Image from Google
1. Smart handover agent
I want a piece of software on my mobile phone that automatically switches me to the most effective network (in terms of cost and/or performance), out of multiple protocols that are simutaneously available to me.
If I'm in a local cafe, my phone will switch to the free Wifi and by default run Skype when I make a phone call. Once I get in my car and start driving, my phone will then switch to Wibro (one of last week's hottest topics, with Sprint's announcement). Of course it can always revert to my good old cellular network if necessary.
Right now it seems all these different protocols (HSDPA, W-CDMA, Wibro, Wimax, Wifi...) are vying for the leader's spot. But as the 4G comes along, these protocols will learn how to live together, and accordingly, this so-called smart handover agent will become more significant.
2. My life cache
I want my service provider to back up all my mobile content - pics, video clips, podcasting, messaging, etc. for free and automatically. The service provider will capture this data in an "auto-sync" way using off-peak network, so that I don't have to do any additional work. I would be subscribed to the unlimited plan, so I dont't have to worry about additional data charges.
The tagline here is "Just use your phone, and we'll cache your life." Since all the content comes from mobile devices, the footprint (ie. file size) would not be huge, and therefore this kind of service won't likely cost the carriers huge investment. Google is giving 3GB to everyone and is not broke so far.
If the carrier has all the life's records of a user, it wouldn't be easy for her to change the carrier. So this would be a great way of customer retention. However, the carrier should not hold onto one's data in a walled garden manner - this goes against my assertion in the "Sleeping pills effect" post.
3. Very effective sync software
I want something like Micosoft ActiveSync on my feature phone. I just put the phone in the cradle hooked up to my PC, and the phone auto-syncs with Outlook, music playlists, newly updated content from my Widsets, etc. This could be neat.
4. Decent (yet simple) podcasting / videocasting client
I want to produce podcast and videocast right on my phone. Caution: I don't want anything fancy or overly complex - all those "media mixer" programs I've seen so far, especially mobile versions, have been too complex. I just want something very simple, that will let me "talk (shoot), send, and post". I can always go back to my post later on my PC and do any heavy-duty editing there. But being a simple service doesn't necessarily mean a barebone service: relevent actions such as server-side transcoding will have to take place.
5. Better voice technologies
I think I've seen SMS auto reader but I don't think I've seen an SMS auto generator. I want my mobile phone to write an SMS message for me when I just speak to it. This will come in handy while I'm driving.
Some might say "why don't you just call?" But text messaging is a great asynchronous way of communication, and under certain contexts, people prefer asynchronous communication. (For example, when you try to make up after a small argument with your girlfriend, you send a message, not call.)
Better voice-handling technologies will also allow on-spot language translation using mobile. With some carriers transitioning from CDMA to GSM, world's wireless networks are becoming more ubiquitous. This means you will be able to do the roaming nearly everywhere. If your phone can do the on-spot translation, you will be able to speak with foreigners even when you are traveling abroad. You will call a certain number or access a certain URL and start talking. Then the speech-to-text engine will change your voice into text, send the text to the translation server, which will translate the content and "tell" the result to the other person using text-to-speech engine. This way, you can effectively "talk" with foreigners.
In a subsequent post, I'll write about the other 5 things I wish. For a sneak preview:
6. Equivalent of ALT+TAB on mobile
7. Better Java
8. Killer accessories
9. 10x better batteries
10. Improved refurb phone market
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