This guest post was provided by our good friend Zagg.com—a leading provider of iPhone Skins. A company that loves gadgets just as much as we do.
Predicting the future with any degree of certainty is impossible. Now watch me do it. Here are three mobile trends that will affect the coming years…
AMOLED’s are somewhat of a bittersweet feature for smartphone users. On one hand, they’re simply gorgeous when the lighting is right, with crisp, vibrant colors jumping off screen that put traditional LCD’s to shame. Besides good looks, AMOLED’s are functional too — saving a considerable amount of your precious battery due to their energy sipping requirements. Outside in the open air and light however, that love story quickly ends in you seeking divorce as the super display inside becomes utter garbage outside.
The above is what AMOLED users have experienced over the last few years in the various forms that OLED’s have actually made it to market in so far. You trade outdoor visibility for dramatically improved indoor visibility. The newly announced Samsung Wave pushes past the old norms and stereotypes however, and truly knocks one out of the park with the Samsung Wave and it’s downright beautiful “Super AMOLOED” display.
While the Samsung Wave in and of itself isn’t anything special, resisting the urge to buy one of the display alone is a consideration rolling through many of your heads right now. Unlike traditional OLED displays, the Super AMOLED display on the Wave works like a champ in even the brightest outdoor settings, leaving us to wonder how we ever got along with normal OLED’s all of these years. And staying true to it’s OLED nature, battery usage is at a bare minimum. Oh happy day. Need proof? Let the video do the talking.
Oh yeah, I can’t wait for this tech to come to other manufacturers and phones. It seems we geeks will once again be able to venture outside in the near future and be able to actually see the displays on our OLED equipped phones. Such a sweet moment that will be…
For better or worse, passengers on Turkish Airlines will soon be able to traverse the (literal) air waves of the planet when tens of thousands of feet above the ground and yack away on their phones as long as they please. The new found mile high yackery is being brought to Turkish Airlines passengers compliments of Panasonic Avionics who has won the sole contract to provide the tech.
Out of the 12 Boeing 777-300ERs and 10 Airbus A330-300 aircraft that Turkish Airlines maintain, the first plane to receive the full allotment of upgraded communications will hit the scene sometime in Q4 2010. While I’m generally opposed to having to be stuck next to someone yacking away about god knows what, mobile phone use of any kind in the skies is a big plus — one that the bureaucracies in the US have failed to grasp so far.can’t Believe me, every time I see or hear some stupid message about “mobile electronics never being allowed during takeoff/landing”, I literally want to punch the nearest person. It’s more frustrating than anything. But I digress.
Turkish Airlines passengers, be sure to let us know how it all goes down this winter.
While we’d like to think of that the White House of all places in the country would employ some sort of high tech form of mobile device inventory, from the picture above we can see that simply isn’t the case. No sir. There isn’t any advanced monitoring chip, no fingerprint/BlackBerry add-on, and no retina scanner built into the camera. It’s good ‘ol sticky notes for the fine leaders of our country.
The only sad thing that I’ve come to realize is that a politician (“Rice” in the picture above) has more phones than I do — 3 to be exact. I can’t imagine why anyone would need three BlackBerries. Though perhaps my confusion and inability to understand is merely jealousy taking over…?
Look back in time through your typical magic ball and observe how Microsoft at one point had a commanding grasp of many aspects of the technology market. From smartphones to computers to software, Microsoft controlled it all. The last 5-6 years however have seen a massive influx of both hardware and software options from various start ups and seasoned veterans all looking to get in on a piece of the pie Microsoft ate by itself for so long. The days of the Microsoft rule are over. Don’t understand what I mean? Just look at the desktop/laptop computer industry. While true that Microsoft still commands a crushing majority, Apple has moved from lower single digit numbers to hovering around double digit numbers in recent years — especially these past 2 — for the first time in history. Even with the Mac/Apple market share slipping ever so slightly this past quarter, overall growth and momentum is strong and unlikely to shrink. The smartphone industry has also seen major concessions from Microsoft. Windows Mobile at one point was “the” mobile OS of choice for it’s sophistication, customization, and scalability. Now all it’s known for is old, archaic, slow, and outdated software that only old, uncool people lose. It’s this “uncool/old” image that is destroying Microsoft.
