Mobile Today has managed to get a quote from O2UK’s Director of Devices and Solutions – in that quote, Ian Clarke says that the iPone has acted as a catalyst for design, interface, and also the usage of mobile data – and this has spurred other manufacturers on.
Mr. Clarke also says that 2009 will even more innovation on touchscreen, plus (more advanced) cameraphone functions. Things like face detection, on-device editing, are those advanced features which have started to appear – driven by a trend of consumers wanting a camera and phone in one apparently.
Apparently there will also by more Android devices, and then from an economic perspective, customers keeping their devices longer – meaning that at contract renewal it will be an incentive from the network, rather than a handset, that could keep the user on the network. Finally, there will also be more a focus on environmental options.
Personally, I think he’s on the money in all cases here – be they smartphone or not, more devices will come with touchscreen, and better cameras. Also, I presume we can take the Android comment to mean that O2 will be launching one or more Google-powered devices this year.
But I think the most telling point here is the economic one – moving from a culture of subsidised handsets and more expensive contracts, to cheaper ones without the contract. Being an O2 sub myself, this is exactly what I have done with the simplicity tariff, and so far I am loving it! And because I am using my existing handset, it’s environmentally friendly too, since I’m not adding to the devices stockpile 🙂
What are you thoughts for trends in 2009? Any killer initiatives out there that you think will dominate the industry….?
[Via: Mobile Today]