Samsung Tells Future of Cell Phones

Holographic displays, solar power, network flexibility are in the works, exec says.

Sumner Lemon, IDG News Service.

Mobile phones will undergo a dramatic transformation over the next few years, incorporating more powerful processors and more storage, as well as new technologies, a Samsung Electronics research and development executive said today.

The addition of these technologies will dramatically expand the capability of mobile handsets, which will have sensors to monitor a user's health and offer a wider range of entertainment and online services, such as shopping, said Kang-Hun Lee, vice president of Samsung's Next-Generation Terminals Team. Voice will remain a "basic capability" of these devices, he said.

"We are pretty much focusing on the multimedia capabilities," Lee said.

Cell Phone Holograms

By 2010 or so, handsets will use flexible or holographic displays and could have processors that run at clock speeds up to 5GHz, Lee said. In addition, they may pack up to 10GB of flash memory or hard disks that can hold 20GB of data or more, he said.

Future handsets will also include more advanced cameras, capable of capturing 3-D and holographic images, and rely on fuel cells or solar panels for power, Lee said. Future handsets will switch seamlessly from one network to another, moving between cellular networks, mobile WiMax, and other networks, he said.