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Smartphones Becoming Computer of Choice in Developing Countries
An anonymous reader writes "The build-out of 3G networks in developing countries, plus ultra-low prices from the likes of Samsung, will make the smartphone the sole computer of millions of citizens worldwide. And by 2016, 97 percent of smartphones are expected to use touchscreens. Now, don't get me wrong — I carry an iPad and an iPod Touch in my backpack and love touchscreens — but I still like a phone that fits in my pocket. However, I'm going to be in the minority five years from now, when the majority of wireless communicators will be smartphones."
Speaking as someone who spends a lot of time living in Asia, it already is somewhat true. Unlike in US or Europe, people in developing countries, especially Asia, tend to visit webcafes instead of having their own computer. Some do, but it's much more common to go out. You can find these in almost every corner too, they're cheap to use and they have drinks and beer too. This also makes it a bit more social.
People go to webcafes to do everything that needs an actual computer, and otherwise stay connected to internet via smartphones, which are a lot cheaper to use too.
How does an iPod touch not fit in your pocket? What kind of of pants are you wearing?
I already probably do half to two thirds of my browsing, email, and related tasks on my smartphone these days. An awful lot of what we do with computers is arguably trivial stuff that doesn't need screen real estate or big computing power.
My laptop is gathering dust!
Three Squirrels
Why does it have to be either/or? Case in point, the HP Veer (if those morons hadn't dicontinued it to focus on trying to be the next SAP some day).
The days of OLPC are numbered and smartphones will replace them.
In a nutshell there are 3 different ways to handle software distribution. (with some overlap)
1. Anarchy: This way is typically done on Windows. You either use a search engine to type in "$program free download" and follow the first link, or you download the source-code and compile it yourself. This requires the user to be able to evaluate the software themselves. There is no guide. This works perfectly well with competent users, but can lead to large problems with the masses.
2. Dictatorship: You have a pre-made "app-store" which only lists programmes which went through some sort of censorship process. There is typically only one to choose from and typically you have no way to influence the rules or decisions. This is the way it's now typically done on newer smartphones, for example on iOS/Blackberry/WP7/Android. Since you cannot control what code you have running on your system, you have very little control about what your system is doing.
3. Communism: (in the sense of community) You have list of recommended programs which can be easily installed. That list is compiled by a community which you can join if you have proven to be competent or at least ask why they have done a decision in a certain way. If you don't like that decision, you can always go to another community and often even mix 2 for the greatest benefit. Installing software yourself is discouraged but not forbidden. You can always just do that.
The big point why this is so important is that computers are now extensions of your brain. This means the software running on your computer influences how you think.
In Japan a lot of people either don't have a computer at home, or don't have internet access(they usually have a laptop in that case). However the reasons are probably a bit different, the Japanese can obviously afford computers, but since even now most Japanese people don't take work home with them, there really isn't an overwhelming need to have one.
Monstar L
I use my desktop for gaming and serious data manipulation, my laptop for everything else (video, communicating, office work, etc). I don't have a tablet yet, but I can see it substituting all my other uses, minus the most CPU-intensive. If a tablet can do this, newer generation smartphones can do it as well. Computing power goes up, the only limit is the physical limit which makes it difficult to enter data and watch it comfortably.
But for most casual PC jobs (e-mailing, tickets, show times, etc) smartphones are already great. And if your tablet can fit in your backpack, your smartphone can fit in your pocket!
"Sum Ergo Cogito"
That's truly a shame. Unless it's in addition to a keyboard, of course.
Sent from my PDP-11
First they try to steal "apps" for things that are not applications, but rather channels of content.
Now a smartphone is a "computer"? In the sense of "general-purpose computing device" it most certainly is not. And neither is a fucking tablet.
I love my Android phone. But it is a communications device. It is not a computer.
I wouldn't mind having a tablet. I'll probably get one this year or next. It'll be great to surf and watch films with. But it's a content-consumption device. It is not a computer.
But I guess "Smartphones Becoming Communications Devices of Choice in Developing Countries" doesn't sound as sexy.
And while I'm busy ripping the submitter (and idiots in general) a new one--what does this have to especially with "developing countries", anyway?
The build-out of 3G networks in developing countries, plus ultra-low prices from the likes of Samsung, will make the smartphone the sole computer of millions of citizens worldwide. And by 2016, 97 percent of smartphones are expected to use touchscreens.
I see "worldwide". I see nothing about "developing countries" in there. Do you?
ExecSummary: In 5 years, most mobile phones will use touchscreens. Thank you, Captain Obvious.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
"Now, don't get me wrong — I carry an iPad and an iPod Touch in my backpack and love touchscreens ..."
Brilliant. Simply fabulous.
