Is your smartphone cluttering your hands, weighing on your pocket and costing more and more? Let it go and move on to the next generation of digital companions. More discreet, less expensive, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), they are pinned to the lapel of the jacket to listen to emails or make calls, worn on the wrist to monitor daily activities, slipped on finger as a smart ring managing health data, or worn as earpieces as a voice and musical assistant.
Welcome to the post-smartphone era. The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the high mass of mobility which will be held from February 26 to 29, should relegate mobile phones to the background in favor of new devices, smaller, lighter, but powerful and intuitive. AI Pin worn pinned to clothing or the lapel of a jacket. The Rabbit R1 is the size of a matchbox, includes a screen and fits into the smallest pocket.
“The smartphone form factor has evolved to the point that it is difficult to innovate beyond what is currently available. Smartphones have also become a bit boring. So we wanted to give our users a fun and intuitive gadget”explains the Chinese Jesse Lyu, CEO of the Rabbit company, that he created in the United States.
Same approach for the co-founders of the start-up Humane, two former Apple executives: former design director Imran Chaudhri and former software manager Bethany Bongiorno (husband and wife in real life). Their AI Pin, which is worn as a brooch or on the lapel of the jacket, aims to “do without smartphones thanks to artificial intelligence within earshot”. No more keyboards and screens, make way for more natural mobility. It can even project a virtual screen onto the palm of a hand or any surface. To this “gadget” which quickly becomes indispensable, the user speaks. And gets the appropriate answers right away. As if the AI had gone to look for them in its computer or smartphone, although they were absent.
At this rate, some are predicting the end of smartphones. During a debate at the World Economic Forum in Davos in May 2022, Pekka Lundmark, CEO of the former world number one in mobile phones Nokia, declared: ” From here [à 2030], the smartphone as we know it today will no longer be the most common interface. Many of these objects will be integrated directly into our bodies. » Ten years ago, this Finnish manufacturer turned the page on mobiles by selling them to Microsoft, which then withdrew.
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