![\"Modular](\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/modular-phone.jpg\")
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Image credit:\u00a0Wikimedia Commons<\/em><\/a> Ever got to the end of a 24-month contract and barely recognised the battered and cracked piece of plastic you\u2019re holding in your hand?<\/p>\n Contracts mean that we have to make our smartphones last but unfortunately, they just aren\u2019t built to handle the rigours of day-to-day life.<\/p>\n That could be about to change, and relatively soon too. Modular smartphones will allow you to change various components of your smartphone, meaning that broken components can be swapped easily, as well as improving the performance of your smartphone by adding new components (like you would with a PC). Better performance and a longer life? We\u2019re in.<\/p>\n Google\u2019s ARA<\/a> is probably going to be the first modular smartphone, with a tentative release date of January 2015. The base model will only cost around $50 (about \u00a330), although extra components will cost more.<\/p>\n Considering the sensitive information they contain about us, smartphones have terrible security features. Even a dog could eventually crack a \u201d\u02dcjoin the dots\u2019 puzzle if you gave it enough time.<\/p>\n One thing a dog, or potential thieves, couldn\u2019t do, however, is replicate your eyes or finger prints (unless it\u2019s a seriously cunning dog). That\u2019s where biometric security comes in; your phone scans your eye or your fingerprint to determine who you are, and grants you access to your smartphone if everything matches up.<\/p>\n Basically, if you aren\u2019t you or someone who happens to have access to your eyes and fingers, you\u2019re not getting into your smartphone. It\u2019s the most elaborate protection against the \u201d\u02dcfraping\u2019 menace ever concocted.<\/p>\n As much as we love Siri, he\/she (depending on where you are) is a bit of a bore. Wouldn\u2019t it be better if we could ask Siri questions and have a nice little chat about last night\u2019s Game of Thrones too?<\/p>\n Well, you will be able to soon. Siri, and other voice recognition technologies, are going to get a lot smarter. Not only will they be able to hear what you\u2019re saying and respond, but they\u2019ll also be able to note the context and subtext implied by your tone of voice in the same way a human can.<\/p>\n Combined with this will be the ability to personalise your personal assistant to create your own friend, like a lonely child dreaming up imaginary friends. You\u2019ll be able to assign a voice, a name and, possibly, likes and dislikes. \u00a310 says we\u2019ll see a man marrying a smartphone within 20 years.<\/p>\n Smartphone screens are about as durable as a bar of chocolate left on a dashboard on a sunny day. Considering they\u2019re more or less the most essential part of a smartphone, screens are ridiculously fragile, with a drop of 30cm enough to crack most screens.<\/p>\n Luckily, smartphone manufacturers have come up with a solution: flexible screens. Thanks to Organic Light-Emitting Diode (or OLED technology), you\u2019ll be able to fold up, sit on and play future smartphone screens like a wobble boards. Best of all, they\u2019ll never, ever crack.<\/p>\n Equally exciting is the possibility of 3D screens, meaning we can make 3D video calls and talk to people as if they are actually there. Although, that might not necessarily be a good thing in some cases…<\/p>\n
\n<\/em><\/p>\nBiometric Security Scanning<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nBetter voice recognition and phones with personalities<\/h3>\n
Flexible and 3D Screens<\/h3>\n
Augmented Reality<\/h3>\n