Are Smartphones the next best thing?

[marlof]

<a href="http://www.pmn.co.uk/public/ce/features/smart01.html">http://www.pmn.co.uk/public/ce/features/smart01.html</a><br /><br />Yesterday Andy and Jason told you about their vision on the future of mobile computing, and the transition to connected devices. Sandra Vogel at PMN asks if Smartphones are the next best thing:<br /><br />"Smartphones are the next big thing. Honest. They have the potential to provide both Great Unwashed Consumers, and Businesspeople of the 21st Century with information, entertainment, and the ability to talk to and otherwise communicate with anybody they wish, and to wrap these features up in hardware that can fit into any pocket. <br /><br />Well, that's the marketing-talk. The reality of smartphones as the devices that bring computing and communications together, has been somewhat less clear-cut. While in theory smartphones could be all things to all people, in reality they haven't managed to achieve this panacea. Why not? And could 2002 bring the genre any closer to achieving its golden aims, making smartphones as pervasive as PCs?"<br /><br />Questions, questions. The first part (also available in a <a href="http://www.pmn.co.uk/mobile/features/smart.html">mobile version</a>) that is published right now focuses mainly on what has been available in the Smartphone area right now, and the second part will discuss what is to come, trying to find answers.

[EllenBeeman]

I've been doing a lot of research lately on I-mode and J-phone in Japan, and how they've built this incredible market share in only a few years, and yes, I think Smartphones are the Next Big Thing. I think your average Americans (and many Europeans) will need to see what this technology can do for them before they really understand it. The Japanese consumers, with over 45 million of them owning I-mode or J-phone handsets, already "get it."

[JohnnyFlash]

Why not? And could 2002 bring the genre any closer to achieving its golden aims, making smartphones as pervasive as PCs?

smart phones are the next big thing and they will be more pervasive than PCs, more! smart phones will dwarf all currently existing PDA.

and it is yet open who will win the smatphone wars... :evil:

[marlof]

Ellen, I've seen I Mode recently in a demo, as it will be introduced to the Dutch market on April 18. I sincerely feel that this is a crippled form of connectivity that is great when there are no other forms of connectivity. But if I can get to the full internet over a regular GPRS connection, I wonder why I would limit myself to I Mode. Right now, they don't offer anything I can not access. To me, the future is in rich data that is accessible through broadband connections on full fledge browsers on your desktop, and on slower mobile connections on limited browsers on your mobile device at the same time. I want the same information everywhere, just presented in a way that is suitable for my device. I don't want limitations to the information I can get to, just because I use one kind of device! For those of you who speak Dutch, see a very good thread (http://www.pocketpc-club.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?topic=886&forum=4&17) on this topic at Pocket PC-Club.nl! But you're right in one thing: the success of I Mode proofs that connected devices can take off big, and that added functionality to a phone is not something people will neglect.

[EllenBeeman]

Marlof, my apologies, I should have clarified...I also agree that I-mode is not a very powerful wireless technology (though I admire the elegance of their implementation, despite the limited technology). But it shows that there is a huge demand for more than just a cellphone that makes phone calls! I believe I-mode is up to 31 million users, and J-phone (their leading competitor in Japan) is at 12 million users. When truly expansive and powerful wireless technology comes online, in the form of Smartphone and 3G, there will be a LOT of people who want to use it.