Five key handheld trends for 2009

Will 2009 be Google Android's year?

With the Google Android operating system (OS) well on its way for a fight with the likes of Microsoft's Windows Mobile, Apple's mobile OS X and Nokia's Symbian, 2009 will be a good year for smart handsets. Even with the recession hanging over our heads, companies like Palm, RIM and Microsoft will still be coming out with improvements to their products to hang on to or improve their market share. It won't be without a fight though, as all these companies go head-to-head to make sure they get an edge over their competitors. We highlight five key trends that they might be working toward in this coming year.

1. Leaner selection of device models

Companies which license Windows Mobile from Microsoft are a dime a dozen. That's why you see so many devices from a wide range of brands. Because we are in a state of recession, that's not going to happen in 2009. Users are going to be more careful with their purchases and small-time players with just a few products in their portfolios will be the hardest hit. That's not to say that high-end handsets won't sell--they still will, but consumers will change devices less often and probably just pick one good one from a big brand to stick with. Big players like Samsung and HTC probably won't flood the market but will instead stick with a core selection of handsets. It will be the same story for Android-based devices and we are unlikely to see a crazy number of products from the manufacturers in the Open Handset Alliance.

2. Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency

Smart phones are getting more and more powerful. Currently, Asus has one, the P565, with an 800MHz processor, and others will follow for sure. That, coupled with the power-hungry wireless radios integrated into handsets, means battery life will take a hit. Already, chip-makers like Qualcomm have platforms which have chipsets that integrate many functions into fewer parts. Granted, this is not new and many brands' chipsets already do lots for the phone manufacturers. But this will be more critical this year as smart phones become more important and having good battery life gains traction as one of the key deciding factors for end-users.

3. Closer Web integration

These days, few people use computers without an Internet connection. The same will eventually be true for smart phones as many tasks we perform become greatly dependent on being connected. While desktop software for phones will continue to exist, being able to sync directly to the "cloud" is the way to go.

Many email services including those from RIM, Nokia and Microsoft are already available as over-the-air solutions. But this has to go beyond just corporate email and scheduling and extend to every aspect such as personal emails, phone syncing and backups, and even photos. Apple's MobileMe is an example and Palm also claims to be able to do something similar with its upcoming WebOS. Microsoft is also rumored to be offering something along these lines with an update of its Windows Mobile OS soon.

4. Even greater focus on user interface

The rise of the iPhone showed everyone that the user interface (UI) is extremely important. Manufacturers have tried over the past two years to spruce up their UIs. Windows Mobile licensees do this using a separate application over the default Microsoft platform but this often resulted in sluggish devices because of the additional processing demands of the software. RIM has been notably putting greater focus on the multimedia capabilities of its handsets, and as a result, the BlackBerry's interface has also undergone a facelift. It's not just about looking pretty but about making tasks easier to perform, and that should be a major focus this year.

This leads me to another point--the App Store. Apple has nailed it in a way that no other OS has, making it dead simple for the average Joe to find and install third-party applications. Every other major smart phone OS has talked about their plans to offer something similar and we should see some of them rolled out within the year.

5. Multitouch

It has been about two years since Apple first announced the iPhone, and to this day, there are still very few mobile devices that come with multitouch. Take the HTC G1. It has a capacitive touchscreen display, which means it is capable of detecting more than one point of contact, but the OS has not enabled such a feature. The only smart phone maker aside from Apple to officially support multitouch is Palm (LG also has multitouch on its Prada II handset but that's more a feature phone) with its upcoming WebOS. It won't be the last though, and I expect to see other manufacturers stepping up to include this feature. Android developers have already proved that it can be done with a hack and it won't be surprising to see Google officially endorse this soon.