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What's Happened In Mobile Over the Past 10 Years

Posted by timothy on from the oh-nothing-much dept.

andylim writes "recombu.com has an article examining what's happened in mobile over the past ten years, including BlackBerry launching its first smart phone in 2002, Motorola launching the Razr in 2004 and Apple launching the iPhone in 2007. As a commenter points out, the first camera phone (Sharp J-SH04), which was released in 2000, featured a 110,000-pixel (0.11MP) CMOS image sensor, and a 256-colour (8 bit) display."

36 of 149 comments (clear)

  1. In other news... by djupedal · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What's happened is that countries without legacy copper and overbearing telcos have leapfrogged the US in terms of, well....pretty much everything mobile.

    1. Re:In other news... by Lord+Byron+II · · Score: 5, Funny

      Oddly enough, the "bazillion-pixel camera" still takes crappy, "cell phone"-quality pictures.

    2. Re:In other news... by CAIMLAS · · Score: 3, Informative

      Well, the nice thing about mobile technologies is that they've got a relatively low infrastructure cost compared to wired technologies. The spiderweb of cable needed is significantly less dense, and it can piggy-back on existing data telcom lines.

      Cellular tech also benefited in much of the world because they didn't have the initial 'heavy' cellular infrastructure to contend with - the legacy analog cellular crap. They also had fiber optics at their disposal, making the line cost significantly lower if anything did need to be laid.

      And most countries, particularly much of the European ones, have the advantage of having higher population density and smaller area. Even in countries like Albania (which I doubt has much for any connectivity) getting the whole country covered with modern data cellular would be much easier.

      Even still, it's possible to get a cellular connection of one sort or another pretty much anywhere in the US. I'm in one of the least sparsely covered parts of the US (from all carriers), which also happens to be one of the least populated. I can be tens of miles from the nearest person (forgive the hyperbole, but 1+ miles) or 30+ miles from the nearest town over 500 people and still get an SMS (or maybe a phone call) out. That's impressive.

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    3. Re:In other news... by segin · · Score: 5, Informative

      Well, what can you expect with a camera with a single fixed aperture and speed? Almost every cell phone camera out there is f/2.8, although if you are (un)lucky, you might get one with f/5.6. Whatever the aperture is, however, is what you are stuck with, for the most part (unless you are a super-wiz hardware hacker and can replace most of the camera...).

      The second factor in determining image quality is shutter speed, but since in this day and age, there is no physical shutter, "shutter speed" refers to how long the image sensor senses for image data; 1/400 shutter speed on a cell phone means that, actually, the sensor is only "looking" at the world for 1/400 of a second. While this is quite similar to a real camera, the fact that the sensor is "always exposed" means that it is always at odds with the world, in terms of lighting (being left camera-side up on a sunny day is not good for the phone's camera at all)

      So yes, megapixels don't mean shit. A decent camera with an adjustable aperture and shutter speed (possibly even a real shutter) makes for a better picture.

    4. Re:In other news... by Fred_A · · Score: 2, Funny

      What's happened is that countries without legacy copper and overbearing telcos have leapfrogged the US in terms of, well....pretty much everything mobile.

      But it's difficult to keep up with the mobile market, it's such a moving target !

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    5. Re:In other news... by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 2, Informative

      Megapixels won't make up for crappy optics. And by "crappy" I mean the best the manufacturers can manage in such a tiny space. Under good conditions, modern phones actually make decent pictures.

      There's a bit more choice these days as well, with a few companies (at least SonyEricsson...) offering phones with better optics, making the device thicker but resulting in picture quality that comes pretty close to that of compact happysnap cameras... good for people who like to always have a decent camera on them.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    6. Re:In other news... by Fred_A · · Score: 3, Informative

      Well, what can you expect with a camera with a single fixed aperture and speed? Almost every cell phone camera out there is f/2.8, although if you are (un)lucky, you might get one with f/5.6.

      But whatever their so called aperture, the physical aperture is still a pinhole lens that is a couple millimetre across. My proper f./2.8 lens have a diameter of 77mm (and can close to f./22). Which actually lets some light in.

      There's probably a physical limit under which you cannot go and still have a reasonably decent lens (not super studio high-end flawless quality, just decent). At a guess from the various compacts I've seen, I'd say it's around 1.5cm. Maybe a wee bit less.

      --

      May contain traces of nut.
      Made from the freshest electrons.
    7. Re:In other news... by Rakshasa+Taisab · · Score: 4, Informative

      And most countries, particularly much of the European ones, have the advantage of having higher population density and smaller area. Even in countries like Albania (which I doubt has much for any connectivity) getting the whole country covered with modern data cellular would be much easier.

