There’s a lot going on in the mobile world these days. Big names want our attention, and they’re hard pressed to keep it for more than the two seconds it takes for the next best mobile thing to arrive. Well, not quite that quick, but you get the idea. The latest addition to the group is the much talked about, supposedly highly anticipated, Android from Google. Which technically isn’t a cell phone but the software used by the cell phone. A minor detail.
Research In Motion continues to dominate the enterprise world with its Blackberrys; Apple’s hanging with the cool kids on the corner sporting iPhones; and I think there are a couple others, but their names elude me. Which is to say, who cares about Nokia and Microsoft? Although, Nokia does offer a worthy alternative with its N95. Still, no one is talking about Nokia.
There’s more to it than just a bunch of big hitters stepping up to the plate with new gadgets, we also have to consider what’s tied to these phones when it comes time to get one. The iPhone is stuck to AT&T at the moment, but has an awesome Apps Store. Google is stuck to T-Mobile and HTC (for now, at least), but is offering an open platform for cell phones which includes Chrome. RIM isn’t stuck to any of the carriers, but they’re losing hype and recently decided to partner with Microsoft. (Microsoft’s way of staying relevant in the mobile world, by offering its services via RIM’s Blackberry.) All these groups see web use moving to your hand held device and they want in on the action. You definitely see it in the geek world with more and more web services offering mobile apps or SMS connectivity, but so far only the geeks are really using mobile services like Twitter or BrightKite.
Whether or not there’s a real demand for this much competition in the smart phone world remains to be seen, but for those of us fascinated with new tech toys, we’re enjoying the show and anxious to see where all this is going. What will be the ultimate deciding factor, and is there one? Applications? Network speed? Device performance? Or really slick design? If I had to guess, for most people, it’s being able to make a call.
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