Mobile industry profile 1.1 - Modern Smartphones A smartphone is a mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanc advanced ed comput computing ing abilit ability y and connec connectiv tivity ity than than a featur featuree pho phone. ne. Th Thee first first smartphon smartphones es were devices devices that mainly combined combined the functions functions of a personal digital assistant (PDA) (PDA) and a mobile mobile phone phone or camera phone. Today's models also serve to players , lowend co compa mpact ctdigital digital cameras , poc!et video combine the functions of portable media players cameras, and "P# navigation units. $odern smartphones typically also include high resolution touchscreens, web browsers that can access and properly display standard web pages rather than %ust mobileoptimi&ed mobileoptimi&ed sites, lash compatibility, and highspeed data access via ii and mobile broadband . The most common mobile operating systems (#) used by modern smartphones include Apple App le's 'si# i#, "oogle's Android, $icrosoft's indows Phone , *o!ia's #ymbian, + +$' $'ss-lac!-erry #, and embedded inu/ distributions such as $aemo and $ee"o. #uch operating systems can be installed on many different phone models, and typically each device can receive multiple # software updates over its lifetime. The distinction between smartphones and feature phones can be vague and there is no official definition for what constitutes the difference between them. ne of the applicati ication on prog programmin ramming g inter interfaces faces most mo st sign signif ific ican antt diff differ eren ence cess is that that the the adva advanc nced ed appl (APs) (APs) on smartp smartphon hones es for for runnin running g third thirdpar party ty applic applicati ations ons can allow allow those those applications to have better integration with the phone's # and hardware than is typical with feature phones. n comparison, feature phones more commonly run on proprietary firmware, with thirdparty software support through platforms such as 0ava $1 or -+1. An addi additi tion onal al comp compli lica cati tion on in dist distin ingu guish ishin ing g betw betwee een n smartphones and feature phones is that over time the capabilities of new models of feature phones can increase to e/ceed those of phones that had been promoted as smartphones in the past. Platform Platform,, with more advanced advanced computing computing ability ability and connectivity connectivity than a feature phone.. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a phone personal digital assistant (PDA (PDA)) and and a mo mobi bile le phone phone or camera phone. phone. Today's models mod els also serve serve to combin combinee the functio functions ns of portable media players players,, lowend comp co mpac acttdigital cameras, cameras, poc!et video cameras cameras,, and "P# "P# navigation navigation units. $odern smartphones typically also include highresolution touchscreens touchscreens,, web browsers that browsers that can access access and proper properly ly displa display y standa standard rd web pages pages rathe ratherr than than %ust %ust mo mobil bile e
optimi&ed sites, lash compatibility, and highspeed data access via ii and mobile broadband.
1.2 History 1.2.1 Early years 1.2.1.1 IBM Simon The first smartphone was the -$ #imon2 it was designed in 3445 and shown as a concept product that year at 6$D17, the computer industry trade show held in as 8egas, *evada. t was released to the public in 3449 and sold by -ell#outh. -esides being a mobile phone, it also contained a calendar, address boo!, world cloc!, calculator, note pad, email client, the ability to send and receive fa/es, and games. t had no physical buttons, instead customers used a touchscreen to select telephone numbers with a finger or create fa/es and memos with an optional stylus. Te/t was entered with a uni:ue onscreen ;predictive; !eyboard. -y today's standards, the #imon would be a fairly lowend product, lac!ing a camera and the ability to download thirdparty applications.
1.2.1.2 The Nokia 9
The
*o!ia 6ommunicator line was the first of *o!ia's smartphones starting with the *o!ia 4===, released in 344>. This distinctive palmtop computer style smartphone was the result of a collaborative effort of an early successful and costly personal digital assistant (PDA) by
phone around that time, and early prototype models had the two devices fi/ed via a hinge. The 6ommunicators are characteri&ed by a clamshell design, with a feature phone display, !eyboard and user interface on top of the phone, and a physical ?1+T@ !eyboard, highresolution display of at least >=B5== pi/els and PDA user interface under the fliptop. The software was based on the "1# 89.= operating system, featuring email communication and te/tbased web browsing. n 344C, it was followed by *o!ia 433=, and in 5=== by *o!ia 433=i, with improved web browsing capability. n 344 the term 'smartphone' was used for the first time when 1ricsson unveiled the concept phone "#CC, the first device labeled as 'smartphone'.
1.2.2. Symbian
1.2.2.1. !ri"sson #$%
n 5===, the touchscreen 1ricsson +9C= #martphone was released. t was the first device to use an open operating system, the #ymbian #.t was the first device mar!eted as a 'smartphone'.t combined the functions of a mobile phone and a personal digital assistant (PDA). n December 3444 the maga&ine Popular #cience appointed the 1ricsson +9C= #martphone to one of the most important advances in science and technology. t was a groundbrea!ing device since it was as small and light as a normal mobile phone. n 5==5 it was followed up by PC==.