      Worth mentioning is that the countries in Europe furthest ahead in cellular technology, the Scandinavian countries, have very low population density even when compared to the US. And still they have coverage in pretty much all of the country. (Including many remote mountainous regions)

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      - These characters were randomly selected.
    8. Re:In other news... by obarthelemy · · Score: 3, Informative

      Not quite true: I leave in France, where, when Al Gore invented the Internets, we where in a rather worse situation, telecoms-wise: single, nationally-owned carrier, high prices, quite good service, though.

      What they did, as in much of the EU I think, is force deregulation by
      - selling 3 nationwide GSM licenses, so there was competition right from the start
      - forcing standardization and interoperability by enforcing the GSM standard for all carriers, which helped with coverage and provider switching
      - Carriers also had to commit to cover an increasing percentage of the population, which is admittedly easier to do than in the US (France is a bit smaller than Texas, but has more than twice the population).
      - later, forcing number portability (you can switch provider and keep the same number)
      - above all, agreeing that the caller pays for calls, with mobile numbers set apart by a different prefix (06 = mobile, 01 = Paris, 04 = south east...). You used to be able to figure out which carrier someone was using by looking at the second couple of digits, but with number portability that is no longer 100% true.

      The one remaining issue, apart from Texts pricing, is pricing legibility: telcos are free to set up there tariffs as they wish, so it's very hard to come up with an apples-to-apples comparison.

      --
      The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
    9. Re:In other news... by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 2, Informative
      And also worth mentioning that their population is highly concentrated in a few areas. Like Alaska - very low density (very few people for a massive place), but 95% of the population is concentrated in Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Juneau. Much easier to roll out a technology.

      .
      For example, Finland. Just over 5 million people in that very large country, but 25% of them live in Helsinki urban area. Or Sweden, with 9.2 million people in that massive land area, but 30% of them in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmo urban areas.

      Looking at just strict density over the entire country isn't very applicable; you need to look at the percentage of population that lives in the large cities. You'll find that in Europe the effective density is much higher than in the US; a large percentage of the total population of most European countries live in a relatively small area and in the cases of the Scandinavian nations large areas of their country are essentially uninhabited.

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      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    10. Re:In other news... by jonwil · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Here in Australia, I have relatives on a sheep station half a days drive away from the nearest town and they can get a stable HSPA data connection through Telstra NextG (with an external antenna) and if they stand in the right place, they can even get a call out with a NextG handset.

      If Telstra can get service to somewhere with so little population density, there is NO excuse for the poor state of cellular service in the US.

    11. Re:In other news... by lamapper · · Score: 2, Informative

      Read liked your posts and that was a bad car analogy, but all this is off topic...more on topic per your quote:

      We didn't spend bajillions of dollars through the 1900s to set up a nation wide telco infrastructure just so we could avoid setting up a 12G cell network in the early 2000s.

      That's not entirely accurate...

      We, you, your parents, their parents, all of us have give American telcos more than $200 Billion in tax money (out right cash + additional taxes and additional fees; all of which was approved by our elected leaders) since 1990; for their promise to Americans to provide Fiber To The Home FTTH; over the last mile, not just to our neighborhood, but to our house/apartment.

      Not only is it economical and feasible, but instead of honoring their promises, they lobby our elected officials at the rate of $1.8 Million per week to not give us fiber, to not give us net neutrality, to not give us high speed broadband.

      I pay over $50 per month for 16,000 Kbps down and 2,000 Kbps up stream bandwidth. They do not even give me that. I see it and sometimes during the Speed Test, but as soon as the Speed Test finishes, my cable (100% of Cable users experience this) broadband is throttled back to lower than the FCC definition of broadband. The FCC definition is 768Kbps, however I do not see above 400Kbps down or above 120 Kbps up stream bandwidth.

      The US is not slightly behind the rest of the world, we are way behind the rest of the industrialized world. Thanks to putting in Fiber infrastructure (and density is relative as it costs more then anyone admits to dig up infrastructure in a large city where in rural areas they can lay miles of fiber in short periods of time) In 2007, we were 13th in the world.

      In 2000, Japan had 100Mbps / 100Mbps bi-directional synchronous fiber broadband service for less than $55 per month. In 2006, thanks to Fiber, all the Japanese had to do was switch out the customer's modem and they could give them 1 Gbps / 1 Gbps bandwidth for less than $53 per month. Yes competition drove the price down. Their market is working, the US market has not worked for well over two decades.

