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Qualcomm chief imagines a multi-radio mobile future
Qualcomm chief executive Paul Jacobs said in 2006 that mobile phones were becoming powerful enough to serve as the main computer for many people in developing countries.
Computing, radios and uncertain services
Jacobs compared contemporary handsets with older PCs and said their missing large keyboard and display would eventually be addressed. He expected a 4G future in which a device chose the most suitable radio connection, an outlook intended to preserve a role for 3G even if WiMax gained momentum.
He was more skeptical about video telephony, while predicting interest in social-network services that could identify nearby contacts with tools such as GPS. He also expected consumer electronics to gain wireless connections, but warned that adding a modem alone would not solve the problem. These were an executive’s forecasts, not findings about subsequent devices or services.