Geek Daily

If you are one of millions who is already in love with the new iPhone 3GS that was launched recently on the electronic market; then hold on to your hats. iPhones have just begun to scratch the surface when it comes to integrating advanced technology and will be capable of much more in the very near future. From haptic tactile-feedback to fingerprint-controlled operations and business applications, and more!

Although there has not been very much information given to the general public about upcoming features, the very recent patent applications from Apple have provided a strong hint of what the future will hold for your mobile phone. You better believe that these upcoming features are thrilling, and will change the way you look at and use mobile technology. In this post, we consider some future improvements, and what they can do for you.

The most appealing feature for future iPhones has to be the haptic tactile feedback that Apple is hoping to embrace. This is an attempt to simulate the physical keyboard / input panel and is expected to be an essential feature. This will allow the user to be able to sense the input panel on the touchscreen while typing or entering information. This will purge the need to for you to look at the screen all the time while typing, and allow you to take care of other business or even use applications while your phone is in your pocket. The haptic technology makes use of a piezoelectric actuators grid. Piezoelectric materials have the incredible property to be able to generate electricity when pressure is applied across them. In this manner, the touch based input components will provide a tactile feedback in the form of vibrations upon the application via pressure from the fingers during typing or scrolling. Thus, you would actually be able to feel the essence of real buttons even if you are actually working with virtual ones. All in all, haptic technology will enable mobile phone users to realize virtual reality through the sense of touch, which otherwise could only be realized through vision. This sort of interaction through virtual keys is implausible and has never seen before, nor even mentioned.

You have probably already seen a fingerprint sensor for security purposes when it comes to your most expensive gadgets. However, Apple has out thought everyone by expanding the use of fingerprint technology far beyond the more orthodox security purposes. This implies that you could now control your gadgets with your fingerprints only. The technicalities involved behind the screen would be as follows. Input sensing mechanisms are used to input the fingerprint signature through sensors and then a command is processed to be associated with that unique fingerprint signature. Accordingly, a database is created to store those signatures and the corresponding command is then associated with those signatures. This database can be modified at a number of different times. Now, when a user fingerprint is detected it is first matched with the samples in the database. If it matches with any of the prototypes in the database then the command associated with that prototype is executed.

To illustrate further, consider you have stored your index fingerprint in the database and associated a command to play the media player. On similar lines your ring finger print is stored with the command to play the media player. Now, if a song is being played on your iPhone and you place your index finger on the detector, the song will pause. To resume play you would simply place your ring finger on the detector. Hence, future iPhones are really going to out think and outmaneuver the current expectations of the electronic market.

Another expected feature in upcoming iPhones is the Radio Frequency Identification (RIFD) reader. There will also be tags which will be intended for providing several business applications to iPhone users (such as tracking library books etc.). Apple has been able to incorporate the RIFD circuitry into the touch sensor panel (it now also acts like a RIFD transponder) which has eradicated the requirement of extra space for the antenna. This has enabled Apple to integrate the iPhone with RIFD technology.

With such advancements, who knows what’s next! So, sit back, relax and get excited about the future iPhone. Maybe one day your iPhone will be able to do your laundry or wash your car. Hey, everyone can dream right?