wired network. With such bandwidth available to our mobiles we can have services based on location, stream live video to and from our phones and run many other new and innovative applications in real time. Some of the next great applications that we use in our everyday lives may be designed for the 4G mobile devices.

Nokia is currently working on the Morph concept. Morph is a nanotechnology driven concept device and in the Morph concept, a small electronic device is loaded with lot of features. In Nanotechnology, Fibril proteins are woven into a three dimensional mesh and this mesh enables the device to be flexible and stretchable and this elasticity enable the device to change shape and perform the task at hand. These devices have flexible body with a transparent display. So a user can one day use the device as a bracelet and on another day use the device to as a watch or a keyboard. These devices will have self cleaning surfaces which will reduce wear and tear and the Nanosensors on these devices will allow the device to examine the environment and perform features like helping the user know whether a fruit is spoilt or not. These devices will have the option of charging through solar energy and will also have the small batteries which will be quick to recharge. So all in all this is where the future is headed. Nokia Morph Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zto6aTZM9t0   (more…)