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The smartphone war
These are the top-end mobiles. In the future they will be our primary means of internet access, camera, video recorder and GPS device. They will spell the end of specialist devices for these functions. They are already doing so with MP3 players.
The Swiss army knife of mobiles is known as the ‘smartphone’. Such phones have huge screens and high-speed mobile internet access. They have multimedia, GPS and enough power for sophisticated games. They are progressively supplanting the various specialist devices for the services that they cover. Manufacturers give their all in design because these are their calling cards. Operators make them the centrepiece of their marketing campaigns. They will allow increased consumption of mobile data and contents – the two markets with the brightest future.
In the midst of such a severe crisis, sales of smartphones are growing, while those of other mobiles are falling. Gartner predicts that mobiles will overtake computers as a means of internet access in 2013. In that year there will be 1.82 billion smartphones in the world and 1.78 billion computers. In fact they are already selling well on both the mainstream consumer and business markets, for they provide a continuous mobile internet connection. Leisure and the office come together under the umbrella of the internet.
Open operating systems
Smartphones are beautiful and powerful and they do everything. Dizzying functions and possibilities accelerated by constant launches of new models. The latest battle is that of operating systems, imposed by the imperative to access the mobile internet. The traditional operating systems developed by manufacturers for their mobiles (of which there are dozens) are set to pass into oblivion.
The iPhone’s facility for browsing the internet has shattered the captive world of manufacturers and operators, which allowed only awkward access to operator portals. Open Linux-based operating systems are now becoming the norm, allowing easy internet access and browsing. As occurred with the Android, Google's operative system, Microsoft ushered in the 7 with fanfare at the recent Mobile World Congress, correcting the deficiencies of previous versions.
This year we will see a battle for control of the mobile internet and access to mobile contents. The result will be non-stop launches of spectacular smartphones.
SEE: Top 10 of Cell Phones (December 2010)
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Published in Electronics and Telephony by Susana Blázquez on 01/02/2011
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