TechTheDay

We are tempted to compare technology with laws to some extent. We already have plenty of working ideas or concepts for tech products but companies have failed to commercialize them or to make them available to more people. The following are some of the most noteworthy tech product ideas or innovations that deserve to be given more attention or to be integrated in the popular devices being brought to the market.

1. Gloss-Free Gorilla Glass

Corning, the maker of the popular Gorilla Glass used in most high and mid end smartphone displays, announced a tough glass that comes with anti-glare and anti-bacterial properties. Unfortunately, this product is not yet used in the smartphones on the market at present. Event the recently announced Galaxy S5 and Xperia Z2 flagship devices are not outfitted with this new Gorilla Glass.

Glare is one of the problems encountered by mobile devices especially outdoors. It’s just perplexing why companies like Samsung or even Apple are not using it, considering that they have been consistent customers of Corning for the Gorilla Glass 3. Also, the antibacterial property of the new Gorilla Glass is not even making some major presence on the mobile device market.

2. Corephotonics Dual-Lens Camera

Corephotonics is a compact camera design house with computational photography expertise. In the recent Mobile World Congress 2014, the company introduced a dual-lens camera system that makes use of two 13MP Sony Exmor RS sensors that work as a pair to capture images with better clarity, sharpness, and brightness. It is even capable of zooming that is notably better than what a digital zoom can achieve. This dual-lens camera is indeed very promising but there haven’t been companies rumored to be using it yet.

HTC implementation of a dual-lens camera in their recently announced HTC One (M8) is rather lackluster. It is only aimed at adding depth and effects to photos. It does not significantly enhance image quality. The design and system introduced by Corephotonics is certainly better and more useful.

3. Night Vision Smartphone Cases

The cameras in smartphones have not stopped advancing. However, they have been stuck with the obsession for higher megapixels and software-related enhancements. Almost nobody thought of showing something new to smartphone camera users.

Thankfully, a company that sells thermal imaging products for military use, FLIR, has thought of bringing military level technology in the hands of smartphone users. FLIR developed iPhone cases that bring thermal imaging based night vision to iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S units. Each case will come with the necessary app for the controls and configurations. It would be great if the app can be integrated with the base iPhone camera app but maybe this will happen in time or after iOS developers lay their hands on the FLIR night vision iPhone case hardware and software.

4. Dual-Booting Smartphones and Tablets

There have been several announcements of dual-booting smartphones and tablets last year. However, they  remain rare or unavailable at the wider market. The ones announced by Asus and Samsung were supposed to boot in Windows and Android but they were stopped and may have to wait some more time before they finally reach retail.

Dual-booting smartphones are a very advantageous option. There are features in other operating systems that are not available in others. Similarly, the performance of some operating systems tend to be better compared to others. To have a device that can run two great but imperfect OS’s will definitely be beneficial to consumers.

5. Dual-Display Smartphones

While we are still unable to figure out how to make displays foldable, maybe a dual-display smartphone would be a good alternative. The idea introduced by Russian phone maker Yota, the Android-running YotaPhone, failed to become a global success despite the useful idea of having two displays that can be alternately used for power-saving or efficiency purposes.

The YotaPhone has an e-ink back display that can be used for surfing the web, reading e-books, reading and responding the text message and emails, and doing other tasks that don’t require more colors and higher levels of brightness.

These product concepts are some of the more usable ones that should be brought to the hands of consumers. Companies should learn to focus on what is functional instead of getting stuck with aesthetics and gimmickry. Hopefully, the next year will see these ideas getting integrated in smartphones, tablets, and other similar tech products.