The smartphone industry is mainly driven by Apple’s market share growth that has been 10x higher than its competitors within the last year. On the other hand, Apple has faced tough competition by key smartphone manufacturers. For instance, Nokia sold approximately 18,441,000 units in the Q2 of 2009, and RIM (Blackberry) sold approximately 7,680,000 units. During the same period, Apple sold approximately 6,900,000 units. Other key players in the smartphone industry are HTC, Fujitsu, Sony and Motorola.
Android OS
For many consumers, the main competition is between the iPhone and the Android OS that was launched in the market in 2008. According to a survey conducted by ChangeWave, 4,068 consumers believe that Motorola Droid is a direct threat to the iPhone and also one of the best smartphones available on the market today due to the native support for Exchange, the unified contact list and the exceptional new mapping and navigation application from Google. Besides, 21% of respondents who plan to buy a smartphone within the next 3 months they would prefer a smartphone that features the Android OS.
However, in the Q4 of 2009 the Android OS was ranked second in consumer preferences among the key mobile operating systems, after iPhone OS which remains the number one choice for operating systems.
iPhone
If one needed to put a hierarchy in the needs of consumers that are targeted by smartphones, then the most important would be (1) handling phone calls including battery life and call quality; (2) sending text messages; (3) handling email; (4) navigating phone numbers; (5) featuring web browsing; and (6) featuring advanced customization. And the truth of the matter is that the iPhone performs well or even shines in all of the above.
Although competition is tough, the iPhone is currently the landmark of the smartphone industry, for the most part because it features amazing technological advancements. Without neglecting the fundamentals of a phone such as calling and texting, the iPhone offers the in-between extras of other higher priced phones such as web browsing and Bluetooth, and a unique 3.5″ touch screen that packs the device’s exceptional technology. The latest model of the iPhone, the iPhone 3GS, runs twice as fast as any 3G model, from switching apps to opening attachments and sending text messages, and has a longer battery life although high-speed networks need more power.
Android OS or iPhone?
One of the reasons that the iPhone will continue prevailing in 2010 is because the iPhone features the touch screen. The Android OS comes with a QWERTY slider keyboard that, no matter how good it is, it cannot have the same on demand, streamlined, glossy feel of the iPhone.
Another plus for the iPhone is that its advanced technology and high quality parts allow anyone to create and publish games and apps to the Internet for download, thus offering the ability to create a huge variety of apps specialized for the iPhone alone. This means that as the iPhone’s popularity increases, the developers of an application will enjoy greater earnings.
iPhone or any other competitor?
For its fiscal Q3, RIM reported $3.9 billion revenues, up 11% from fiscal Q2 and 41% from the Q3 of 2008. Net income for Q3 was $1.10 per share versus 69 cents in the Q3 of 2008. Research In Motion (RIM), the company behind the BlackBerry, delivered more than 10 million mobile communication devices during the Q3 alone. Besides, the company estimates an increase of 6.8% to its subscribers from 4.4 million to 4.7 million.
On the other hand, for many consumers and telecom analysts, RIM delivers short. If they do not rewrite their OS from scratch, they are likely to be left behind in the mobile OS battle and 2010 will be a critical year for them.
In conclusion, the iPhone is likely to dominate the market in 2010 as well. Although competition is tough, the RIM’s limitation to deliver on long-term and the fact that Android is still experimenting with Google being on the lead for entering its own branded phone, leaves iPhone on the top.
Christina Pomoni has acquired her MBA Finance from the American College of Greece. Her advanced familiarity with financial statement analysis, capital budgeting and market research has been acquired through her professional career at high-esteemed organizations.
One of the first things people try to look for when they get a new phone are the included video games. While most of the Google Android smartphones do not have that many games built in, there are plenty of free ones available from the Android Market. Here are a few that you might want to cock a snook at:
Bubblewrap – Not so much a video game as a way of life, this frighteningly realistic bubblewrap simulator allows you to do everything you could ever want to do with a piece of bubblewrap, without having to waste any valuable plastic packing material.
Using the touch screen, you can press the various bubbles in the wrap matrix, which then visibly burst, accompanied by a popping noise and a vibration from the phone. A great way to work out your frustrations and wear down your battery.
CB Blackjack – The classic card game gets the smartphone treatment with this classy version by Hudson Soft. It can be played with the touchscreen or the trackball, and is easy to control with either device.
CB Klondike – If you are a fan of Solitaire, which has been available with Windows operating systems since the year dot, then you will probably want this version, which is by the far the best version for the Android so far.
Charlene Beachside Reversi (aka CB Reversi) – A classy adaptation of the classic Othello board game, controllable either with the trackball or the the touch screen. There is also a two player mode, and a helper mode for beginners.
Coloroid – The aim of the game in Coloroid is to turn the whole screen one colour by choosing adjacent colours for your swelling mass to adsorb from a list at the side of the screen. Recommended.
Divide and Conquer! – If you have ever played the classic mobile game Trap before, then you will know how to play Divide and Conquer, which is basically the same game, but given the touch screen smart phone treatment. The aim of the game is to segregate a certain proportion of the screen from some deadly bouncing balls by drawing lines with your finger.
Vodafone offer a huge range of mobile phones and price plans. If you like smart phones, you will love the HTC Magic with its fast internet for express browsing and downloads.
