The Next Big Thing In Phones May Not Be A Phone

Nearly a decade after the iPhone broke the mold for mobile phones, the question being asked is whether the evolution of the smartphone has finally come to an end, as even Apple now treats older, smaller 4-inch screens as something new. Industry experts believe innovation in smartphones is giving way to phone functions popping up as software or services in all manner of new devices, from cars to fridges to watches and jewelry rather than remaining with handheld devices. And analysts and product designers said fresh breakthroughs are running up against the practical limits of what's possible in current smartphone hardware in terms of screen size, battery life and network capacity. "Everything in the phone industry now is incremental: slightly faster, slightly bigger, slightly more storage or better resolution," said Christian Lindholm, inventor of the easy text messaging keyboards in old Nokia phones that made them the best-selling mobile devices of all time. The financial stakes are high, as the futures of Apple, Google and Microsoft, the world's three biggest listed companies at the end of last year, may now turn on who gets the jump on making handsets redundant.