Competing in Smartphone Industry

by Mehdi Muntazir

Apple’s iphone which has dominated the cell phone industry for a long time seems to have some genuine and potential rivals. New wave of smart phones such as Google’s myTouch and Palm Pre have already created tons of buzz and more are yet to follow. In this increasingly competitive market it is to be seen how iphone will maintain its niche.

So far iphone has been a sheer success both in terms of sales reports as well as of customer satisfaction. Its 3.5 inch touchscreen has been a landmark in the industry and its sleek, intuitive design has attracted many to its customer base. With the ongoing trends in social media and information technology, demand for location based real-time information is surely bound to rise, which is sophisticatedly accomplished by built in GPS. Applications are perhaps the strongest, muscle Iphone has. Today Iphone has more than 50,000 applications with apps for just about anything.

Palm pre, which has been tagged as a major game-changer and iphone killer, was launched on 6th June. Concieved by the former head of Apple, Jon Rubinstein, Palm Pre is based on Palm WebOS, a linux based operating system, which allows multitasking, applications and social media integration. Equipped by physical keyboard, 3.1 inch touch screen, wireless charging and above all multitasking capability the phone certainly possesses all the ammunition to combat the powerful iphone. It also has some basis apps such as Yelp, Youtube, Google maps, Pandora etc and a lot more are expected in near future.
The launch was a success with reports of more than 50,000 sales nationwide in its first week. However the limelight could not stick with Palm pre much longer as Apple announced its next generation of Iphone, named Iphone 3G S, just a couple of days after Pre’s launch. Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference 2009, held at San Jose California on 8th June, also unveiled latest operating system OS 3.0 which brought an array of new features such as search function, copy/paste capability, multimedia messaging and voice recording. With addition to RAM, the new Iphone has increased speed: the reason it is called 3G Speed. A 3 megapixel camera, Video recording and editing capability, voice dialing/recognition and improved battery life are some of the most enticing newly added features. Perhaps the best one is the Compass tool which has already attracted developer’s attention. Some interesting apps are already on the way integrating camera, GPS, compass and internet connectivity together.

The competition heats up further this summer as T-mobile announced it next generation of Google’s G1 phone, named as my Touch 3G, to hit US markets on 5th August. G1 has been a success with sales of more than a million so far. Powered by Google’s open source platform, Android, MyTouch 3G offers 3.2 inch touch screen, WiFi, 3G and multitasking capability. It is thinner and slightly lighter than its predecessor and its sleek design has gathered some good reviews already.
With such a vibrant atmosphere in the Smartphone industry, it would not be an easy task for iphone to maintain its winning ways. One of the main strengths for smartphones today is the number of applications available for users. Google has already exceeded 5000 apps, which, even though much smaller in number than iphone apps, has been a great progress. As more phones are expected to employ Android open source operating systems, this number is increasing every day. On the other hand, Palm Pre SDK is based on Javascript which is much more commonly used then Oriented-C for Iphone, thus making the likelihood of more apps in short period of time.

One of the main strategies Apple has followed is to come up with new features which create a totally new genre of apps development. This time the addition of compass, video recording, voice recognition etc will drive the engine for apps development.
Having analyzed all the stats and features, there is no doubt that Apple’s Iphone is head and shoulders above the rest so far. Recently Apple announced that the number of downloaded applications form App store has exceeded 1.5 billion mark. With more than 65,000 apps available to 40 million iphone and ipod comsumers in 77 countries, there is no doubt that any competitor, who claims to be iphone killer, has to work wonders to turn the tables.

During the last six months Apple’s stocks have steadily surged from $80 to $140. This surely is one measure of their success. The good news from Apple’s point of view is, Steve Jobs is back in the office and with newly transplanted lever his appetite is sure to increase.

Innovations in Telecom

by Mehdi Muntazir

The evolution of wireless broadband technology has unveiled an entirely new genre of products, services and applications. Unprecedented technological innovations coupled with high speed wireless networks are yielding unprecedented benefits in every aspect of human life. Today these technological advances can facilitate many domains of individual as well as social issues.

On a personal level, people are using wireless networks to make live video calls, stream videos, interact on social media networks, download music and movies etc. The introduction of Smartphones has opened new doors and new opportunities for individual needs. Apple’s Iphone which is considered as the flagship of smartphone industry has more than 65,000 applications, many of which employ 3G or Wi-Fi. With more bandwidth and better mobile devices, new products and applications are on the rise integrating high speed networks with latest features. Iphone’s latest augmented reality apps which blend actual footage as seen by the camera with computer-generated data have created tons of buzz already. These augmented reality apps incorporate phone’s GPS, compass, wireless connection and camera into powerful, highly useful and time saving application.

On a broader level, these telecommunication networks are being used to improve social issues such as health care, environment, education etc. Telstra is the biggest and fastest telecommunications network in Australia. The company is renowned for pursuing challenging task, exploiting technology in an innovative and productive manner. In Australia, breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer related death. More than 2500 women died from breast cancer in 2005. Early diagnoses using digital mammographic screening can substantially reduce deaths from breast cancer. In order to combat the issue, national mammography screening program was established which is now known as BreastScreen Australia. At present, it operates in over 500 locations nationwide via fixed and mobile units.

In April 2008, a tele-health initiative powered by Telstra’s Next G UMTS network revolutionized digital mammography for women living in rural and regional Tasmania. With the integration of 3G broadband and digital mammography equipment, images can now be transmitted directly from any corner of the country to the radiology facility in Hobart. In the past images were couriered in hard form to the reading facility, a process which was both inefficient and time-consuming. The program has effectively reduced the time taken for individual mammograms to be transferred from mobile screening units to the reading facility from as much as 5 days to just a few minutes. As a result of this initiative there has been a 30% decline in the number of breast cancer related deaths, a commendable achievement by all means.

Telstra is also playing a leading role in reducing and avoiding carbon emissions. In October 2007 Telstra commissioned consulting company Climate Risk to produce a report “Towards a High-Bandwidth Low-Carbon Future”. The purpose of the report was to identify how people and businesses can reduce their carbon footprint using high-bandwidth telecommunications network and Australia can reach its Kyoto protocol objectives. The report shows how telecommunications network can help reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emission by almost five percent by 2015 and deliver up to $6.6 Billion a year in cost saving for Australian businesses and households.

Similar initiatives by Telstra and other companies worldwide are making new headway, employing telecommunications for addressing complex social task. It is imperative for companies to identify these opportunities and play an effective role for building a better society.