Wireless and Mobile News keeps track of our most read and loved articles. When we tallied the count, we realized that our daily page-views reveal the top trends in the wireless and mobile industries.
Apps Avalanche - The phrase "There's an app for that," became a reality in 2009. The app avalanche was propelled by a flurry of new apps stores and new development platforms. There's smorgasborg of excellent BlackBerry apps Android apps, Palm Pre webOS apps, and iPhone apps.
Android Invasion - Samrtphone makers and carriers are embracing the Android OS quickly. Android smartphone market share could be as much as 10% in 2014. New Android handsets are increasing Android use. The Motorola Droid, HTC Magic, and HTC Hero generated 22
percent, 21 percent and nine percent of Android requests worldwide in
November 2009, respectively.
iPhone Contenders and Pretenders - The iPhone raised the bar for smartphones and reviewers continually compare new smartphones to the iPhone. The Droid by Motorola's advertising highlighted the things that "Droid Does" and iPhone Doesn't. Smartphone's with keyboards such as the key-boardtastic HTC Touch Pro2 sold-out. Although the iPhone came in first in the Wireless and Mobile News' Top Ten Best Coolest Smartphones of 2009, the rest of the list contains a slew of iPhone contenders.
Social Networking Networked to Smarter Phones - Contacts are not just in a list any more. Friend connect via social networking with a plethora of ways. The Palm Pre's almost physic ability to make and collect connections was followed by the Motorola Cliq's Motoblur.
On Horizon: Cloud Consciousness - Services, called could-sync, such as Funambol, Mobileme, Windows My Phone Lookout, and Dazzboard are collecting data and making connections and sharing easier.
Google Partnerships Take-Overs, Buy-Outs - Google's partnership with Verizon for the Droid and Google mobile development teams are taking Google to mobile phones. Google's acquisiton of AdMob and unlocked Nexus One Google phone are all part of them garnering more and more mobile mind-shares.
Cheaper All-You-Can-Use Voice, Text, Web - Boost, Virgin Mobile, MetroPCS and Cricket, created compelling programs and cut prices, heating up the competition. For example Cricket is offering a Holiday Special - Unlimited Talk & Text for $25/Month until 01/04/10.
Free Cell Phones for Low-Income Households - Tracfone's Safelink and Virgin through programs in certain states are offering an alternative for low-income households.
Losing Landlines - Every year, more users in all incomes are cutting their landlines and opting for mobile only service.
More Wireless Devices and eBook Readers - The sold-out Nook, Amazon Kindle, Buy One Get One Free BlackBerry Other Device (Netbook or Modem) deals and MiFi USB modems that create Wi-Fi networks all contributed to mobile broadband usage in 2009.