Past the Alphabet
Past the Alphabet is a weekly column that focuses on the tech world each in and out of the confines of Mountain View.
I used to be not too long ago requested to offer some the reason why somebody may wish to transfer from iOS to Android, underneath the pretense that this hypothetical individual hadn’t used Android in over 10 years. After sitting and serious about it for a short while, I offered my responses, however I additionally got here away with a burning query — Is AI actually the final frontier?
It is a query that is been rattling round in my head for the higher a part of the previous 12 months, as I’ve watched Google, Samsung, Apple, OnePlus, and others, attempt to discover the precise stability. OpenAI’s ChatGPT is basically accountable after it exploded onto the scene again in late 2022. It grew to become so well-liked so rapidly that it pressured Google’s hand to the purpose that Gemini was initially known as Bard. Like, for months, earlier than making the proper choice to rebrand it.
On the identical time, Apple threw within the towel and simply built-in ChatGPT into the iPhone, and it nonetheless does not do something to make Siri any higher. Samsung’s partnership with Google is paying off, as it’s leaning closely on Gemini for its Galaxy AI integrations. Even OnePlus obtained within the sport, additionally counting on a mixture of its personal in-house developed AI fashions, together with Gemini Nano on the likes of the OnePlus 13.
All of this sounds nice, really. However what can probably be subsequent?
There’s not a lot else that may be executed in the way in which of design innovation. We have already got flippable clamshells, book-style foldables, and even bi-folds that everybody is asking tri-folds. And whereas rollable telephones have not actually hit the market but, they won’t be far off, as Lenovo introduced a rollable laptop computer that is really being launched later this 12 months.
Android is not enjoying catchup to iOS, at the least in most regards, and one may even argue that Android is the higher platform for everybody. Do you wish to tinker? Use Android. Need to preserve issues easy? Get a Pixel. Trying to replicate the Apple ecosystem? Look no additional than Samsung.
Whereas I may positively sit right here and nitpick about issues on each iOS and Android, that is sort of the purpose. They’re solely nitpicks. The panorama is nothing prefer it was, as there’s fairly a little bit of characteristic parity between the 2 platforms. No, it is not synchronous, however the days of not having the ability to carry out even probably the most primary of duties on one and never the opposite have disappeared from the rearview mirror.
So what can probably be subsequent? I actually do not assume the reply really lies inside smartphones. If I had been to make a non-educated guess, the “Subsequent Huge Factor” would not even have something to do with a smartphone. I believe we’re heading in a very completely different course, and the most certainly finish result’s going to be a wearable like Meta’s Ray Ban Good Glasses.
Possibly it will not be these particularly, nevertheless it must be one thing in that ballpark. On the identical time, I do not assume it will likely be digital actuality, at the least not in our day-to-day lives. Possibly VR overtakes console gaming or one thing, however seeing how well-liked handhelds have gotten, I doubt even that occurs.
As identified by Michael Hicks, Android Central’s senior editor of Wearables & AR/VR, there are loads of potential issues that can have to be remedied with numerous Android XR headsets after they lastly hit the market. These are related points to those that proceed to have an effect on smartwatches, corresponding to “battery life, snug and trendy designs, accessible controls,” amongst others.
Though Google and Samsung are getting a late bounce in comparison with Meta, that is not essentially a foul factor. With different firms already releasing choices, this provides others the chance to study what errors to keep away from, along with having an concept of “what works” versus what does not.
Nevertheless, in contrast to smartphones and different wearables, Android XR has the distinct and distinctive “benefit” of being the primary new platform to reach within the age of AI. We absolutely count on Gemini to be in all places and wherever that Google can put it, however I additionally would not be shocked if its performance is proscribed for the primary 12 months or two.
That is just because sensible glasses have a restricted bodily area, and may have a large number of assorted sensors and different mandatory parts simply to work. Plus, new platforms and new units often imply greater costs as firms attempt to recoup the R&D prices along with trying to show a revenue.
No, I do not imagine that AI is the ultimate frontier, however I do imagine that we’re on the “finish of the road” when it comes to avenues that may be explored when it comes to {hardware}.
Nothing will have the ability to replicate and even substitute the smartphone for a lot of causes, however primarily as a result of your telephone is probably the most private machine you’ve. That is partially why I believe we’re seeing firms shift focus to implementing AI into the software program, because it ought to make our most private units much more private.
So, whereas it could look like AI is the subsequent frontier, I do imagine that there is nonetheless room for one thing new when it comes to {hardware}. Now, it is simply as much as firms to determine what that appears like and discover methods to implement it in our day by day lives.