      I read about a Fiber / laser router that could multiplex a single strand of fiber from 1X to 1024X back in 2004. That is a 1024 bandwidth increase over a single strand of fiber...still think bandwidth scarcity is anything but a myth.

      Why? simple, follow the money. The telcos want you to believe bandwidth is scarce. The bandwidth scarcity myth is well a myth. (Proof is in their statements to stock analysts, especially in the light of current economic realities) A lie to keep their failed tiered pricing strategy. Their goal to drive all customers up to $150 per month. However it is back firing on them and for the very reasons that I mentioned above. Once you realize you are throttled and they are not delivering you a fraction of the bandwidth you are paying for; you will quickly discover that a DSL line providing you 1,500Kbps down and 384Kbps up stream is well over 3X faster than Cable Modem Internet access. And DSL service costs you between $20 - $30 per month. In fact for the price of one Cable Internet access you could have 2 DSL providers (redundancy and increased bandwidth). And remember 1 DSL line is 3X faster than a single throttled coaxial cable access. Ignore what they say you will get as they will never give you or me 12Mbps down or 2Mbps up. Just will never happen.

      I do not mean to get on your case, I like your posts, but whenever I see another American acting as a Shill for the industry while getting screwed in the process, well some learning is in order.

      Consider this: In 2006, a Telco executive said in the future the average household will consume at least 300GB of bandwidth per month. I would suggest to you that by 2010, you will need much more than 300 GB per household, just auto updating for most people will ap

      --
      Is your Internet Throttled? Install DD-Wrt, OpenWRT or Tomato to learn the truth! Google: 1Gbps/1Gbps: 5 Communities
    12. Re:In other news... by skrolle2 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The cross-country roaming charges are going to disappear though. There is absolutely no technical reason for them to be there, it suddenly doesn't cost 10 times more to transfer data just because you hit a country border, and it doesn't cost anything to switch providers either, they only need to keep track of actual usage. The roaming charges are there because it's a huge cash-cow for the telcos, and there will soon be EU-wide legislation to remove them, or reduce them to their actual cost.

      That said, some companies have already started to remove their roaming charges voluntarily, on a smaller scale, because they, SURPRISE!, found out that you can attract all the roaming customers if you do.

  2. featured a 110,000-pixel (0.11MP) CMOS image senso by homey+of+my+owney · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Which is still more than I need

  3. Smartphones and Flip Format by DG · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Hey, mobile phone hardware designer types:

    The flip format is by far the superior design for a phone, as it allows the phone to halve it's length when not in use and simultaneously protects the screen and user controls.

    As much as I'd like to buy a cool phone like an iPhone or Blackberry, the "brick" format makes it a non-starter.

    Until then, I'm sticking with my RAZR V9.

    (Yes, the Blackberry Pearl is a flip - my wife has one - and that's not a bad phone at all. I *might* just jump at the next gen version of that)

    The other big selling point for me is battery life. Notwithstanding the decent media features on my V9, I never use it as a music player because that chews pretty heavily into the battery, and a phone's primary purpose is communications first. Maybe make a phone that has two batteries, and separates the "phone" functions from the "media" functions...

    DG

    --
    Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book
    1. Re:Smartphones and Flip Format by peragrin · · Score: 5, Insightful

      hey designers the flip phone is so last century. The brick format is far superior, allowing larger screen size, larger batteries, and larger buttons. not to mention the abaility to push a button to accept a call, not to have to use both hands too open the damned thing.

      flip phone suffer from breakage, and weak points in their overall designs(hinges can break) As much as I like retro old school toys please stop making them.

      Not everyone likes the same things. I have owned several of each style and i always seem to fall back to brick phones.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    2. Re:Smartphones and Flip Format by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 2, Informative

      Flip phones == more fragile moving parts for hinges and flip sensors or extra LCD on outer clamshell == break in two if dropped while open. Kind of a hassle when you open your phone and it dosen't even know it's open. Meanwhile my ugly slab has a cracked screen but is otherwise fully serviceable and will stay that way for the forseeable future.

      Agree with you 100% on the battery life issue, though.

    3. Re:Smartphones and Flip Format by feepness · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Not everyone likes the same things.

      Which is why they should stop making flip phones?

  4. Hmm by Achromatic1978 · · Score: 5, Informative
    An article? Hah. More like "ten bulletpoints that will take you a good 20-30 seconds to skim, but get us several ad impressions", including "insights" such as:

    2003 The Windows Mobile brand is launched with Windows Mobile 2003. Windows Mobile is widely used by businesses to do work on the move.

    Wow. Or:

    2005 Sony Ericsson launches a superb new camera phone called the K750i and a great music phone called the W800i. These two handsets establish Sony Ericsson as a serious consumer player.

    Awesome. Just awesome. If you think there's more depth than this, there's not. That is the sum total of the analysis of those two years.

    1. Re:Hmm by Karganeth · · Score: 2, Funny

      I own a K750i you insensitive clod!

    2. Re:Hmm by andyjb · · Score: 3, Insightful

      yes, petty poor in terms of insight. also a bit US centric really. I'm pretty sure Nokia released a product before 2006, and that they've been more than just an entry level phone manufacturer before and since (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nokia_products). Of course this was before they seemed to stop bothering, or got stuck chasing apples tail depending on your point of view. IMO windows has never released a noteworthy phone either.

  5. Notable hardware by ickleberry · · Score: 4, Informative

    This deserves a mention, the legendary Nokia 6310i still has a thriving refurb market to this day. That thing is probably the highest quality mainstream phone ever made. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/12/20/nokia_breakthrough_phone/

    3G (UMTS) turned out to be a bit of a disappointment with the required cell density there are only a few 3G-only networks in densely populated places like South Korea, 2G GSM is likely to stay around well into the LTE era.

    Satellite phone networks have also come a long way since the initial bankruptcies and unreliable services. There are now at least 4 Geosynchronous orbit satellite phone networks with handheld phones and the two LEO networks that went bankrupt both recovered and are planning to launch new satellites. The phones themselves also not half the size they used to be.

  6. Only Mobile? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    What about Montgomery, Birmingham, or Huntsville?

  7. Nokia N9000. by Luarvic · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They missed the most important event of the year: launch of Nokia N900.

    1. Re:Nokia N9000. by kurt555gs · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Interesting isn't it. I have been a fone geek since my my first in the trunk 3 watt analog radio shack branded Car phone. I have had at least one of every important cell phone as technology advanced. I never (before the N900) had one that would truly free me from a laptop.

      The N900 IS the most advanced (mobile computer that also has cell and viop phone functions) of the decade.

      I really do not understand why I am not seeing more about it.

      The reviews I do see are done by iPhone fanbois that can't get past the capacitive screen multi-touch which is not all that great for everything.

      I have chatted with many N900 users that after a month or so, are still finding new things.

      And, the N900 has one thing you can't find any where else. Real freedom. /rant off

      --
      * Carthago Delenda Est *
    2. Re:Nokia N9000. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      But a cheaper monthly rate than many, so if you plan to keep it 2 years, ultimately cheaper than the iphone.

    3. Re:Nokia N9000. by lamapper · · Score: 2, Interesting

      No carrier subsidy = $571 (Amazon.com). THAT's why no one has it.

      Or go radical, ditch cellular and go 100% WiFi. I did and I have some friends that did. One friend of mine did this prior to the first WiFi phones after two different cellular companies tried to stick him with additional illegal charges over more than 10 years. He switched to VoIP and Skype. Back in the day he was paying over $150 per month for cellular so reducing his yearly costs to around $60 per month saved him almost $2,000 per year.

      Today you can get cellular service by either Metro PCS or TMobile for approx $50 per month. Skype costs you $5 per month. So based on Amazon's price, that $571 phone cost could be recouped in just over 1 year ($571 / $45 = 12.68 months) No contracts, no tethering, the only limitation might be no cellular, unless you purchase the N900 which gives you cellular as well. And the next year, you would be free and clear except for the $60 fee to Skype.

      For me Skype VoIP is the killer app of the decade, quickly followed by the Linux operating system. It gave me freedom, choice and options, which is better than FREE!

      Actually ditching cellular is not that radical, it used to be considered bad business to allow your work to be interrupted by constant phone calls. When driving a car, in many states its illegal to talk on the cell phone without a hands free device. Back in olden land line telephone days, if someone called you when you were not home, they left a message and you called them back when it was convenient for you. (I remember when very few people had answering machines, if they did it was reel to reel tape on a unit the size of a desktop IBM PC) If a company wanted you to be on call, they provided a beeper and paid you extra for the privilege of interrupting your after hours life and being on call. A much more logical, simpiler time.

      I consider not being connected to the Internet the same as not being home in the past. If someone calls, my Skype VoIP service allows them to record a message and I choose when to call them back based on what is going on in my life.

      --
      Is your Internet Throttled? Install DD-Wrt, OpenWRT or Tomato to learn the truth! Google: 1Gbps/1Gbps: 5 Communities
  8. Nokia N900, I mean. by Luarvic · · Score: 2

    Sorry, the wrong subject. I mean, Nokia N900.

