Forward, Rewind

Let’s take a little break from AI this month to look at the other technological advancements in consumer electronics. As I was preparing the stories for this month’s issue of HWM, a few things stood out. The first being the return of foldable phones. Yes, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 and Flip5 are in their fifth generation, so foldable phones have already returned, per se. But what I’m alluding to is the return of the form factor, which has finally gotten more traction outside of Samsung’s devices. From Oppo to Google, foldables are finally hitting the mainstream, and this is interesting to me because maybe Nokia got it right with the Communicator. I’m just waiting for the belt holder to make a return too. The other trend is not really new, but it’s something we highlight from time to time, and that’s where technology progresses for technology’s sake. In this issue, we tackle the Wi-Fi 6E standard, which is sort of an intermediary improvement that you maybe don’t want to bother with at all. As much as we’re geeks at heart and quite easily excited about new products and technologies, sometimes taking a step back and acknowledging that bigger numbers on paper don’t always translate to better performance or experience. The last trend I wanted to talk about are advances that impact our human senses, where improvements become subjective to personal preferences. This is similar to the point above, but also different. In the Wi-Fi 6E example, I was talking about paper specifications. Here, I’m referring to audio; specifically spatial audio. Can you distinguish mono, stereo, surround, and spatial audio? Yes, most likely. And everyone I know that has experienced spatial audio agrees it is a more immersive experience. But not every sound needs to be spatial, just like not every video needs to be in 3D. Technology, no matter how much improved, must still suit the needs of the user in order to be useful.