My Wish List Before The Apocalypse

What if a fairy comes to me and asks me for a wish? What would I ask for? My four-year-old daughter approached me yesterday with this question and it set me thinking. Though as adults we understand that fairies are only in stories, I did begin to think of my wish list. And being the geek that I am, I could only think of some applications that would make my life easier. So here’s my list:

Alarm Clock with weather forecasts and meeting updates – I’d love to have an alarm clock that wakes me up and reads out weather forecast for the day for me, along with my meetings. A device that can understand my speech, respond accordingly, and also sync to my calendar in real time would be perfect.

Networked digital frame – A large size photo frame, which has the technology to connect to multiple Facebook, Picassa and Flickr accounts. I can configure it to download the pictures uploaded by my closest friends and family. That way I would not need to connect to my machine. I would have real time updates right in my living room.

Phone apps –

Status Update – An application to notify me every time there is an update from a select group of friends. And with a command, it can read me updates as well. That way I would not need to scroll down my home page on Facebook or visit my friend’s pages individually to make sure that I have not missed out anything.

Restaurant Finder – This application uses my current location and lets me know all the restaurants in close range, along with their reviews on popular sites. The application has a phone number link for a particular restaurant and also gives me directions to that place.

Mobile Money – I really want the freedom to pay anywhere from my phone. I wish that banks and telecom companies were faster in delivering a mobile wallet to me. Imagine, there’d be no need to carry so many cards and cash. You just have your phone and you pay using your phone. Your Nol card is also configured in your phone. So next time you travel by metro, you do not have to stand in the queue to buy a ticket or recharge your card. This mobile wallet can be connected to a credit card or debit straight from my account.

Car apps –

Wi-Fi – Wi-Fi in my car at a reasonable price would be ideal. Currently there are some Wi-Fi routers available which create a hotspot in the car. An example is the Wi-Fi in Ford Touch, where automakers are trying to change the technology available in the car and provide customers a seamless experience across gadgets.

Online Music – Once I have Wi-Fi in my car, I want to have the ability to stream music from my iTunes (using cloud) or simply stream it online. Thanks to websites like Spotify and Pandora, the popularity of streaming without downloading and paying for a song has increased a lot. It is predicted that in a few years, streaming music will be the most popular source of music. Why pay when you can get something for free anytime and anywhere? And the freedom to do that in my car would be really amazing.

GPS – My GPS updates itself, especially at a place like Dubai where roads change every other day. Anyone who has ever tried to update the GPS few years after buying it can identify with me on these hassles. The seller can increase the cost of the initial device, but please save customers from this need to update the software. And I guess, once there is Wi-Fi in the car, updating becomes much easier.

Parking Spotter – Imagine having a device in your car to scan ahead and spot the free parking spot for you. Life would be so much easier if this happens.

No passwords please – Websites use fingerprints or face recognition. This would eradicate the need for me to remember endless passwords. And my online identity would be much safer. Facebook is in talks to buy a facial recognition startup face.com. I feel like someone is already listening to my wishes.

Projector phone – A device to convert my smartphone to a projector, without compromising the quality or animation of my presentation. I can either save the presentation on the phone, or connect my machine to it.