Google Inc. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt outlined a vision of the future in which computers help people remember things, prevent them from getting lost, drive people's cars and instantly translate phone conversations.
Appearing onstage at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference, Mr. Schmidt said the combination of cloud computing and powerful mobile phones will also enable Google to one day tell people things they may want to know as they are walking down the street, without having to type in any search queries.
"Think of it as a serendipity engine," he said, a reference to the company's nearly ubiquitous Internet search engine. He predicted that this would be one of many "new services that make your life just work."
Mr. Schmidt added that new computer technologies are creating a world in which people will never be lonely because they can always connect to some friend online. Nor will people be bored, he said, because there is always some form of content or entertainment available on the Internet.
This future, he added, will eventually be available to billions of people around the world, rather than "just the elites."
But Mr. Schmidt was careful to note that these new services will require that people consent to sharing information about themselves so Google can better target its services. He said ongoing debates about privacy and data encryption are "healthy" because the ability of powerful computers to process and manipulate information raises issues that are unresolved.
Asked about Google's mobile advertising revenue, Mr. Schmidt reiterated that it will one day surpass Internet ad sales, but he noted that mobile ads are not now and will not soon be material for the company's financial results.
