One day soon, your car will be in sync with the calendar on your smartphone, helping you to get where you need to be on time.
Your wardrobe will help you select what to wear in the morning. Even the humble toothbrush will have a mind of its own, alerting your dentist when you are in need of a check-up.
Sound awesome - or scary?
Either way, this is the not-too-distant future as we migrate to the fourth generation of wireless technology, or 4G.
The 4G network - which is technically 3.9G - is not so much a new technology as an integration of all of the platforms already available.
Its biggest plus point is wider bandwidth. As with 3G, it allows users to be continuously connected to the internet when they are in range of a network, only at much faster speeds. With download speeds of up to 150 megabytes per second, it should enable users to download high-definition video to their phones and tablets, and allow them to access e-mail and other online applications more easily.
The UAE is leading the field in the Arab world, with the telecommunications providers Etisalat and du planning to launch 4G networks in the coming months.
"The crucial thing in any telecommunication for multimedia, for real-time video, real-time audio and virtual reality, is the bandwidth," says Dr Eesa Bastaki, the chief executive of the ICT Fund in Dubai, which provides financial support and advice to information technology companies. "If you have enough bandwith, you can do miracles with it."
To date, however, handset manufacturers have failed to keep pace with network operators.
"The technology is there. All the applications are ready. We just need the devices to be ready for it, so we need the vendors, the industry, to create this," Dr Bastaki says.
One of the biggest winners will be the healthcare industry, he says.
It is envisaged that tiny sensors in patients' bodies will alert doctors to any potential problems. Even the blood will be monitored, improving the treatment of conditions such as diabetes.
"You can even have a small microchip in your eye. The microchips will talk to each other so when I meet you I can know who you are, [what] your name is and when I have met you."
Transactions will also be faster and more secure, and business travel could become obsolete as virtual meetings become more practical and effective.
Even the most mundane of daily tasks will be improved by 4G.
"Every machine will connect to every machine, so wherever you go whatever you do, they are always connected," Dr Bastaki says. As an example, he says, your coffee machine should automatically know how many sugars you take.
Dr Bastaki says that much of this technology - such as the eye microchip - is about 20 years away but that some of the healthcare innovations are just around the corner.
There is a price for this increased connectivity, however: some experts warn that faster connection speeds could lead to bigger bills for consumers as a result of their increased use of data services.
Etisalat aims to roll out its 4G services in the UAE in the third quarter of this year.
"We're ahead of the devices that are in the market," says Ali Al Ahmed, the company's chief corporate communications officer. "Why are there no devices? Simply because there are very few countries in the world that have invested in it. Everyone is going to, but it's going to take time."
A pilot of the 4G technology was tested by du in April. Its commercial launch is slated for the second half of this year.
"We are in the process of selecting and co-operating with the right partners, to enable our customers to be among the first users of [4G] in the world," adds Hatem Bamatraf, the senior vice president of network development at du.