Looking at the most popular and widely known computer scene, Microsoft for the longest time has joked and criticized the “Apple tax” — that is, the “tax” customers pay when purchasing Apple computers. Microsoft’s current CEO, Steve Ballmer, claims you pay for the logo. Anyone who has used computers extensively knows that it’s more than a logo. It’s the streamlined and tight knit integration between hardware, software, and peripherals. Whether or not OS X is your cup of tea is another story. Regardless, Microsoft has repeatedly said that Apple computers are too expensive and that their own computers are built to get the job done and capture the mid to lower end market. Microsoft’s low-end market is in greater danger than ever.
If we step away from traditional computers and look at the gaming and audio player markets, we see two distinct and different outcomes. The Xbox 360 is a raging success. People love these things. From the large library of games to the fantastic and hands down best online gaming network available, Microsoft really hit the ball out of the park with this one.
In regards to music players, Microsoft has always had a thing for making it big with their own iPod of sorts. Their first venture was the ill-fated Toshiba built player that no one remembers. It suffered from all around lack-luster averageness oozing from every imaginable opening. Their second attempt however — the Zune — is proving to be a much better though still not iPod like success. Better marketing, more third party support, and a tighter integration with other products such as the Xbox 360 and Live Marketplace have actually developed into worthy alternative to the whole iPod/iTunes ecosystem. Again, props where they’re due.
With the extremely quickly growing popularity of Android and slapping it on anything with a circuit board and processor, Microsoft has a new sector of the market to watch. While Microsoft requires OEM’s to pay for Windows licenses that are proportional to the actual price of the hardware being installed on, it’s still often too much for the bottom basement products which don’t have much wiggle room in the area of price. This is where Android excels. It doesn’t cost money to buy licenses. Putting Android on cheap, underpowered units suddenly get a breath of fresh air as Android also benefits from just being all around a better mobile performer. Need I not remind you that it started as a phone OS with meager specs and is now being placed on netbooks and some laptops.
The current outlook for Microsoft is just so-so. Windows Mobile 6.5 regardless of how much “The Balms” claims to be a success is anything but. It’s a few .png’s and .jpg’s over the basic core of Windows Mobile 6.0. That basic core was outdated and crap several years ago. What makes them think some cheap lipstick is going to add value and make it better?
Heck, even on the dekstop software front, Microsoft isn’t the king they once were. Granted they’re still a major software company, with Office and Windows being their bread and butter, but with more Macs and OS X as well as smaller, cheaper software options getting tried due to a less than optimum economy means Microsoft is getting hit on all sides.
One of Microsoft’s biggest corporate offerings, Microsoft Office, is even beginning to get panned for being to bloated, increasingly difficult to learn and use, and becoming too hard for IT departments to support. Plus, you can’t mention software woes without mentioning Vista. While the few months leading up to Windows 7 were rather uneventful, the first year was a nightmare — aiken back to Windows ME days. It is Vista that directly caused many to defect to other platforms such as OS X and Linux with many vowing never to return. These kinds of things may seem small when looking at Microsoft’s still large 3/4+ market share of the OS market. 
Though getting comfortable and falling asleep behind the wheel can have dire consequences later on down the road. We can’t forget the other office suit offerings either. Apple’s iWork and the popular open source Open Office suite are two of the biggest secondary options to those tired of the traditional Microsoft suite. Will the onslaught ever stop?
In short: No. Now that other manufacturers and developers have gotten their feet in the door, it’s only going to get more crowded with even more competition. But better things are to come. Windows Mobile 7 is set to drop late next year. While the pictures of the OS and murmurings of features coming to the next generation of Microsoft’s mobile OS sound good now, the release date still isn’t slated for late in 2010. How far along will Android be? What about Apple? Hell, what about Symbian? The first two in particular have already made it very clear through continuous software updates and bug fixes that they are fast, lightweight, and able to push out updates precisely and on time — something Microsoft simply can’t do being the giant company that they are.
I can’t predict the future, nor can anyone else. Microsoft has a few gems waiting in the quarry. Rough hands and tools for some and a gentle polish for others will turn those gems into some truly remarkable products. As much as I criticize them, I remain optimistic. Just think what a revolutionary Windows Mobile 7 would do for the industry. Can you imaging Android and Apple having to catch up to Microsoft? It’s funny to think about now seeing how far Microsoft is behind, but flip flops in this industry can happen in an instant. Just look at the whole gorey mess surrounding the CrunchPad.
