Back to basics for latest smartphone generation
New range of devices unveiled at Mobile World Congress puts users’ requirements at the forefront, writes Arthur Goldstuck
IF anything symbolised the significance of the Mobile-World Congress in Barcelona this week, it was the near simultaneous launch of groundbreaking new smartphones at both the high- and low-end of the market, from a dozen major manufacturers and as many unknowns.
The Samsung Galaxy S5, launched on Monday night, lived up to most expectations, introducing a 5.1-inch display, doubled battery life, a heartrate monitor and a 16-megapixel camera.
The phone introduces an ultra power saving mode, which shuts down all nonessential functions when the battery drops below 10% power, allowing for a further 24 hours of stand-by time in case emergency calls or messages are needed.
The fact that a phone management tool was one of the stand-out innovations at the congress indicates that the smartphone market has moved on from trying to impress with bells and whistles to trying to better meet the needs of users.
On Monday morning, Sony Mobile had unveiled the new Xperia Z2, which ups the display game with a 5.2-inch screen, along with 4K resolution recording and a 20.7megapixel camera. Its most important feature, though, is its battery: a massive 3200 mAh unit, compared with the Galaxy S5’s 2800 mAh bat-
The market has moved on from trying to impress with bells and whistles
tery. A Stamina mode is also intended to shut down nonessentials.
These two phones are the most likely candidates to lead the global assault on Apple’s efforts to regain technology leadership with its next iPhone. The new version is expected a full six months after the congress.
Low-end devices aimed at entrylevel users made as big an impact. The most surprising were devices running the new Firefox mobile operating system, inspired by the browser of the same name that has captured both global market share and deep user loyalty.
Four manufacturers — Alcatel, LG, Huawei and ZTE — displayed Firefox OS phones, all intended to sell for less than $100 (about R1 000). Even that price level is expected to plummet soon: the Mozilla Foundation, which developed Firefox, this week announced a partnership with a lowcost chip manufacturer, Spreadtrum, to create reference designs — readyto-build templates for smartphones — using its cheap processors. The result is expected to be a $25 smartphone available for building and branding to any operator or manufacturer in the world.
The bravest initiative at the event was taken by Nokia, which introduced five new affordable handsets. As many had expected, it unveiled the Nokia X family of phones, running the Android operating system.
Speculation is rife that the move does not sit well with the company’s new big brother, Microsoft, but it opens the way to fans of the Googleowned Android operating system. Although it does not give direct access to the Google Play Store, all apps in the store can be installed through third parties. The Microsoft connection, on the other hand, allows for free use of that company’s Cloud storage service, OneDrive, along with other Microsoft services.
Nokia also launched its cheapest touch-screen device yet in the Asha entry-level smartphone range. The Asha 320 is likely to cost less than the current Asha bottom end. The even cheaper Nokia 220, a colour-screen feature phone with keyboard and social apps preloaded, is aimed at first-time mobile internet users.
Microsoft signalled that it would not depend only on Nokia — and to a far lesser extent Huawei, HTC and Samsung — to roll out its Windows Phone operating system. It announced no less than nine new part- ners who would manufacture Windows phones, including Lenovo, LG, ZTE, Gionee and Foxconn — the latter best known for building most of Apple’s devices in its factories in China.
BlackBerry, too, used the congress to unveil phones aimed at developing markets. New CEO John Chen introduced Terry Gou, founder and chairman of Foxconn.
Foxconn signed a deal in December to build BlackBerry phones and produced the Z3 in record time. BlackBerry also unveiled the Q20, which brings back the “classic keyboard” that had made the Curve the bestselling smartphone in Africa. It features a 3.5-inch touchscreen, the largest display yet on a QWERTY BlackBerry smartphone.
And then there are the new kids on the block. Gionee, a fresh-faced new smartphone brand, arrived in Barcelona with one accolade already under its belt: the thinnest smartphone in the world, the 5.5mm Elife S5.5, a powerful device with a 5-inch screen, 13-megapixel camera and ultra-wide-angle front camera. It also launched a mid-range device, providing a clue to its intentions across price categories.
In this way, the old and new, low- cost and high-end, are reshaping the smartphone landscape.
At next year’s Mobile World Congress, these brands will be joined by another newcomer, the South African-originated Ubuntu.
It started life as a free operating system developed by Mark Shuttleworth’s UK-based Canonical and is now migrating to smartphones and tablets.
Shuttleworth said the Ubuntu OS would appear on two smartphones before the end of the year. Goldstuck is founder of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on Twitter @art2gee