1. According to David Cearley of Gartner, as phones and wearable devices become part of an expanded computing environment, it's the overall environment that will need to adapt to the requirements of the mobile user. How much attention do you think is required for user experience design?

The only way to ward off obsolescence is by making our products future-ready and plan as if tomorrow is here. LeEco’s brand proposition is about developing products and services as part of an ecosystem that is entirely oriented to enhancing lifestyle experiences. Time has come that every consumer durable electronics manufacturer should and must think about his products being compatible in IOT environment. For example - A Refrigerator manufacturer should and must ensure that his refrigerators are compatible with wearables and smartphones through which it can be controlled and operated. If that doesn't happen, the manufacturer would lose out . I will give another example - Let's talk about our VR headsets. We give utmost importance to user experience design. We not only have taken care of ergonomics, but ensure that our products are comfortable during usage. 

1. From new display technologies to high-end features like optical image stabilization and fingerprint sensors becoming mainstream, a lot has happened in 2015. What do you think can be done to leverage the present smartphone capabilities as a part of their innovation?

There is a lot that can happen on the innovation front in smartphones. As I mentioned before, a lot of works can be done in the field of ergonomics. With BYOD or BYOP a trend that’s gaining some momentum, a smartphone therefore needs to function as a virtual office. There is still some distance we need to cover in this area, but rest assured we are fully engaged on developing solutions not only for a smarter work place but for an overall more enhanced lifestyle.   

The concept of “Internet of Things” might look new, but it’s actually not. Some of the primitive wearable devices working on “IoT” principles are the devices related to identification and security. The Id card one wears at work is a basic example of a wearable device providing identification and security functions.

Now integrate this wearable to smartphones and what you get is immense utility of Superphones. Take the case of fingerprint scanners in LeEco’s Superphones. As fingerprints are stored in users’ Superphones, we can have a system where as soon as an employee comes into the WiFi zone of the office, the access control system of the office recognise the employee’s attendance at that time.

1. Tell us how smartphones can be promising in the IoT space? What level of changes do you expect to see in the way industry’s use of smartphone continues in 2016?

One example I will illustrate is of a doctor using a LeEco Superphone stethoscope. The doctor in question can use either the phone's speaker or our bluetooth headphones to hear the heartbeats. He can see the graphical representation on the phone screen or on our VR headsets. We can use Superphones not only in health, but in other industries too. Banking is another sector where we can derive the benefits of combining our Superphones and IOT.

1. How receptive do you see the Indian market is to the emerging trends of smartphone technology? What are your suggestions for the budding entrepreneurs in India?

India is the second largest smartphone market in the world. Wearables working on IoT principles connected to mobiles like our Superphones, is the next big and powerful thing to happen in India. As India embarks on building Smart Cities, Smart Health, Smart Manufacturing and Smart Agriculture, Superphones which are already wired to operate as part of an intelligent ecosystem will certainly play a significant role in translating this blueprint to reality.

Budding entrepreneurs can contribute immensely in terms of innovations in the smartphone application side. There is huge potential for entrepreneurs to work on more utility-enhancing wearables based on the IoT principles. As Indian consumers move towards a device driven Ecosystem world, start-ups need to focus more time and energy on how to work in such an environment and help India build smart societies of the future.