Lest we not forget the Microsoft Surface. Many years of development have culminated in a device/software that is extremely capable and is being used in all kinds of unique ways. As time goes on and developers and consumers have more access to Surface, it’s portfolio of useful applications will only grow. I would venture out and say that the Surface is easily one of the best thing to come out of Microsoft within the last decade — besides the Xbox 360 of course.
What’s your outlook? Does Microsoft have what it takes to reorganize their priorities and the company as whole, getting them back on track to pushing out phenomenal products? Or has their innovation and dominance run it’s course with the following decades highlighting a slowly shrinking computer company? It’s up to you to populate that box down below…
For once in my short lifetime I can finally say we here in the U.S. have a cool mobile technology before our tech god cousins in Japan. That gift is Android. The Android scene in Japan has been pretty much non-existent with NTT DoCoMo’s plans to actually release an Android device(s) remaining fairly stagnant. Heck, it’s been a good year since DoCoMo first announced they were going to release Android handsets. Their stalling is another carriers talking point as SoftBank has announced that they plan on releasing an Android powered device next year. Sharp meanwhile also announced Japanese bound Android support though their “device” included an “s” so perhaps NTT DoCoMo is finally getting that ball rolling.
Some may discount the fact that Sharp is but one player in the hardware market in a country that is chock full of mobile devices. Wile true, Sharp just so happens to be the largest mobile hardware manufacturer in the land of the rising sun. That fact alone means any decisions or technologies they choose to introduce will actually reach quite a few people.
Since Japan does enjoy several mobile technologies that many other earthlings can only dream of, Android does have to be tweaked as it’s been stated that the OS will support custom Japanese technologies such as seg-1 (mobile tv standard) as an example. Given the added develops being added to the Japanese flavor of Android, a delay on DoCoMo’s part doesn’t seem as far fetched. Still, a year without any major advancements is a long time.
Any Japanese readers eagerly anticipating Android’s touchdown?
Ah the classic story of two companies battling it out over naming rights. Today’s match up has Nokia with their “Ovi” mobile store pitted against Brazil and their ringtone/SMS news alert service dubbed “Ouvi”. Off the bat it’s worth noting that both Ovi and Ouvi are pronounced exactly the same. Nokia does have the deeper pockets as the company currently known as “Ouvi” is much smaller and therefore has less cavernous pockets. However, team Ouvi does have some legal weight on their side. The most notable aspect of Ouvi’s case is the fact that the registered the domain name “ovi.com.br” way back in 2004. So, who do you think will win. The deep pocketed Finnish favorite or the legally sound underdog?
Owners of T-Mobile’s G2 Touch across the pond are no doubt all too familiar with the latest shinning example of how carriers can really botch a handsets reputation. What do I mean? The G2 Touch received a recent firmware update from HTC to fix a number of stability, speed, and other various issues that plagued the handset since launch. Even though T-Mobile’s G2 Touch and the more commonly named “Hero” are the same phone, it is only those who own the un-TMO-fied Hero that are able to take advantage of the major update. What’s the deal? You see, every carrier thinks they are the end all be all of the world. They feel that no matter how “perfect” a phone is from the manufacturer, there is always something they can do to fuck touch it up. This isn’t anything new. Not by a long shot.
Since the original iPhone debuted a little more than two years ago, mobile internet usage has sky rocketed. Naturally, resellers want to get in on this lucrative market and make put a few bennies away in the bank. You may have noticed in recent outings to the well known electronics giant, Best Buy, that their mobile phone section got a relatively large boost in size. It is all part of their grand plan to open 40 new, standalone mobile phone stores in hopes of capturing a bigger chunk of all U.S. mobile phone sales, 15% to be exact. In case your inner cat had a case of curiousness, Best Buy currently accounts for roughly 3% meaning they’ve got to have improvements upwards of 500% — no small task to say the least. Though the goal is lofty, no date has been set as to a “goal date” in which to reach that goal. Slow and steady always beats fast and rushed everytime. Now if only Best Buy would drop the ridiculous and infuriating habit of using nothing but dummy phones…
Source: Phone Scoop, WSJ, Image Source
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