Sprint's McGuire on Frolicking in the Social Grass

The last point, McGuire admits, is the tricky one. While all of the other pieces will be in place well before 2025, such a deep level of integration between them will take a much longer time. But once the industry solves that problem, amazing potential is unlocked. As an example he painted the following scenario:

“Let’s say I have an appointment in half an hour with Joe Smith of Galacticom Enterprises, so I go and get in my car. My mobile device of course has my calendar, my address book and everything. As soon as I get in my car, my mobile device starts talking to other specialty devices in the car--maybe the navigation system, maybe the car radio--and they start sharing information. Immediately as I start the car, the car radio comes on, and it might ask me ‘What would you like to hear?’ Knowing I’m meeting with Joe Smith, it might ask me ‘Would you like to hear Joe’s 10 most recent status updates from Facebook?’ or ‘Would you like to hear the latest quarterly earnings results from Galacticom?’ It would tap into information available in the cloud based on information it just received from my mobile device on where I’m going.

“At the same time the navigation system pops up and says, ‘Do you want me to route you to Galacticom Enterprises?’ As I drive, these pieces are working together to inform me and prepare me for the meeting I’m about to have. Perhaps when I’m halfway there, the navigation system comes on and says ‘Based on traffic, you’re probably going to be about 15 minutes late for your meeting. Do you want to call Joe and let him know?’ It interacts with the mobile device to start that call, probably working through a Bluetooth connection to the audio system. These three devices plus the cloud all work in way that’s synchronized, integrated and, I’d say, pretty different from how our world works today. It’s an experience that’s seamless, transparent and natural, yet significantly enhances how we interact with the world.”

Creating a seamless, transparent network we can interact with naturally and intuitively won’t happen overnight, McGuire said. In fact, the 2025 timeframe sounds just about right, he said. While many of the underlying applications have already been created the connections between them haven’t been established.

“We need less research and more development,” McGuire said. “We need to build radios into more everyday consumer electronics devices.” Here, McGuire already sees a lot happening. A new breed of companies are emerging that use embedded radios in unique ways, and he’s not just talking about Amazon’s Kindle. McGuire said he’s particularly intrigued with a company called Ambient Devices, which develops desktop information devices. Its primary product is a display that shows the upcoming weather forecast, but it’s expanded its lineup to include an umbrella, the handle of which changes color when rain is expected.