Thats how it looks for 2010/2011, according to DNA Evolutions. How true the statement is remains to be seen. I can still point you in the direction of people holding on to their Nokia 3210s and 3310s because they’re solid phone and do whats needed of them (the odd call and SMS).

But does it mean that mobile production as we know it now will cease? More and more we’re seeing smartphones come in to the market, bluetooth and camera (still or video) options are now a standard, with WiFi likely the next minimum standard in mobiles. We’re already in a 3G age of streaming media content, video conference calls via mobile and highspeed internet access. So whats next?

Mobile computers – according to University of Salford Professor Nigel Linge.

Instead of mobile phones, in five years we will all carry mobile computers on us. So, for example, the communicator on our collar might send signals to the keyboard on our sleeve. Already we are seeing simple everyday objects with communications systems called ‘tags’ built into them.

Of course it comes as no surprise. When I was finishing my college degree a few years ago we were already looking into options for wearable computing – from RFID chips embedded in clothes to electronic tags embedded in the skin. However, I can’t say that they’ll be completely extinct. Every generation there is a technology that gets left behind – those who refuse to install cable TV as they’re happy with terrestrial, those who refuse to rent DVDs because they’ve already got a video player. Extinct in its current form – maybe, but extinct as a whole I seriously doubt.