Hands0n
21st March 2009, 06:17 PM
Apple iPhone, Google G1, Nokia 5800, HTC Magic and Palm Pre are all either here now or very very imminent. Yawn, so flipping what!
Could anyone have imagined two years ago that the bar for such sophisticated devices would have ever reached these heady heights? Remember, these are all "soft" phones in that they can be added to remotely and without any manufacturing plant. Just a modest software factory will do nicely thank you. That and some, probably Chinese, manufacturing plant for the actual hardware to literally "print" these out by the millions each year. The profits for the manufacturers are likely to be enormous, particularly the start-ups as opposed to the entrenched.
For a very classic example of these "soft" phones one need look no further than the Apple iPhone. Within months software version 3.0 is coming out, free of any charge, that is purported (and reported) to cause a dramatic change and enhancement to the device. All Apple have to do is get it working and push it out over the wire.
Google go one better, I am told, and push these kind of updates out over the air! How cool is that? One can only expect Palm to do the same with their Pre. Nokia, no doubt, will continue to use their own NSU utility, at least for now one would think.
Not only all of that, but these handsets are starting to be given away, or modestly priced, on very ordinarily priced contracts - Nokia's 5800 comes free on Vodafone's (http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/catalog/compatiblePlanListView.jsp?dependantSkuIds=sku6900 25&phoneType=post&skuType=phoneSku&selection=null&initalFilters=flt_paymonthly&_requestid=507297) £25 per month plan, albeit with bugger all data on the plan in typical Vodafone fashion. But you get my drift.
So where does that leave every single other phone out in the market? Well, if truth be told, there appear to be plenty of people who do not want the "iPhone experience" if I may call it that. Very many people seem quite happy with their standard candybar, slider or clamshell handsets. I would say that the majority feel that way.
But for those that are into this experience the bar is now very high and the differentiators are very narrow between all of these new handsets.
Having had practical use of an iPhone since soon after its availability in the UK and also spent some time with a Google G1 to handle I do think that the outcome for all the manufacturers is going to be which UI becomes favourite. It is very unlikely to be who's OS is able to multi-task or not, that is all way too geeky for the masses. Instead, I feel, it will be down to how easy and simple it is for someone new to one of these to pick up and make use of straight away. And for me the decider is whether or not the handset comes with a manual in its box. It takes a very confident manufacturer to send out such a device without the ubiquitous 500-page manual. Even my Nokia 6300 comes with a manual that would hold a door open.
But this is all very well and good. What happens next? How do manufacturers improve the hardware of these devices without going into making minor tweaks that are expensive to manufacture. Each production line costs a small fortune to set up and get up to speed with sufficient quality. But if these same companies rely upon a stable hardware and use software only to improve where are the economics in that?
Yes, the bar has been raised. Not only for us buying customers but also the manufacturers. The only winners, it seems, are yet again the mobile network operators.
Could anyone have imagined two years ago that the bar for such sophisticated devices would have ever reached these heady heights? Remember, these are all "soft" phones in that they can be added to remotely and without any manufacturing plant. Just a modest software factory will do nicely thank you. That and some, probably Chinese, manufacturing plant for the actual hardware to literally "print" these out by the millions each year. The profits for the manufacturers are likely to be enormous, particularly the start-ups as opposed to the entrenched.
For a very classic example of these "soft" phones one need look no further than the Apple iPhone. Within months software version 3.0 is coming out, free of any charge, that is purported (and reported) to cause a dramatic change and enhancement to the device. All Apple have to do is get it working and push it out over the wire.
Google go one better, I am told, and push these kind of updates out over the air! How cool is that? One can only expect Palm to do the same with their Pre. Nokia, no doubt, will continue to use their own NSU utility, at least for now one would think.
Not only all of that, but these handsets are starting to be given away, or modestly priced, on very ordinarily priced contracts - Nokia's 5800 comes free on Vodafone's (http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/catalog/compatiblePlanListView.jsp?dependantSkuIds=sku6900 25&phoneType=post&skuType=phoneSku&selection=null&initalFilters=flt_paymonthly&_requestid=507297) £25 per month plan, albeit with bugger all data on the plan in typical Vodafone fashion. But you get my drift.
So where does that leave every single other phone out in the market? Well, if truth be told, there appear to be plenty of people who do not want the "iPhone experience" if I may call it that. Very many people seem quite happy with their standard candybar, slider or clamshell handsets. I would say that the majority feel that way.
But for those that are into this experience the bar is now very high and the differentiators are very narrow between all of these new handsets.
Having had practical use of an iPhone since soon after its availability in the UK and also spent some time with a Google G1 to handle I do think that the outcome for all the manufacturers is going to be which UI becomes favourite. It is very unlikely to be who's OS is able to multi-task or not, that is all way too geeky for the masses. Instead, I feel, it will be down to how easy and simple it is for someone new to one of these to pick up and make use of straight away. And for me the decider is whether or not the handset comes with a manual in its box. It takes a very confident manufacturer to send out such a device without the ubiquitous 500-page manual. Even my Nokia 6300 comes with a manual that would hold a door open.
But this is all very well and good. What happens next? How do manufacturers improve the hardware of these devices without going into making minor tweaks that are expensive to manufacture. Each production line costs a small fortune to set up and get up to speed with sufficient quality. But if these same companies rely upon a stable hardware and use software only to improve where are the economics in that?
Yes, the bar has been raised. Not only for us buying customers but also the manufacturers. The only winners, it seems, are yet again the mobile network operators.