Smartphones have evolved significantly from early devices in the 1990s to become powerful computers with touchscreens, apps, and connectivity. The smartphone market is currently dominated by Android and iOS devices, though other platforms like Windows Phone aim to compete. The growth of smartphones and tablets is driving major changes in consumer expectations and the technology industry overall.

1. Smartphone Technology

2. IntroductionWhat is a smartphone?What’s their history?What does the market look like today?Where is the market going in the future?What does this all mean for us?How do we develop for these devices?What’s our current capability?

3. ReferenceNo widely agreed definitionWikipedia offers us:“…a mobile phone that offers more advanced computing ability than a contemporary feature phone…”“…smartphones and feature phones may be thought of as handheld computers with a mobile telephone…”

4. Most are a mobile phoneMost have Wi-Fi connectivityMost have a large touchable screenMost have Bluetooth connectivityMost have a cameraMost have GPSMost have enough processing power to be considered an ultra-mobile computerCommon Hardware Features

5. All support AppsAll have an App StoreAll have a version of Angry BirdsCommon Software Features

6. TimelineRIMAndroidSymbianHTC DreamBlackberry 5810EricssonR380Nokia N9000AppleiPad200120102007200019972002199619922008Samsung Omnia 7IBM SimonApple iPhoneEricssonGS88Kyocera 6035iPhoneWindowsPhonePalm

7. Total SalesSource: Gartner (April 2011)

8. Smartphone MarketShare 2010Source: Gartner (April 2011)

9. Market Share TrendSource: Gartner (April 2011)

10. Symbian will die outAndroid will begin to dominate will own the low-to-mid end marketiPhone will remain 2nd and continue to own the high end marketBlackberry will remain 3rd and continue to own the business market.Windows creates uncertaintyBehind the numbers

11. iPad First Quarter SalesSource: Bernstein Research (October 2010)

12. Total Tablet Sales

13. Change in expectations Shift away from websites to websites + (complimentary) apps59% of smartphone users downloaded an app this monthThere’s an App for that!

14. Total Number of Apps

15. App Growth

16. Desktop Market Share

17. Propriety IDE available (Apple’s XCode)Development must be performed on a MacObjective C is programming language of choiceApp distribution is via tightly managed iStoreiOS Development

18. Learned from Apple’s “mistakes”Open Source IDE available (Eclipse)Development can be done on any major desktop OSJava (Davlik VM) is programming language of choiceApp distribution is relatively loosely controlledAndroid Development

19. Years of experience keeping developers happyFree and propriety IDE (Visual Studio)Development is aimed at Windows.NET programming languagesApp distribution is relatively loosely controlledWindows Phone Development

20. Multiply development costsAdobe Air offers alternativeWrite once deploy anywhereAdobe platform not aimed at the business usesNothing stopping platforms banning itApple’s already tried!HTML5 offers an interesting alternativeMulti-Platform Development

21. Mobile applications – Bruce Power (Energy) and Transport Scotland (Public Sector)Smartphone applications – BMI Check-in, Mobi-ticket, Queue Measurement (all Transport)First iPhone app – Infrastructure ManagerFirst Android app – Transport ScotlandFirst Blackberry app – 3rd party partnerCapability

22. Smartphone and Tablet signal a divergence in computing platformsCustomer expectations are changingWhere’s the app?Changing technology marketNow Microsoft and Oracle but Google has emerged as key technology vendorSmartphones are affecting the whole marketImprovement in mobile phone networksChallenges

23. Neil Loganneil.logan@amorgroup.com@neil_logan