When the iPhone first went on sale on 29 June 2007, no one could have dreamed how it would change the world.
At the time, Apple’s chief executive Steve Jobs described it as three products in one – “a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone and a breakthrough internet communications device”.
In the ten years since, the iPhone has evolved into an indispensable item in many people’s lives, replacing the need for maps, radios, cameras – and even cash, thanks to the ability to pay for goods instantly using your fingerprint.
Apple has sold more than a billion iPhones worldwide, and has become the most valuable company in the world.
But as the iPhone celebrates its 10-year anniversary , many are asking what the next 10 years have in store.
Here are some of the innovations that could be coming down the line over the next decade.
Given the growing acceptance of tap and pay with a mobile phone, it doesn’t seem like much of a stretch to use your iPhone as the key to your hotel room, house or car.
Some hotel chains such as Hilton are already adopting this technology, and once people overcome their fears of cyber criminals hacking into their homes and vehicles, it could start picking up momentum on a wider scale.
Proof of identity
If you’ve got an e-Passport, you’re probably already used to the idea of your identity being stored on a microchip.
Now that you can store all your tickets and credit cards on your iPhone, the requirement for a physical passport or identity card seems positively archaic.
The iPhone already has the ability to scan your fingerprint, and Apple is rumoured to be working on other biometric technology such as iris scanning. The obvious next step would be for the iPhone to become your proof of identity.
High-tech housekeeper
Apple has already taken steps to become a hub for the “smart home” with the launch of its HomeKit software, which allows users to control their lights and heating with their iPhone.
Eventually garden hoses, pet food dispensers and robotic vacuum cleaners will all be controlled in the same way, so you can take care of all your household chores from the comfort of your sofa or while you’re at work.
“iPhone owners will likely find themselves sleepwalking into a situation where the iPhone becomes the remote control for their smart home,” said Ben Wood, analyst at CCS Insight.
Virtual secretary
Siri is already pretty smart, but as Apple continues to make improvements to its artificial intelligence technology, it will get even better at organising your life.
Eventually you may not even need to add appointments to your diary at all – Siri will scan your emails and messages, work out where you need to be and when, and either suggest the best route to get there or book you a taxi automatically.
Digital doctor
From Fitbit to Apple Watch, digital health monitoring has taken off in a big way, and a lot of people now track their calories and exercise on their phone as a matter of course.
But as the iPhone gets better at analysing this data, it could start to build up a more comprehensive picture of your health, and even alert your doctor to potential problems and illnesses before they happen
Videographer
The iPhone helped to spawn today’s selfie culture, with people sharing more about themselves and their lives on social media than ever before.
Now that services like Periscope and Facebook Live allow people to live-stream their experiences on a mass scale, this trend is only set to grow.
Eventually our iPhones will connect to smart glasses or lenses that will record everything we see and do, helping to document every moment of our lives.
Encyclopedia for the world
Whether you want to know when a famous monument was built, how high a mountain is, or the name of an old friend’s sibling, many people’s first instinct is to take out their iPhone and search for the answer.
But in the future you won’t even need to search for this information, because augmented reality technology will mean that just pointing your iPhone’s camera at something will bring up the information you need.
Location beacon
We’re used to using the iPhone’s GPS to get where we need go, but increasingly it is being used to broadcast our own location.
As more companies take advantage of this, you may find the environment around yoou changing in response to your presence – your computer will boot up as you approach the office, your favourite music will start playing when you get into the lift, and billboards will show ads for products you’re interested in buying as you walk past.
Wireless world
With the launch of the iPhone 7 , Apple made the bold move of killing off the headphone jack, but with rumours that the next iPhone could feature conductive charging, the company appears to be moving towards a wireless future.
Eventually we may not need to worry about charging the iPhone’s battery at all – it will simply harvest energy from other devices, surfaces of furniture it is placed on, or even the air around it, to ensure it never runs out of juice.
Embedded technology
Eventually, the iPhone may cease to exist as a physical object. All of the technology will be embedded into a single chip that will either be worn on the body or embedded under the skin.
Users will interact with it using voice commands – or even brain waves – information will be conveyed to the brain electronically, and images will projected in front of the user’s eyes by high-tech contact lenses
Source: mirror news
Collected by RG
