For public relations agencies like us, having a smartphone is essential. It’s just a shame some models are so difficult to use.
When Philip K Dick wrote what is perhaps his most famous work, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, he was asking one question. Can technology mirror people?
To see the film, Blade Runner, is to understand it’s not a cut and dry answer. But one thing is for sure, we all know exactly what the word Android means. So to name a smartphone operating system, billed as the iPhone beater, after these bio-tech creations makes a strong statement about intuitive, logical, and (dare it be said) natural interfaces.
Of all major mobile manufacturers, only Nokia, Apple and RIM haven’t opted to use the Android system. The latter, responsible for the Blackberry brand, is still seen as the first point of call for business users, though the iPhone has hit the market hard, and offers sleeker style and greater interaction. The result has seen successive software updates for the oldest mass-produced mobile internet device in Britain as it looks to improve its image.
Needless to say, Apple won’t budge from their inimitable IOS. Nokia, on the other hand, has seen its Symbian system knocked off the top spot for the first time. Taking into account the fact that, according to research firm Canalys, the global smartphone market has grown 89 per cent on 12 months ago, it all adds up to some big bucks, irrespective of how popular a specific platforms is, though that might offer little solace for most manufacturers.
Except for the brains behind Android that is. The developers found themselves on top of the pile recently, at a time when all predictions point to mobile phones soon replacing computers as the main tool for accessing the internet. It’s success is not by a mile, but still this is a significant boast to be able to make, especially when you consider that the competition represents some of the biggest brands in global technology.