  9. The inevitable Slashdot response... by jregel · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Whenever mobile phones are mentioned on Slashdot, something akin to the following comment will inevitably appear:

    'All I want is a phone that makes calls.'

    I've never quite got my head around a tech site like Slashdot, where the demographic is almost certainly interested in new technology having such a negative response to technological advances in what our phones can do. You rarely [never?] hear this with other technology on this site:

    'I wish Windows 7 had less features. All I want is the ability to write a letter'
    'This 4Ghz Core 2 Due Hyperfighting Special Edition is too fast for me. I want a 68030 at 25Mhz'... instead we get 'Imagine a Beowulf cluster of...'

    Is it because the non-techie crowd have embraced mobile tech, in some instances more than us (given that some teenagers seem to text more than they speak) and we've been out done? Are the non-techies better at mobile tech than us?

    (Yes, I know that Slashdot doesn't speak with one voice, but I bet the comment appears somewhere in this article).

    1. Re:The inevitable Slashdot response... by oberondarksoul · · Score: 2, Interesting

      'I wish Windows 7 had less features. All I want is the ability to write a letter'

      I actually do feel like this at times. When I need to get down to work, to write something without distraction, the modern desktop can actually be an overawing place. A stark white screen with black text focuses the mind wonderfully.

      --
      And tomorrow the stock exchange will be the human race
    2. Re:The inevitable Slashdot response... by vadim_t · · Score: 4, Insightful

      On my part, I used to be of the "All I want is a phone that makes calls" kind, but since then dropped that attitude.

      Years back, a phone could have a web browser, and a camera, but it was very likely that both things were going to be very half assed. So you'd get an expensive phone with bad battery life that'd be a pain to do web browsing on, and which would make really horrible photos. Also they were quite closed, and often the only option you had is to use the included crappy software or nothing at all.

      These days though, phones are shifting towards being a mini computer that just happens to make calls, such as the N900 for instance. And that is cool, and I'm looking forward to getting one. The ability of being whatever I want to do with it, including using skype is a huge advantage, and couldn't be had at any price just a few years back.

    3. Re:The inevitable Slashdot response... by rantingkitten · · Score: 2, Interesting

      A stark white screen with black text focuses the mind wonderfully.

      Almost. But it's also like staring into a light bulb.

      I kind of miss those ancient word processors with white or green text on a black background that ran on old DOS machines. Great for just writing something with a bit of formatting thrown in, and fools the world over had no way to crap up their documents with fifty different font sizes, colors, and faces.

      --
      mirrorshades radio -- darkwave, industrial, futurepop, ebm.
    4. Re:The inevitable Slashdot response... by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I've never quite got my head around a tech site like Slashdot, where the demographic is almost certainly interested in new technology having such a negative response to technological advances in what our phones can do. You rarely [never?] hear this with other technology on this site:

      The moderation system is largely responsible for this sort of noise. Lots of people raise popular-beat-to-death issues or post contrarian views just to get that +5 Insightful next to their name.

      I know this because I'm guilty of it.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  10. Re:I prefer slider phones by peragrin · · Score: 2, Insightful

    sliders are 30% thicker, and you complexty in the form of the slide mechaism while stronger than flips is still a weak point.

    there is a reason why it is called a brick.

    --
    i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
  11. The cool thing about phone cameras... by DG · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...is not quality, but immediacy.

    I don't always have my camera on me, but I ALWAYS have my phone. The ability to grab a quick snapshot or video clip when something unexpected happens is priceless.

    And the further ability to get that shot out on the network, before it can be censored... I've never had to rely on that, but it has done great things for other people.

    And while it will never compete with a SLR bodied, pro camera, I've been pleasantly surprised by just how good a RAZR V9 can be. "Cell phone quality" need not mean "horrific".

    And it works through the daysight on a TLAV 1m turret. That has proven useful.

    DG

    --
    Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book
  12. Re:Well, you heard it now. by Pederson · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Really? You consider an mp3, camera and browser useless? I don't know about you, but I don't feel like carrying around 4 different pocket sized devices everywhere I go. If I have to charge my battery every night before bed instead of having to charge 4 devices every two or three days while having to carry them around plus their chargers, I'll make that sacrifice. Slashdot is full of old guys whom just won't get with the times because they simply believe 'they're right'. Whatever, you'll be dead soon and we can get on with progress, thanks.

    --
    Blow up my plane? Nuke ten of your airports.