If there is one industry that gives you the perception of moving forward but is really just stagnant at this point, it is the smartphone industry. Sure, some progress is made every year and it will be made for the foreseeable future, but each new smartphone seems to be an incremental update.

There used to be a time when each year's smartphone used to bring something completely new to the table. Something that millions of people immediately found to be useful and actually had an impact on the way they lived and worked.

Nowadays, it's just about doing something faster, taking better photos, better UI and stuff like that. Also, new features mostly seem gimmicky and don't have that same effect in the lives of millions of people.

So, this raises the question: Have smartphones peaked? Well, the answer is yes and no. Technology, if worked on for a given period of time will always move forward. And so will smartphones. But, for the time being, at least, it seems like smartphones have stagnated. There are, however, some cool new technologies that could change this in a big way.

1. Breakthrough Battery Life

One of the technologies that haven't kept pace with some other ones is battery life. We all have the same 1-day battery life that we used to have more than five years ago. There are a number of reasons for that. Our screens got better and bigger. Processors got faster. Graphics got better. 4G came. All of this puts a huge demand on batteries. It's actually amazing that we still have a day's battery life.

Now, to really impress people, something radical has to happen in this space. Something like all-week battery life. That will certainly get people interested and drive them numbers up like never before.

2. Long-distance Wireless Charging

This one is another biggie and has the potential to spill over to other industries as well. Wireless charging, in its current form, is not really wireless charging. You still have to place your smartphone on a charging mat which is connected to a power outlet with a wire.

True magic will happen when long-distance wireless charging happens. It will be similar to how wifi works. Your phone can charge itself from any location by a charging device that is far away from you. If that is achieved, the battery won't even be that big of an issue since it will always be charged!

3. Foldable Phones

If you've watched Westworld, you know how cool foldable phones can look. I mean, who doesn't want something that can act as your smartphone as well as your tablet! It would be ridiculously more useful and cool.

Many companies have already delved into this but the results haven't been that groundbreaking. At this point, this technology is more of a proof of concept. In the future, however, this is bound to get real. Once that happens, we can see consumers finally get excited about the 'next big thing'.