Telephones obviously now require a 4K video output

LG 4K upscaling

A mobile phone with a 4K output? The world hasn't exactly been in stasis while it waits for one of these, but it's a fascinating development anyway

There is virtually insurmountable evidence that we're in an era of exponential change. Quite simply, the rate of change in technology is increasing. In fact, we've always been in this era; it's just that until recently (let's say the last 50 years, although that is very much a matter of definition), the rate of change has been slow enough that it has looked more linear - a gradual slope, in other words.

But now, we're approaching the point where the rate of change looks vertical. From our perspective things are happening faster than we're expecting.

Just look at 4K! Barely talked about a year ago, it's now the hottest buzzword in both consumer electronics and pro-video and film-making.

And things are starting to happen that I don't think anyone would have predicted.

Take this new phone from LG, for example. Revealed at the recent Barcelona Mobile World Congress, LG's smartphone is now able to take a game you're playing on your phone and - in the phone! - upscale it in real-time to a 4K output.

Note that the game itself is not being generated in 4K, it's just the output, but, as you can see in this CNET video, the results are impressive and certainly very usable.

Just to put this in perspective: we've been talking in RedShark for some time about the likelihood of the new Playstation 4 supporting 4K. Well, we've just had it confirmed that it does - but only for playing back media. What it won't do (at least when it is launched) is play games in 4K. Don't forget that this is a next-generation state-of-the-art console with mega graphics and an 8 core processor.

And yet, here's a mobile telephone that can also output 4K.

We didn't see that coming. Except for this.

Here's CNET demonstrating LG's 4K upscaling phone: