All three phones are designed to eat into the dominance of Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android platform, as part of a fierce battle to gain market share in the highly lucrative hand-held devices market. While in the consumer space handheld devices are becoming commoditised, in the business sector there is still money to be made with all the key players jostling for position by preparing to introduce new features all aimed at luring people away from Apple and Android devices, said Mark Seemann, CTO for Outsourcery.
The Windows Phone 7, which will allow users to edit SharePoint (Microsoft’s web portal technology) documents on the move, is an attractive feature for people who need access to documents whilst they work on the go, commented Seemann. However, most of the new features of this phone are around consumer multimedia capabilities and consumer software applications linking the phone with Microsoft Live, Microsoft’s consumer web platform.
Following the recent CEO change, Nokia is widely being viewed as a rising star in the market with its aggressive pricing which many experts believe will deliver considerable market share. The new Nokia N8 is powered by the new Symbian 3 software and has unified communications software pre-installed, which is a boon for businesses wanting to use Microsoft’s Unified Communications Technology, said Seemann.
It also has improved multi-tasking, yet many of the new capabilities are targeted at the consumer, such as improved graphics, multi-point touch and multiple home screens. The BlackBerry Torch 9800 runs the new OS 6 and again has many improved consumer features such as an improved 5MP camera and integrated social networking and although it features a slide out QWERTY keyboard, the touchscreen interface features heavily.
Nevertheless, these phones are able to compete with Apple on a large market scale, remarked Seemann: “From a business perspective, both Microsoft and Nokia have been historically strong, but their market shares have weakened lately. RIM’s BlackBerry devices have seen continued success within the business market and with the imminent launch of the BlackBerry Torch its success could continue into the next year.”
Smartphones are not the only market that RIM is looking to compete in, with the announcement of the launch of its tablet device, the PlayBook. Like its rival, Apple, BlackBerry is determined to ride on the back of the wave.
Seemann added: “The key driver for smartphones is the growing demand for people wanting to work remotely and it is this flexibility that has fuelled the growth in sales of Apple’s iPad which is effectively a hybrid PC/smartphone. BlackBerry is determined to capitalise on this market with its imminent launch of its own PlayBook.”