Instead of increasing screen resolutions...

[Cod3rror]

I wish the manufacturers would focus on actually innovating.

Increasing screen size, while I'm sure is hard to pull off, is kinda pointless now, screens are already very high resolution and any more would be counter productive, yet manufacturers still insist on increasing it, it feels like it's the easiest and the most impressive thing they can do on paper, so they go for it!

I wish they'd concentrate on other things, like colours, viewing angles, contrast and especially response times.

Have a look at this video, if screens had a 1ms responsive they'd be fantastic for writing or drawing, you would actually be able to use your phone/tablet to take down notes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOvQCPLkPt4

 

[Lloydbm41]

Already have that with WACOM.

Screen resolution, pixel density, quantum pixels, are all leading us to one goal. Realistic 3D images on screen with depth and color accuracy. Screen tech is a huge business and a lot of innovation is going on right now. I don't think you grasp how much R&D is going on this area, not just by OEMs, but by governments too! What we get in consumer phones is usually 5 years behind the cutting edge stuff you don't know about.

 

[Kariya]

I wish they'd focus on increasing battery life.

 

[Cod3rror]

I wish they'd focus on increasing battery life.

I agree! Battery is a huge deal.

 

[MikeyMike01]

They're being lazy. Bigger screens let them stuff more and more on the spec sheet without having to engineer it down or optimize the software to make use of a smaller battery.

 

[Beeplance]

Already have that with WACOM.

Screen resolution, pixel density, quantum pixels, are all leading us to one goal. Realistic 3D images on screen with depth and color accuracy. Screen tech is a huge business and a lot of innovation is going on right now. I don't think you grasp how much R&D is going on this area, not just by OEMs, but by governments too! What we get in consumer phones is usually 5 years behind the cutting edge stuff you don't know about.

When you said 'cutting edge stuff', do you mean that government offices may already be using super advanced 3D touch sensitive systems like the ones we see Tony Stark using in his house?

 

[Dontazemebro]

I wish they'd focus on increasing battery life.

I agree with this. At this point I just want a more efficient type of battery technology. Stop increasing milliamps & size and wow us.

 

[Savor]

Actually manufacturers have been innovating if you add it all up.

Fingerprint scanner
Heart-sensor
Eye scanning
S-Pen
Dual front speakers
Improved camera sensors
Air gestures
Active Display
Moto Maker
Knock-On feature
Rear volume control
Water/dust resistance
Attachable DSLR lens
Stepped batteries
Wireless charging
Gloves-on capable
BlinkFeed/My Magazine
Better hardware designs
Swivel camera
Always listening touchless controls
Always on E-ink rear back (YotaPhone)
Multi-sims
IR blaster
Miracast
NFC
LTE

This is why I find the Class of 2013 to be the best generation of smartphones ever. It might the first year when the latest iPhone wasn't even considered the best smartphone or even top 5!

You just can't expect all those features onto one device right now. But increasing screen size/resolution isn't the only thing manufacturers have worked on. They worked on other innovations to differentiate. Technology has improved and prices have gone down. OSes have improved especially Android since Jelly Bean 4.1. App stores have matured as well. We are living in a mature time for smartphones where we have more features than we actually need or even know about.

Compare 2007-2011 vs 2012-Present and we are in a much better place right now and would rather have a smartphone from the 18 months than those smaller single/dual core phones that will now lag on newest games, lacked features/apps, and with lesser detailed smaller screens. Would most people rather use a Nokia N8, or Sony Ericsson Satio than a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 just because of size? Heck I still have Nexus One (2010) for backup and I always back to the HTC One because SwiftKey and everything on it is so much faster and smoother.

That dual core iPhone 4s might be the only good and compact phone from 2011 that can still holds it own now. But that 7x faster GPU than its predecessor is starting to show its age as well and it will be more obvious when the iPhone 6 gets released. Esp when most of us moved up to quad core, 2 GB RAM, and Full HD resolution with 400+ ppi. Three years is usually when you start to see much more apparent differences in speed and power.

Not everyone needs 2K screen or large phones but that might be the only few things users will complain about right now along with wanting longer battery life. But saying manufacturers are not innovating enough is a bit of a stretch. You can pick 10 different phones out there even the budget-friendly Nokia Lumia 520 and Moto G and most users will be pleased with the results. Unlike back in 2007-2011 when generally the latest iPhone was the only great and most responsive touchscreen phone out there.

 

[dba415]

Yep battery life needs to be better. I want to go a week on my iphone 5s without needing a charge.

 

[minimo3]

Motorola focused on battery life with their droid razr maxx and it was a flop commercially. I think the other manufacturers took note and won't be going there for a while