Each new development in smartphones is purely evolutionary. It’s always a bigger display, higher resolution, better camera, slimmer body or something along these lines.

It looks like the next smartphone revolution may not come from the smartphone itself, but from the developing world. How?

Check out: Looking For The Next Big Thing In Smartphones? Think Digital Inclusion In Developing Countries

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Glossary

• with bated breath – while holding one’s breath
• bells and whistles – extra, fancy add-ons or gadgets
• keep an eye on – to watch someone or something; to monitor someone or something closely
• bricks-and-mortar – buildings

Think about it

Answer the questions below.

• What kind of changes in smartphones can we expect in the next five years?
• What changes are about to happen in the developing world?
• Who are the “unbanked?”
• Describe the bricks-and-mortar component of mobile money systems.
• What is the difference between the roles smartphones play in wealthier nations and developing countries?

Practice makes perfect

Replace the fragments in bold with the words/phrases used in the original text. 

• A few weeks ago, the technology press watched with great anxiety as Apple unveiled the new iPhone 5S and 5C.
• But let’s admit it: In the multi-decade effort to put what is an equivalent of a fully capable computer in a pocket-sized device, most of the low-hanging fruit has already been picked.
• Instead, you should closely monitor the developing world, where the transition from basic “feature” phones to smartphones will soon change how a large fraction of the world’s population engages with information.
• The very best smartphones will always be expensive, but by 2015, off-contract prices for the least expensive smartphones will cost about $30 [. . .]
• Smartphones will also allow us to introduce a more diverse set of service offerings for unbanked populations, benefiting both mobile operators and their customers.

Fill in the blank spaces with the correct forms of the words in CAPS.

Mobile money is often ________ JUST lauded for providing a path to financial ________ INCLUDE for the unbanked. But that’s only the beginning. The ________ COMBINE of growing mobile money adoption and declining entry-level smartphone costs will spur much a broader move towards digital inclusion. Smartphones for the unbanked, far more than any new product ________ ANNOUNCE, will be the next ________ REVOLVE involving mobile phone technology.

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