Top Click Media Staff Blog » SmartPhones

Nokia Opens up its System to Developers

Matt Thomas — Fri, 01 May 2009 07:00:06 +0000

In these days of iPhones, Blackberries, Palm Pres, etc., it can be easy to forget that the mobile phone market is not actually dominated by RIM, Apple or in fact any Smartphone maker. Yes, it’s still the case that, in a world where most people cannot afford the upper end devices, the company that makes the more affordable phones reigns supreme – that’s why Finnish company Nokia are still number one in the mobile phone market.

That’s not to say that they aren’t worried by the new players encroaching on their territory. On the contrary, over the past few years, Nokia has seen its market share shrink as users seek to upgrade from their last generation phone to Blackberries, G1s and iPhones. In response, it seems they are taking a leaf out of the smart phone book and opening their technology up to developers.

One of the main reasons that the G1 and the iPhone have been so successful is the baffling range of innovative software available to users. This range has been achieved thanks to platforms like the App store that allow developers access to their devices’ technology and operating systems. This has allowed independent developers to build and release programmes for those phones.

This is a good relationship for all as it allows developers to make money and garner publicity from downloads and provides the device with an almost limitless array of programmes games and applications.

The Nokia platform is in its early stages of development though it’s fair to assume that it will have some kind of payment element to attract the hundreds of developers now making a living solely out of designing programmes for mobile devices.

This new initiative comes during an intense period of change for the company, they are about to make around 450 of their
workers redundant to eliminate duplications resulting from acquisitions they have made recently. The company is also taking steps to make sure its various mobile programmes are better linked.

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Vodafone – HTC deal in the offing

Jay Smith — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:17:19 +0000

Today Vodafone is closing in on a deal with mobile phone manufacturer, HTC. If successful, HTC will construct the latest version of the ‘Google phone,’ for Vodafone – the device will run on the Android operating system and is provisionally known as the G2. The companies hope to have a deal in place in time for an announcement at the Mobile World Congress. The industry’s annual trade show opened in Barcelona on Monday and now looks likely to be the phone’s launch-pad.

HTC have significant experience in this area after designing and building the original G1 SmartPhone which was launched by T-Mobile last year. Tempting HTC to switch teams for the follow up would be a significant coup for Vodafone.

The so called G2 is likely to be only one part of a glut of new Android phones expected to flood the market in the coming months. Numerous manufacturers, including industry giants like Samsung, Motorola and LG are currently working on their own versions. However, HTC are expected to have the edge since they are the only company with actual market experience selling an Android phone.

It’s the sheer variety of Android based devices that will have Apple worried. Over the next couple of years or so, innovation in the Android market is going to be powered forward by the kind of competition impossible for one company, however big or innovative they are.

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Dell Smartphone?

James Oliver — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:49:24 +0000

The Smartphone market has seen huge growth over the last few years though the sector remains fiercely competitive, with the Apple iPhone, the RIM Blackberry, the G1 and others involved in a brutal battle for every customer. This might, you’d think, deter new entries to the market from even trying, but not so according to the blogs. Rumour has it that Dell is contemplating a late entry into the market very soon.

Actually, according the rumours their doing much more than contemplating it. The PC maker, which has been having difficulty reversing the steady decrease in its market share over the last few years, is thought to have developed early versions of its phone for both the Windows Mobile platform and the Google Android operating system. According to some sources, and I must state that this is far from confirmed, the phones could be launched next month.

Dell does have some prior experience with smartphone type devices, until 2007 the company sold a PDA entitled Amixa. Perhaps a bigger clue to the veracity of the rumours however, is the appointment of Ron Garriques in 2007. Garriques is a former head of phone development at Motorola.

Only time will tell whether this is the real thing, or just another blog rumour.

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Adobe Flash on iPhones: not any time soon

Matt Thomas — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 13:17:47 +0000

Adobe Flash is a pretty ubiquitous programme, used to view documents and graphics on macs, PCs, pretty much any system actually. For this reason the almighty hoo-hah made about developing the thing to work on the iPhone has surprised many. The work to get the system up and running for iPhone users has been going on, and on, for some time now and doesn’t seem like reaching a conclusion any time soon, especially after CEO Shantanu Narayen acknowledged the difficulties at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“It’s a hard technical challenge, and that’s part of the reason Apple and Adobe are collaborating… The ball is in our court. The onus is on us to deliver.”

The delay is a little embarrassing, particularly after a conference in November where Adobe claimed as part of a company presentation to be “Taking the full Flash Player and making that run on the higher end of the mobile market.” – Kevin Lynch, Chief Technology Officer.

It’s worth remembering that the word iPhone was absent totally from that presentation. They did however claim that they would be 1 billion Flash-enabled phones by the close of 2009. Right now it looks as if they’re going to have to do that without the market leader.

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Palm Pre may be a iPhone Competitor

Matt Thomas — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:39:05 +0000

We’ve spoken on this blog at length about how important the latest Palm SmartPhone is for its manufacturer. The struggling company has essentially put all its eggs in one basket with the new Pre, with most analysts predicting that the company doesn’t have another failure in them. This, by all accounts, is their last roll of the dice.

It’s a good job then that, according to bloggers who’ve been lucky enough to play with the new phone at the recent CES, it’s a good’un. Like the iPhone, the Pre features a touch screen, the interface with which works similarly to that of Apple’s market leader, you pinch to zoom, etc. The phone, also like the iPhone, has an excellent browser and works on the 3G network as well as WiFi, it also comes with 8 gigs of memory like the iPhone – No 16 gb version though, I’m afraid.

Basically the Pre is, on many levels a comparable device to the iPhone. The only real innovation that separates it is its slide out QWERTY keyboard. As anyone who has tried to type anything of any length on Apple’s touch screen will tell you, this could prove to be a real selling point.

Taking on the market leader is still a big task however and a good device alone may not be enough.

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