1.2.2.2. Nokia 921 "ommuni"ator
Also in 5===, the *o!ia 453= communicator was introduced, which was the first color screen model from the *o!ia 6ommunicator line. t was a true smartphone with an open operating system, the #ymbian #. t was followed by the 4E== 6ommunicator, which also was *o!ia's first cameraphone and first ii phone. The 49== 6ommunicatorwas smaller, and the latest 14= 6ommunicator includes "P#. The *o!ia 6ommunicator model is remar!able for also having been the most costly phone model sold by a ma%or brand for almost the full life of the model series, costing easily 5=F and sometimes =F more than the ne/t most e/pensive smartphone by any ma%or producer. 1.2.2.$. Nokia N9&
n *4E
i ne/t
0une 5==.
5== *o!ia launched the *o!ia which integrated a wide range of multimedia features into a consumeroriented smartphoneG "P#, a E megapi/el camera with autofocus and 1D flash, 9" and i connectivity and T8out. n the few years these features would become standard on highend smartphones. The *o!ia >33= *avigator is a #ymbian based dedicated "P# phone introduced in
n 5=3= *o!ia released the *o!ia *C smartphone with a stylusfree capacitive touchscreen, the first device to use the new #ymbian9 #. t featured a 35 megapi/el camera with 7enon flash able to record
until 5=33 when it dropped to second place behind "oogle's Android #. n ebruary 5=33, *o!ia announced that it would replace #ymbian with indows Phone as the operating system on all of its future smartphones. This transition was completed in ctober 5=33, when *o!ia announced its first line of indows Phone .E smartphones, umia 3= and C==.
1.2.3. Windows Mobile
'indo(s Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by $icrosoft for smartphones and Poc!et P6s. t is supplied with a suite of basic applications developed with the
$icrosoft indowsAP, and is designed to have features and appearance somewhat similar to des!top versions of indows. Third parties can develop software for indows $obile with no restrictions imposed by $icrosoft. #ome software applications can be purchased from indows $ar!etplace for $obile until it is discontinued on 4 $ay 5=35. $ost early indows $obile devices came with a stylus, which can be used to enter commands by tapping it on the screen. The primary touch input technology behind most devices were resistive touchscreens which did not re:uire a stylus and wor! with any pressed input method2 later devices used capacitive sensing. Along with touchscreens a large variety of form factors e/isted for the platform. #ome devices featured slideout !eyboards, while others featured minimal face buttons. n ebruary 5=3=, $icrosoft announced a new phone platform, indows Phone, to supersede indows $obile, incompatible with indows $obile devices and software. The final version of indows $obile, released after the announcement of indows Phone, was >.E.E. Phones running indows $obile cannot run software for indows Phone. $icrosoft says that the indows Phone operating system is incompatible with devices designed for indows $obile as ;indows $obile >./ devices do not meet indows Phone hardware re:uirements designed to ensure a consistent user and developer e/perience;, and software designed for indows $obile is incompatible with the new operating system.
1.2.4. BlackBerry OS
Bla"kBerry )S is a proprietary mobile operating system, developed by +esearch n $otion for its -lac!-erry line of smartphone handheld devices. The operating system provides multitas!ing and supports speciali&ed input devices that have been adopted by +$ for use in its handhelds, particularly the trac!wheel, trac!ball, and most recently, the trac!pad and touchscreen.
The -lac!-erry platform is perhaps best !nown for its native support for corporate email, through $DP 3.= and, more recently, a subset of $DP 5.=, which allows complete wireless activation and synchroni&ation with $icrosoft 1/change, otus Domino, or *ovell "roupise email, calendar, tas!s, notes, and contacts, when used with -lac!-erry 1nterprise #erver . The operating system also supports AP 3.5. Hpdates to the operating system may be automatically available from wireless carriers that support the -lac!-erry over the air software loading (TA#) service. Thirdparty developers can write software using the available -lac!-erry AP classes, although applications that ma!e use of certain functionality must be digitally signed. +esearch from 0une 5=33 indicates that appro/imately EF of mobile developers were using the platform at the time of publication.
1.2.5. iOS i)S (formerly i*hone )S prior to 0une 5=3=) is Apple nc.'s mobile operating system. riginally developed for the iPhone, it has since been e/tended to support other Apple devices such as the iPod Touch, iPad, and Apple T8. Hnli!e indows 61 ($obile and Phone) and Android, Apple does not license i# for installation on nonApple hardware. As of $arch >, 5=35, Apple's App #tore contained more than EE=,=== i# applications, which have collectively been downloaded more than 5E billion times. t had a 3>F share of the smartphone operating system units sold in the last :uarter of 5=3=, behind both "oogle's Android and *o!ia's #ymbian. n $ay 5=3= in the Hnited #tates, it accounted for E4F of mobile web data consumption (including use on both the iPod Touch and the iPad).
The user interface of i# is based on the concept of direct manipulation, using multi touch gestures. nterface control elements consist of sliders, switches, and buttons. The response to user input is immediate and provides a fluid interface. nteraction with the # includes gestures such as swipe, tap, pinch, and reverse pinch, all of which have specific definitions within the conte/t of the i# operating system and its multitouch interface. nternal accelerometers are used by some applications to respond to sha!ing the device (one common result is the undo command) or rotating it in three dimensions (one common result is switching from portrait to landscape mode). i# is derived from $ac # 7, with which it shares the Darwin foundation, and is therefore a Hni/ operating system. n i#, there are four abstraction layersG the 6ore # layer, the 6ore #ervices layer, the $edia layer, and the 6ocoa Touch layer. The current version of the operating system (i# E.3) uses roughly = megabytes of the device's storage, varying for each model.
