5 things we'd like to see in the next generation of smartphones and tablets

Right now, everyone is talking about the next generation of home consoles.

'Which one has the most terraflops?' 'Which has the best resolution?' 'Why is no one mentioning the Wii U?'

These are all questions that I've overheard in the brief moments when Pocket Gamer's powers that be allow me some respite from the word grindstone to get some fresh air.

I'm not paid to care about those big black lumps of dull. But still - it got me thinking. What do I want to see in the next generation of 'mobile' phones and 'tablet' computers?

Do I want extra gigabytes? More ppi? Or maybe some new exotic initialism that hasn't even been invented yet?

Rather than keeping my ideas to myself, though, I present them to you below in list form. Because that's what you do on the internet.

Let me paint you a picture...

You're on the hoverbus home from a hard day's work mining data for a mega-corporation. You're playing a game on your smarterphone. Let's say it's Angry Birds 8 or something.

The hoverbus drops you off at your small and strangely empty house, and the front door scans your retina because keys are obsolete. You take off your future-shoes, and slump down on that hideously expensive sofa.

Then with a flick of your finger, you send the game from your smarterphone to your television. Now, you're playing the same game but on the big screen.

Imagine that but without all of the sci-fi nonsense. That would be cool, right?

Dick: "Oh, wow, my new phone has so many pixels on it that you'd need a degree in counting just to work out how many are in the top-left-hand corner."

Tom: "That's cool. Can I see?"

Dick: "'See? No, because it ran out of battery over an hour ago."

Tom: "Your phone is silly."

We've all had this conversation so many times that it's lost all meaning. It's nice having an incomprehensibly large number of pixels on your screen, but it'd be even nicer if your phone's battery lasted for longer than 14 seconds.

So, better, more efficient screen technology, please. With a cherry on top. In 4K resolution, of course.

How many times this year have you had to turn strangers away from your door because you didn't have the right charger for their soon-to-die smartphone or tablet? 11? 12?

In the glorious future, all phones and tablets should be able to suck juice down the same tube.

You'll never have to scrabble furiously through a drawer of leads and plugs, weeping at your ineffectual finding skills ever again.

Wireless charging should become standardised, too, so people can just stand near your window and leech some power off you while you're watching TV.

Won't that be nice?

The following is a true story...

That really happened.

Some of the best games on all of the app stores around the world get lost beneath the clutter. This really shouldn't happen.

Better discoverability, curated sections, and better search algorithms will make Uncle Brian's sacrifice worth something.

Thanks, Uncy Bri.

It makes me sad to think that some people are still using Android devices that were hewn from stone in the dark ages before Jelly Bean.

Particularly when they needn't be.

The Moto G and Nexus 5 are leading the way, but the off-contract prices of smartphones are, on the whole, stupid. So stupid, in fact, that sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night crying.

Honest I do.

Everyone deserves to be able to download more zombie shooters than she'll ever need to play.

Everyone deserves to be saddened by the awful free-to-play reboot of a beloved childhood franchise.

The next generation of smartphones and tablets should be cheaper and sold as part of a service so that everyone can bang on about how many apps she can have on her home screen. Not just the super-rich.