Customers can either choose to pay 20 cents for each outgoing or incoming text message or they can subscribe to a texting plan Are data plans now required for some phones on AT&T and Verizon’s networks?Yes, AT&T and Verizon are each requiring midrange cell phone owners to subscribe to data services as part of their cell phone purchase. Now the list of phones that require this plan has grown and includes new activations of the LG Chocolate Touch, LG EnV, LG VX8360, Motorola Entice W766, Nokia 7705 Twist, and Verizon Samsung Cell Phones Alias2 Verizon Samsung Cell Phones – Great news for those who like Yap is: Verizon Wireless cut the price of its unlimited voice plan of $ 99.99 to $ 69.99 per month in January 18 Then when it’s time for a new phone, and they have to, which has used the Internet in your pocket because they move to a 4G phone, possibly with a cost.
Verizon Samsung Cell Phones – In general, I am more than a little surprised that Google has chosen to also avoid any other of his companies and hardware partners and go with an offer of branded products in partnership with HTC and T-Mobile, especially since the price is age subsidized telephone ago. Verizon, which has to be partnering with Motorola Droid only a few months ago, is probably very angry that AT & T announced (plans, has five terminals can be located in Hall Android), and Sprint And pragmatically, what other options have agents and hardware developers? Symbian, withering on the vine? Windows Mobile, which has disappeared from the speed and the next iteration v7 Steve Ballmer to Keynote barely mentioned in the night? To make Google in the driver’s seat with Android, and now seems intent on maximum return on your investment. showroom had a cell phone from Verizon is a similar device, a variant of the Samsung computer Mondi LTE and WiMax hand, that contact over the Internet. LTE Samsung has a digital camera and a digital photo frame not only upload the photos automatically with the framework, but also the transmission of live video from the camera to the frame.
LG is not in the showroom of Verizon, but a statement Thursday that the company is a fast modem additional LTE in its booth at CES capacity of 100 Mbit / s discharge and 50 million bits of files – even faster than the optical fiber in the home, and much faster than Verizon’s first deployment of LTE. Sprint Curve 8530 is as fun as it is intelligent, with an emphasis on multimedia features like music and video player with dedicated buttons at the top of the phone, including a headphone jack for listening to 3.5 mm. CELL Toshiba TV: The TV does not require a remote control, but the crowd just wave their hands in the air to control the menu, fast forward movies, and the volume up or down. Blio E-Reader: The application blio e-Reader software, any laptop, netbook or a smartphone into a rich picture, a full color scanner off. The gadget like a laptop, which is independent of the keyboard, the screen is as big as the iPhone, and is ideal for reading digital books. Infoscape Intel: Intel multi-touch display, showed that between two and seven by seven foot high definition displays are constantly changing array of 576 blocks, each of them a picture, video or other piece of training Internet content 20,000 Source lines and more than 20 sources.
Check it out at Verizon Samsung Cell Phones.
There’s a continuing battle going on between the various smartphone operating systems on the market, but which one’s best? Let’s take a look at the three front runners.
Sony Ericsson Satio
It’s fair to say that the Sony Ericsson Satio is easily one of the most hotly anticipated phones of the year. On the face of it, the big reason for the excitement is its 12 megapixel camera, and whilst that is a force to be reckoned with, there’s so much more to the Sony Ericsson Satio. It’s the first ‘Entertainment Unlimited’ phone, and that doesn’t just mean it combines Cyber-Shot and Walkman technology. On top of that, the Sony Ericsson Satio is also going to pull in social networking, high quality games and incredible video services to become a one-stop mobile entertainment hub. It promises far more than that, however, as the Sony Ericsson Satio is also powered by Symbian, giving it true smartphone capabilities, which will no doubt include its very own app store.
Motorola DEXT
The first important fact about the Motorola DEXT, and the bit that has made it so talked about, is its interface: Google Android, with MOTOBLUR riding on top. As it’s the first Android phone to focus on social networking as its key feature, the Motorola DEXT has garnered an awful lot of trade and consumer interest. It’s certainly more of a looker (especially in the interface, the newly designed MOTOBLUR UI) than previous Android phones, and that fusion of enhanced looks and the still-awesome power of Android makes the Motorola DEXT a very compelling phone indeed. If social networking is your thing, this is the phone for you.
HTC HD2
The Sony Ericsson Satio is easily the best camera phone on this list, and the Motorola DEXT has the edge in terms of interface, but why is the third phone, the HTC HD2, so much better? The answer lies within the processor hidden inside the HTC HD2, as it’s the first phone in the world to come with a 1GHz chip. Or, in other words, it’s little short of a laptop in the body of a mobile phone. So, the HTC HD2 promises to be faster and smoother than any other mobile phone on the market. Ally that with the unique 3D interface running on top of Windows Mobile, and you get a phone that truly is a joy to use. There’s also one other fact that can’t be denied…
Quite apart from it being hyper-fast, with an incredibly fluid interface, the HTC HD2 also has the biggest screen on the market, coming in at an unbelievable 4.3 inches. That’s a lot of real estate on screen, and it means that even previously fiddly menu bars are now finger-friendly, given the massive screen size. And as for the virtual keyboard on the HTC HD2, the extra size makes it little different from typing on a physical keyboard. Add in the rage of impressive features, including a 5 megapixel camera, broadband-fast internet access, a superb music player and GPS, and it adds up to a simple fact: The HTC HD2 is quite simply the best Windows Mobile phone, and maybe even the best PHONE, ever made, and it utterly canes the other two on this list.
Expert on mobile phones, having worked in the industry for over 7 years.
