The CES show is about 2 weeks away. CES is a mammoth trade show for all sorts of consumer electronics. Many phone manufacturers show their new ideas at the show. These prototype phones show up for consumers to purchase over the next few months.
The trends for CES 2013 look to be cheaper LTE phones, and phones with 5 inch displays. The current crop of smart phones have screen size that tops out at 4.7 inches. Sharp, Oppo, HTC, Huawei, ZTE and Sony are expected to show phones with screens that measure 5 inches or greater.
Huawei is reported to be preparing a phone with a 6.1 inch diagonal screen. That's well into the "phablet" range, established by the 5.5 inch Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Speaking of Samsung, they're reported to be working on a flexible (that's right, bendable) LCD screen for the Galaxy Note 3. The advantage would be to make the extra-large screen more durable/less prone to cracking.
From the perspective of an overlander, a phone with 5 to 6 inch display would be more useful as a dashboard-mounted GPS navigation unit. The 4 to 5 inch phones are a little small unless held pretty close to the driver.
The trends for CES 2013 look to be cheaper LTE phones, and phones with 5 inch displays. The current crop of smart phones have screen size that tops out at 4.7 inches. Sharp, Oppo, HTC, Huawei, ZTE and Sony are expected to show phones with screens that measure 5 inches or greater.
Huawei is reported to be preparing a phone with a 6.1 inch diagonal screen. That's well into the "phablet" range, established by the 5.5 inch Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Speaking of Samsung, they're reported to be working on a flexible (that's right, bendable) LCD screen for the Galaxy Note 3. The advantage would be to make the extra-large screen more durable/less prone to cracking.
From the perspective of an overlander, a phone with 5 to 6 inch display would be more useful as a dashboard-mounted GPS navigation unit. The 4 to 5 inch phones are a little small unless held pretty close to the driver.
