The Current Smartphone Landscape

WOW!  I have really neglected this blog.  Over a year since my last blog post…Today’s launch of so called “Superphones” on Verizon and T-Mobile as well as Apple’s iPhone 4 antenna problems has sparked some inspiration to take a look at the current smartphone landscape.

So there are a couple of ways to break this down in my mind: from the perspective of the manufacturers and the perspective of the carriers…or both.  To start, we’ll look at T-Mobile’s situation in the smartphone market.

• T-Mobile, according to some pundits, is destined for a buyout considering their position in the wireless industry among the big four – dead last.  The company has been slow to expand 3G coverage in the United States and pales in comparison to the other three.  In addition, the company seems to be vested in the MyTouch brand as far as marketing goes.  They have been making strides as far as differentiating themselves in terms of their value and flexible options.  Unfortunately, they haven’t been getting the same quality of smartphone offerings as the other three and it really shows in their lineup.  The MyTouch Slide appears to be the premier device on the carrier, outside the already outdated HD2 (Thanks Windows Mobile) and the Android 1.6 Garminfone.  There has been good news lately though, with T-Mobile reportedly having the fastest 3G data network, powered by their HSPA+ expansion.  They have been taking shots at Sprint, touting 4G-like speed.  What they really need is an HSPA+ powered smartphone.

• Sprint has been making news lately with the launch of their 4G WiMax data network and the EVO 4G.  The big-screened behemoth has made a positive splash and seems to be a sell-out phone whenever a store gets them in stock, which according to their CEO has been hurting 4G adoption.  Rumors have been cropping up of a merger with T-Mobile…if they both move to the more popular 4G solution, LTE.  Their smartphone lineup is fairly strong with handsets featuring Android, Palm OS, and Windows Mobile.  They have been getting a lot of firsts lately, like the Palm OS phones (uh…let’s hope HP has some solid plans for Palm), the aforementioned 4G network, and the first 4+ inch Android phone (and kickstand!).

Now we’ll talk about the top two carriers and some of their relationships within the industry.

• The AT&T and Apple iPhone marriage has come under some scrutiny lately.  The legality of their 5-year exclusive relationship has come into questions.  In addition, AT&T has been battling reports of their crappy coverage and dropped calls and pokes by Verizon about said problems.  The launch of the iPhone 4 probably doesn’t have a positive impact on that perception either (You’re holding it wrong!).  Regardless, the iPhone 4 has sold in droves and despite the flaws, most would still argue it is the best iPhone to date due to its ridiculous build quality (glass front and back aside) and insanely pixel-dense “Retina Display”.  The other big-stink in AT&T land is the locking down and otherwise ruining of their Android offerings.  They seem to be doing everything in their power to knock Android down a peg when compared to the iPhone by prohibiting sideloaded apps and covering the Backflip in Yahoo (!) purple.
• Verizon seems to be in the strongest position as far as their smartphone offerings, which is a big change from just a year ago.  With the launch of the original Droid, and the Droid brand as a whole, they have leapfrogged the competition in terms of Android selection. They seem to be locked in a tight relationship with Motorola, as Verizon appears to have a hold on the top-tier products coming out of Motorola.  Motorola has gotten into some hot water concerning the locked bootloader of the Droid X, effectively calling out and locking out the strong ROM-development community.  In addition, they were the first to offer the improved Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus (which hasn’t fared too well) and the Microsoft Kin (which has fared even worse, oops).  Verizon is constantly praised for having a rock-solid network and there are ruminations of a CDMA-equipped iPhone coming by next year.

And finally, we’ll look at some of the manufacturers and the future.

• HTC has enjoyed a lot of success recently, releasing the Nexus One, HD2, Droid Incredible, Evo 4G, and MyTouch 3G slide.  They appear to be in a comfortable position with good relationships with all 4 carriers, outside the lack of a flagship device on AT&T.  HTC’s SenseUI is widely considered the best “skin” for Android, bringing the polish and shine Android so badly needs.  Their Snapdragon-equipped phones are quickly being outclassed by their competitors. The one thing I always thought HTC devices lacked was a good graphics processor.  I feel that this (along with Android platform fragmentation) has contributed to weak development of a gaming market for Android, but as we’ll see, this is soon to change.
• Motorola has now become the go-to brand for high-end Android smartphones, with the original Droid, the Droid X (released today), and the upcoming Droid 2. The MotoBlur skin has been a mixed bag, but the newest version appears to be solid.  They have adopted the OMAP processors developed by TI and this has resulted in strong performance in terms of processing and graphics power.  Hopefully they will resolve the current spat with the Android enthusiast community concerning the Droid X’s locked bootloader.
• And out of nowhere, Samsung appears to have swooped in and pushed the Android hardware platform further than HTC and Motorola could to this point. With the release of the Samsung Galaxy S variants – Vibrant on T-Mobile (Out now), Captivate on AT&T, Epic 4G (with Qwerty keyboard!) on Sprint, and Fascinate on Verizon, Samsung has brought a top-tier handset to all four carriers and given consumers an extremely solid Android choice regardless of your carrier.  Samsung has developed their TouchWiz 3.0 interface (skin) for Android, which looks derivative of the iPhone’s aesthetic.  Samsung also has access to the SuperAMOLED display technology, allowing the phones to be used in sunlight.  The screen technology appears to be second only to Apple’s “Retina Display” when counting in viewing angles, color contrast and saturation, and resolution.  In addition, their Hummingbird System-on-Chip appears to be superior to the Snapdragon and trades blows with the OMAP chip used in the Droid X.  All signs point to a graphics processing chip being more powerful than the one in the iPhone 4.  Hopefully, this will push top iPhone game developers to the Android market and make Android a more balanced experience with more quality apps.
• Palm seems to be in limbo at this point, with the HP acquisition recently completed and nothing real solid planned for the future.
• RIM is making progress with BlackBerry 6…hopefully that means less menus, less trackball, and more touch.
• Apple finally brought multi-tasking, folders, and desktop backgrounds with IOS4. Yay for being able to listen to Pandora while surfing the web!  Task switching isn’t very elegant, but it’s there.
• Android phones have finally started to make some fundamental usability shifts in the overall experience. First, phones are starting to come with internal flash storage in addition to a MicroSDHC card slot.  Take for example the Samsung Vibrant on T-Mobile…16gb internal and an extra slot for more storage.  Second, more quality apps are coming to the platform…and EA and Gameloft appear to be porting over some of the iPhone’s best 3D games.  Third, we’re finally seeing the last generation of Qualcomm chips (like the MSM7201A from the T-Mobile G1) being phased out of phones, bringing most new Android phones up to version 2.1 spec.
• Finally, I haven’t discussed Microsoft a lot because of the increasing irrelevance of Windows Mobile in the marketplace and the lack of news lately concerning Windows Phone 7.  After the big Windows Phone 7 splash, Microsoft has seemingly pulled a “Palm”, teasing a new operating system way before it’s ready for release. Hopefully they will move the release date up and become a true competitor again before it’s too late, but until then…we have Windows Mobile 6.5.whatever and the short-lived Kin.

So that’s it as far as I see it…it’s very exciting times in the wireless industry.  Hopefully I’ll continue to update and maybe talk about things other than phones!