With an entire department dedicated to IT Consulting for the small to medium businesses space, we are often asked about the future and impact of smart phones. The Mobile world is changing, and fast. If you remember the big boom for computers in the 90's then be prepared for something similar to happen in the Mobile world as phones are becoming powerful enough to replace desktops and laptops for many tasks. But this time around the major technology companies aren't guessing on what strategies will work, they've learned from their past mistakes. So what’s going to happen and who will be the next major tech players in this upcoming generation?
Nobody can be certain on who is going to dominate the mobile world, for the longest time it seemed like Apple was the only company with a real plan, but as 2011 is starting to gear up, all the major mobile companies are showing that they are ready to compete. If we were to look at the current landscape I would say there a few names to look out for; Microsoft with Windows Mobile 7, Google with Android, Apple with iOS, HP with palm's WebOS and finally RIM with Blackberry OS. There is one more, Nokia, but they are a currently going through major structural changes, switching from their own Symbian OS to Microsoft's Windows Mobile 7 so for now we won't consider them. All these companies are hoping to become THE mobile OS provider, just as Microsoft was THE desktop OS with Windows. At this point it is good to look at each and see where they are going and how this is can affect the future.
