3GSM preview: On with the show
Quirky new form-factors are another tactic employed by mobile manufacturers to differentiate themselves in an increasingly commoditised market. However where once the Zeitgeist was tuned into smaller and smaller handsets, the reverse now appears to be true, thanks to the rise of the smartphone. Devices that incorporate sophisticated capabilities such as video, email and Internet browsing will comprise 9.3 percent of all mobile phones sold in 2009, compared to 3.7 percent in 2004, according to Jupiter Research. But although it is relatively easy to say that smartphones are going to become increasingly popular, trying to identify what will constitute such a device in three years time isn't quite so clear. Martin Garner, director of wireless intelligence at analysts Ovum, claims his organisation has done a lot of research into the evolution of smartphones and PDAs and concluded that there is an awful lot of innovation to come. "Both are quite good categories but there is something else missing between the smartphone and the PDA. I think if someone cracks the connected PDA and can really do a very good job of it--and I suspect that we are not that far from it--I have a feeling that there are a lot of people who would carry one of those and a simple phone, rather than a laptop." Garner claims that Nokia came close to such a hybrid device with its 9210 Communicator and its 770 Tablet, but hasn't cracked it yet: "I think that it is a very important area but no one has got the form-factor quite right yet," he says. "The HP iPAQ is nearly there but has no keyboard and Sony Ericsson squashed the screen on its P990 and took away one of the best features," he adds. | |||||||||||||
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