Some of 2010's New Mobile Trends

2010 was a great year for the mobile industry. We saw tons of trends and technology emerge that have changed our perspective, as users, of where the community and the technology is heading. It’s now the end of the year and the expectation to see more is high. As 2011 draws nearer, I’d like to look back at the year gone by just to recap a few of the top mobile trends that made 2010 come alive.

USB-on-the-go
A mobile phone is as akin to a netbook/notebook as it can get with Smartphone operating systems iOS, Android and Symbian ^3. Although each of these systems may have individual flaws, they do bring a lot to the table. Still, there was always room for more and Nokia filled in a part of that void with USB-on-the-go. This allows you to connect a thumb drive directly to your mobile handset and read data. So if you’ve got movies, music documents etc. on a pen drive and no laptop with which to view them, simply connect the drive to your Nokia Symbian ^3 Smartphone via the adapter provided and all your data can be easily accessed, viewed or shared via Bluetooth, email, posted to social networks etc.

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What we’ve always needed

Retina Display
Apple has revolutionized the mobile screen with the iPhone 4’s ground-breaking Retina display. This display involves a seriously high pixel density that makes details stand out clearer than we’ve ever seen on displays this small. It’s actually been designed so that your eyes will be unable to make out individual pixels. The level of detail is higher, colors are more vibrant and images, webpages, text etc. are crisper. Zooming into what’s on the screen will not deteriorate the images. Like LG’s high end TVs, the Retina Display uses IPS (in-plane switching) technology to make the details sharper. Even the display’s glass is designed to be thoroughly durable - made from chemically strengthened material, it’s the same glass used on helicopters and high-speed trains. It’s scratch resistant of course and comes with an oil-resistant coating that helps keep the screen clean.

It doesn’t get clearer than this

720p Video Recording
In this day and age of High-Definition cinema, if digital cameras can go HD, why should mobile handsets be left behind? Display resolutions have been more than capable of handling resolutions for video playback so it was about time the mobile phone camera was rendered capable of capturing HD video. There aren’t too many that are available just yet that can capture video in full HD i.e. 1080p resolution, but there are quite a few that are capable of 720p video capture. In case you’re unaware, a mobile camera doesn’t have to be 12MP, or even 8MP for that matter, to capture video at that resolution. The iPhone 4, Samsung S8500 Wave, Galaxy S, Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro and HTC Desire, to name a few, are all equipped with 5MP cameras that can record video at 720p.

Nokia N8 video test

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HDMI Out on Mobiles
What goes great with HD video is of course HD video out, which is HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface for those coming in late). If your handset can record or play HD video why not be able to share that on your HDTV or monitor, right? So the mobile magnates have included that too as handsets like the Nokia N8 and Motorola MILESTONE XT720 amongst a few others come equipped with what could be a new standard in mobile phone interfacing – mini HDMI. All you need is an HDMI cable adapter that is usually provided and you can hook up the handset to an HD TV or projector for larger scale viewing.

Plug and play HD

3D displays
3D may have been around for a long time but in 2010 the technology has been revived, replenished and upgraded to a whole new level. 3D tech has entered a personal space now. From the big screen move theatres it’s moved to our homes with 3D HDTVs and from there it’s been further miniaturized to the mobile phone display. Although Samsung has announced a mobile phone with a 3D display much earlier this year, Indian companies like Spice and Zen beat them to the punch by releasing 3D ready handsets at extremely low prices. Not only are these devices equipped with 3D displays but they employ glassless 3D viewing of media (videos and images). Spice’s M-67 3D has an auto-stereoscopic display so no glasses are required.

We may have not yet perfected it but we were the first to bring it out

The Rise of the Tablets
The biggest trend of the year has been the reintroduction of the Tablet industry. Of course we’re not talking about notebooks with swivel resistive touchscreens that required the use of a stylus for better functionality. The tablet has re-emerged as a whole new mobile computing trend. These stand alone devices are capable, in some cases, of full mobile functionality. They’ve taken mobile computing to new heights with sleek looking devices capable of quick and easy net connectivity, mobile gaming, media access, photography, video, text and web chatting and email access while on the go. Indian users are already in a frenzy as choices are getting harder with companies like Viewsonic, Samsung, LACS and Olive who have launched devices this year already. 2011 is surely going to be the year of the tablet PC but 2010 has seen its rebirth.

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Tablets, Tablets everywhere!_