Special Feature The
Special Feature The Nomadic Revolution Mobile device growth drives OS and processor scramble Profound impact for high-tech industry going forward By Richard Barnes As the growth of new kinds of mobile devices continues, the stakes for processor manufacturers and different operating systems is also heating up. According to In-Stat’s Chief Technology Strategist, Jim McGregor, “ARM is battling Intel for the processors powering tablets; Google (Android and Chrome), Microsoft (Windows 7 and Windows Mobile) and Intel/ Nokia (MeeGo) are battling for the operating system and applications platform; and all the ODMs and OEMs are battling Apple, which came out with the early lead in shipping devices despite not being the first to announce a product. Although all these battles are important, the battle for the OS will likely be the most defining for the future of the platform and rightfully so. The emergence of Windows as the dominant software platform drove the direction of PCs and the future of smartphones is currently being driven by Apple’s OS, with Android gaining rapidly.” McGregor says that the outcome of the OS battle for tablets may have a profound effect on the high-tech industry going forward. He believes that the outcome will also determine the winners in the other battles. “In regard to the processors, the Intel CULV processors are tied to the Windows 7 platform,” he says. “The Intel Atom processor is heavily tied to the MeeGo platform, and the ARM processors are tied to both Apple’s platform and Google’s Android and Chrome platforms. In addition, a dominant position by the Apple OS could result in a similar dominant position like that which Apple enjoys in the portable media player (PMP) market, with the iPod and iTouch. As a result, the other ODMs and OEMs are hedging their bets by supporting multiple tablet platforms to compete against Apple.” ABI Research, for its part, expects mobile application downloads from iOS and Android to account for 78% of all application downloads in 2010, with iOS (the iPhone’s operating system) taking the lion’s share of 52% of all applications. The numbers are driven by availability, variety and novelty in both the Android market and the iTunes App Store, which is currently unmatched by any other smartphone platform. In addition, the sale of Android phones has taken off in 2010, with over 160,000 activations being reported daily. Revenues from mobile app sales continue their decline, as high competition leads to a “race to the bottom.” Full-featured games are available from between $.99 (€.78) and (€3.9), and many popular applications are adopting ad-supported models. Application store owners such as Google, Apple and mobile operators will continue to support lowpriced and free applications because they help market and sell their devices. Making money will become a difficult proposition in a market that is expected to peak in 2011, with annual sales of just under bn (€6.2). There are seven ‘big’ smartphone applications that will drive future hardware designs, according to In-Stat. These big seven applications include email, games, social networking, instant messaging, mapping & directions, music & radio, and weather. Combined, the big seven will account for seven billion downloads worldwide in 2014. Recent research by In-Stat found that the three very top applications with the highest compound annual growth rates through 2014 will be micro blogging, mobile banking and VoIP. The number of Android apps downloaded is growing at the fastest rate. However, Apple applications still dominate both free and paid downloads. 2012 witnesses the last of the Palm OS application downloads, according to the analysts. Productivity applications such as mapping, business and enterprise applications and phone tools & utilities generate 59% of all smartphone application revenue. The market is experiencing a flood of mobile devices ADVERTORIAL 3D Tile Format A new solution to improve 3D broadcasting Sisvel Technology, a spin-off of the Sisvel Group devoted to research, development and technical consulting, is developing new techniques in the field of 3D TV, with the aim of enabling broadcasters and content providers to produce and distribute 3D material. The company has unveiled a new solution to improve 3D broadcasting at IFA – the 3D Tile Format – which builds on the success of last year’s 3D Switch, a method for automatic 2D and 3D format recognition, designed to enhance the 3D viewing experience. The new technology enables the delivery of High Definition (HD) 3D content while facilitating 3D imagery to be experienced in 2D on regular TV sets or decoders. The solution also enables broadcasters to transmit a single service to 2D and 3D audiences. Sisvel Technology has devised its 3D Tile Format to enable the integrated storage of two 720p frames into a single 1080p frame. The reconstructed left and right pictures are able to preserve their original resolution and will not be affected by the unbalance of the vertical and horizontal resolution. Hall 2.2 Booth 114 Laptop PCs become mobile entertainment devices www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Monday, 6 th September 2010 21