1.2.&.1. The i*hone n 5==, Apple nc. introduced its first iPhone. t was initially costly, priced at I44 for the cheaper of two models on top of a two year contract. The first mobile phone to use a multitouch interface, the iPhone was notable for its use of a large touchscreen for direct finger input as its main means of interaction, instead of having a stylus, !eyboard, andJor !eypad, which were the typical input methods for other smartphones at the time. The iPhone featured a web browser that Ars Technica then described as ;far superior; to anything offered by that of its competitors. nitially lac!ing the capability to install native applications beyond the ones builtin to its #, at D6 in 0une 5== Apple announced that the iPhone would support thirdparty ;web 5.= applications; running in its web browser that share the loo! and feel of the iPhone interface. As a result of the iPhone's initial inability to install thirdparty native applications, some reviewers did not consider the originally released device to accurately fit the definition of a smartphone ;by conventional terms.; A process called %ailbrea!ing emerged :uic!ly to provide unofficial thirdparty native applications. The different functions of the iPhone (including a "P# unit, !itchen timer, radio, map boo!, calendar, notepad, and many others) allowed consumers to replace all of these items. n 0uly 5==C, Apple introduced its second generation iPhone with a lower list price starting at I344 and 9" support. +eleased with it, Apple also created the App #tore, adding the capability for any iPhone or iPod Touch to officially e/ecute additional native applications (both free and paid) installed directly over a ii or cellular networ!, without the more typical process at the time of re:uiring a P6 for installation. Applications could additionally be browsed through and downloaded directly via the iTunes software client on $acintosh and indows P6s, rather than by searching through multiple sites across the nternet. eaturing over E==
applications at launch, Apple's App #tore was immediately very popular, :uic!ly growing to become a huge success. n 0une 5=3=, Apple introduced i# , which included APs to allow thirdparty applications to multitas!, and the iPhone , which included a 4>=B>= pi/el display with a pi/el density of 95> pi/els per inch (ppi), a E megapi/el camera with 1D flash capable of recording ==,=== device record set by the iPhone , despite the iPhone # failing to impress some critics at the announcement due to their e/pectations of an ;iPhone E; with rumored drastic changes compared to the iPhone such as a new case design and larger screen. Along with the iPhone # Apple also released i# E and i6loud, untethering i# devices from $acintosh or indows P6s for device activation, bac!up, and synchroni&ation, along with additional new and improved features. There are about 9E percent of Americans that have some sort of smartphone. This shows that the mar!et is spreading fast and there are also more capabilities for smartphones because of this spread. #martphones are also mainly valuable based on the operating system. or e/ample, the iPhone runs on the i# and other devices run different operating systems which ma!es the functionality of these systems different.
1.2.6. Android +ndroid is a inu/based operating system for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. t is developed by the pen
"oogle purchased the initial developer of the software, Android nc., in 5==E. The unveiling of the Android distribution in 5== was announced with the founding of the pen hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. "oogle releases the Android code as opensource, under the Apache icense. The Android pen #ource Pro%ect (A#P) is tas!ed with the maintenance and further development of Android. Android has a large community of developers writing applications (; apps;) that e/tend the functionality of the devices. Developers write primarily in a customi&ed version of 0ava. Apps can be downloaded from thirdparty sites or through online stores such as "oogle Play (formerly Android Market ), the app store run by "oogle.
As of ebruary 5=35 there were more than E=,=== apps available for Android, and the estimated number of applications downloaded from the Android $ar!et as of December 5=33 e/ceeded 3= billion. Android was listed as the bestselling smartphone platform worldwide in ? 5=3= by 6analys with over 9== million Android devices in use by ebruary 5=35. According to "oogle's Andy +ubin, as of ebruary 5=35 there are over CE=,=== Android devices activated every day.
1.2.,.1. alay Neus/ the latest 0oole phone0 The Android operating system for smartphones was released in 5==C. Android is an opensource platform bac!ed by "oogle, along with ma%or hardware and software developers (such as ntel,
n 0anuary 5=3=, "oogle launched the *e/us ne smartphone using its Android #. Although Android has multitouch abilities, "oogle initially removed that feature from the *e/us ne, but it was added through a firmware update on ebruary 5, 5=3=. 6oncerning the 7peria Play smartphone, an analyst at 66# nsight said in $arch 5=33 that ;6onsole wars are moving to the mobile platform;. n the same month, the
1.2.7. Bada The -ada operating system for smartphones was announced by #amsung on 3= *ovember 5==4. The first -adabased phone was the #amsung ave #CE==, released on 0une 3, 5=3=, which sold one million handsets in its first wee!s on the mar!et. #amsung shipped 9.E million phones running -ada in ?3 of 5=33. This rose to .E million phones in ?5 of 5=33
