The Wall Street Journal has an article today discussing an anticipated announcement by Sprint at CTIA next week. CTIA is the primary association for all things wireless. According to WSJ, Sprint will be announcing a new WiMax smartphone. The article is worth a quick read. With a little searching on the Web, you can even find some images of the device. There are two interesting things about this upcoming announcement.
The first is, if you have never experienced WiMax, you are not going to believe what you are in for. I got to see it in action as CTIA last Spring and was blown away by the speed. It has the potential to do for mobile devices what DSL and Cable Modems did for the home when we moved from dial-up.
Second, I think it is very interesting to note that they first phone that will be WiMax capable in the US will be and Android phone. I’m sure part of that is because HTC is the company who will build it, and they provide a lot of devices for cobranding in the wireless world. But just a couple of years ago HTC was churning out Windows Mobile Devices, and now they have a huge focus on Android as does much of the wireless market.
Regardless, we are all in for a game changer when WiMax and other 4G technologies arrive.
Accelerating innovation and disruption in the market has been a constant byproduct of Google’s quest to own as many web surfing customers as possible. With the advent of the browser on the cell phone, people are accessing web-based content with increasing frequency on their handheld. So, it was just a matter of time for Google to enter the mobility market.
Android, which is supported by Google, was recently launched, amid the usual hype, and now the industry pundits are starting to weigh in. In summary, ‘Android needs time to evolve,’ as the developers, the wireless network operators and their hardware partners are not swarming to the platform that is supposed to challenge iPhone. The launch started with T-Mobile, not the largest wireless operator, and one handset dubbed the G1 which is manufactured by HTC. Many of the applications that were initially launched were low quality (calculators, weather, budget planning…even a flashlight).
Businesses are on the lookout for mobile applications that create efficiencies in their operations. Our research and testing on the Android platform indicates that it will not have much to offer in the very near term. But, as Motorola and other hardware companies have started to incorporate Android into their product lines, we will see more options for our customers.
Excerpt from Anyware’s Enabling Mobility Newsletter Vol. 1 Issue 8.
