Top predictions for mobile in 2011 !

Usually i don't write about such things, but hey, 2010 was an exciting year for mobile technology, and i'm sure, as many of you, dear readers, that the next 12 months are sure to bring even more advancements, services, gadgets and nice products, thanks to the constant agressive war between phone and OS manufacturers that push things further and further. Indeed, here’s what I’m expecting, and even hoping, to see from the mobile technology space this year.

Nokia : 

- I guess Nokia’s smartphone market share will stabilize between 38 - 40% as cheaper Android phones will flood the market by the second half of the year, from Samsung mainly.

- The company will continue to tout MeeGo, which will become available in the form of 4 devices in 2011, (3 handsets and 1 tablet).

- Symbian will be stronger, 2011 will be the year of the "half-way" come back (the user experience will be improved a lot).

- It'll be probably insane but i expect to see Windows Phone 7 on a Nokia device later this year, but, as a short-term trial strategy for both parties.

- OVI services will be improved a lot :

* I expect to see some OVI Movie service with high def content Dolby Digital Plus powered.

* OVI Store will do fine, i hope we'll see some UI overhaul as well.


Android OS Improvements :

- Android phones will come closer to rivaling the user experience of Apple iOS devices. Until that, i'll get an Android device.


Tablets :

- 2011 would be the year of the tablet : BlackBerry, Motorola, HP, more from Samsung and at least one model from Nokia.


Others :

- The companies that make the image sensors in smartphones are also introducing models that support 1080p video, which means full HD on a mobile phone by the end of the year (from SonyEricsson and Nokia)

- Flash is going to be less adopted mobile technology by the end of the year but not dead.

- Location based services will be expanded.


Well, those are my top predictions for mobile in 2011, but i want to hear yours. Let me know what trends, devices and technologies you expect to see take hold in the mobile space in the new year !

Happy new year to y'all :)

Thoughts about Nokia, Symbian, Maemo, MeeGo, IOS, Android...!

I usually do not write articles like this, but it becomes heavy to bear to read negative reviews about Nokia, Symbian, Maemo and the future of symbian ^ 4, in a fierce market more increasingly "dominated" (mindshare) by Android and Apple platforms IOS ...

That said, my idea for a while was that the staff management nokia does not really have a "clear" idea about their environment (clear targets : where are we, where we would come, do we care about other brands?)... and this has been the case since the launch of the ridiculous iPhone (that i own now!), a ridiculous phone (one and only one phone) that establish "standards" of the smartphone market every time !

It is as if Nokia has ever existed ! Which is true in some ways, Nokia was not a real product competitive in the smartphone market touchscreen (N810, 770 etc.) except the 5800 and in some ways the N97 ... but never an iPhone Killer. .. I say iPhone because it's the one that changed the strategy of all firms in the mobile's area in the last 3 years ! including Nokia ...

It's true that Nokia has made an ashamed move by releasing the N900 (Maemo 5) and i was really happy to see finally an iPhone Killer, but things weren't as expected, the N900 and Maemo 5 is one of others (or another) project in dust by Nokia, a beta testing platform not destined for the large public, and "abandoned" by Nokia itself to make MeeGo... WTF !?

I mean, what Nokia are doing is just catching up with Android and IOS until now...but let me make things more clearer...take a second and think about it a little :

- MeeGo will be rolled out on Media phones, Netbooks, Pocketables/Handhelds, In-car entertainment systems as well as Connected TVs, that's really great, Nokia will probably have a great opportunity to implement OVI services everywhere i guess ! Meanwhile, the open-Community is getting really excited about MeeGo being an open platform.

But is MeeGo the way to go?

As we learned till now, Manners maketh a man, Services maketh a platform !

How can they bring back the massive “Faithful” user-base which Google has acquired with Android !? The constant support and community interest is currently reflected in the constantly evolving ANDROID

What i mean, i'm afraid of the fact that "whatever MeeGo or symbian^4 can do, Android and IOS already does and Does it Better" but i'm still confident and sure that Meego will be an iconic plateform and will establish "standards", and i can give many reasons with out thinking much:

- MeeGo can work on any Hardware platform like intel chips, X86 and ARM.
- MeeGo Platform is completely open source.
- MeeGo contains QT as UI development.
- MeeGo is not locked to any language like JAVA.
- MeeGo comes from already proven platform like Maemo.
- Develop the application once and use it on many devices.

Android and IOS sure have probably the bigger mindshare for now, but I believe MeeGo platform is intrinsically superior, because they share more of their platform with upstream project and use a Native SDK by default. Ultimately I don’t see any of those two die soon.

Are they going to become the new enemy brother in a long genealogy : vi vs emacs, gnome vs kde, MeeGo vs Android ? I don't think so because already stated that it'll compete with ANDROID and IOS by Symbian^4 but meego will be mainly for tablet and pc like superphone, but hey wait a moment ! We are not talking anymore about OS and Services here but also about User Interface !

Nokia, did you see some videos on youtube demonstrating some UI wow effects on some iPhones and Android phones? Do you certainly agree when i say it's just something you're dreaming about in your promo videos (Except the N900) !




Do you want me to show you something about the iPhone's one (with the latest IOS 4)? No, not really ;)

So what you have to do really is making UI as close to real life experience and that is easy to operate as it is our natural way of acting - this may change way we operate mobiles, Symbian^4 has to deliver something... of top quality and be the most intuitive and attractive one beside MeeGo ! But then, why didn't you buy WebOS? Are you happy now that one of the most talented WebOs User Interface Designer has gone to Apple? That sounds good doesn't it?

And android 3? Do you know that the whole interface will be something like this :



Or let's talk only about windows 7 !





And now what? I'll drop my complaint right here : as you know, i own many many symbian devices from Nokia 7650 to Omnia HD and Vivaz, i'm going to buy the N8 also, because till now symbian plateform is the only one that offer a rich and advanced multimedia experience in a well balanced combination... i own also an N900 which is a really great multimedia and social ready device...Ok till now :

What you don't know probably, is that i own an iPhone 3Gs and i'm thinking to sell my N900 or at least don't use it as my primary device, but why? In one word : the iPhone is simply great ! (yeah i was one of those heaters...) :

- Apple's sense of design and integration is impeccable. (and i don't have iPhone 4 yet !)
- Fantastically capable, flexible device (no lags, fluid UI even while surfing and listening to music etc)
- You don't have to be smart about how you use apps to avoid draining the battery
- I have the right applications for all my needs, games all of kinds and needs (even a METALLICA games, my favorite band) and while im a Muslim, i've a plenty of Islamic apps, especially in this Ramadan holly month ! With N900 : Zero (one or two) !
- Great inboard keyboard, i don't need a real keyboard anymore...

Wake Up Nokia ! Sooner, I'll make a side by side comparison with N900 vs iPhone and you'll be blowed !

Android (Donut) boots on the n900 !

Good news. Android (Donut) boots on the n900 using bootmenu (using the maemo kernel with the android drivers patched in !)

Via : talk.maemo.org