I have an iPhone and it fits ok into my pockets, and I wear regular pants, not some hiphop pants with pockets so large that you may carry few pounds of potatoes inside. And a Big Mac. And still there is room for more.
The summary mentions ultra-low prices from the likes of Samsung. What, exactly, does this mean? What counts as an ultra-low price?
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
The HP touchpad has an inductive charger that doubles as an adjustable-angle stand. It also has a bluetooth keyboard. As for storage, just use a NAS over the wireless link.
It's a commonly known fact inside the industry that smartphones will take over a large faction of what people used to use desktops for, because they will be powerful enough to do so.
At this point a bunch of slashdotters typically hyperventilate and point out the lack of keyboard etc. But bluetooth lets wireless keyboards talk to the phone for those times you need one, and when you don't, the whole device fits in your pocket. The same portable gadget becomes BOTH your mobile device and your desktop-replacement. It'll even talk wirelessly to full sized monitors for when you need one. That is very much the developmental direction.
And this is a good future: it means no more microsoft, for one thing. It also gets rid of the huge power hungry noisy beige box we used to all have under our desks. It's more of a Star Trek future, and we'll see it inside a decade, judging by tech company roadmaps I've seen.
Using a smartphone as a computer is like using a hairdryer for cooking chicken. Computers are bigger, faster, more comfortable and prevent humans from becoming single-fingered nearsighted beings. Smartphones are OK for going here and there and for telling your wife you are in a traffic jam or to find out where the hell is the restaurant you are trying to locate. But at home, it is ridiculous to be seated in the sofa, with a crazy finger doing useless work (ergo, writing to social networks, watching youtube videos and other stuff).
Try writing your PhD thesis on a Smartphone or tablet. Or try playing games in a smartphone and compare the experience to using a computer. Or even try to compare watching youtube videos on one device and on the other. Anyway, smartphones are good for what they were designed for but computers are still the best choice for doing high-level stuff.
http://blog.gadgethelpline.com/80-google-android-handset-sells-big-africa-huawei-ideos/
$80 Google Android handset sells big in Africa – Huawei Ideos
Chinese phone manufacturers Huawei who specialise in budget white label handsets seem to have hit the correct market in Africa as its Huawei Ideos budget smartphone has taken off in Kenya bringing a huge jump in Android sales to the country.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
`(...) but I still like a phone that fits in my pocket'
Perhaps it's time they started designing pockets for smartphones rather than the other way around?
After all, piece of clothing is easily 1/10 to 1/100 the price of a smartphone.
I already have a portable calculus and a chequebook taking up all the space.
Once I fell over and the calculus broke and stuck into my leg. The chequebook came in handy then because I don't have health insurance.
I put my books on Amazon, Smashwords, Demonoid, ISOHunt and Pirate Bay. Search for 'Michael Cargill'
Whatever the model of HTC happens to be called in your country, the Aria/Liberty/Intruder definitely fits in my pocket. It is actually smaller than my old Nokia dumbphone.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro (needs a shorter, snappier name) is a pocket sized, keyboard toting, touch screen, Android running, 1GHz powered, dinky smart phone.
I can't say I've ever had any trouble fitting even relatively big smart phones (Nexus S) into my pocket, but perhaps OP would like to take a look at the Xperia Mini?
I'm sure in the future, as there is now, there will be smartphones with touch-screens and built in keyboards.
Would you honestly prefer having to cursor through all the apps on your smartphone instead of using a touchscreen?
"or here's one" -- You cut off the rest of the sentence: "or here's one - does anyone code android apps using only an android touchscreen device?" Coding on a device requires more than a Bluetooth keyboard; it also requires the ability to run the compiler on the device.
however there is a bit of a barrier to entry on the iphone & windows phone (you need a mac and whatever apple's ide is called or a windows pc and a free copy of visual studio)
The barrier to entry is not only that but also a $99 per year certificate. Let that expire and all your homemade apps disappear.
Dictatorship: You have a pre-made "app-store" which only lists programmes which went through some sort of censorship process. There is typically only one to choose from and typically you have no way to influence the rules or decisions. This is the way it's now typically done on newer smartphones, for example on iOS/Blackberry/WP7/Android.
All Android phones with Android Market have adb install, which lets the user install apps outside of Android Market over a USB cable. Almost all also have "Unknown sources", which lets the user install additional app stores. Even AT&T phones nowadays allow this.
Communism: (in the sense of community) You have list of recommended programs which can be easily installed.
I take it you're referring to the process used by GNU/Linux distributions' repositories. But the criteria for those tend to include being licensed as free software and free cultural works, which typically means no high-production-value video games and no tax return preparation software.
I know you can just plug in a keyboard/mouse combo to a tablet, but that feels like a poor hack of a laptop
Unless the keyboard is built just for the tablet, as in the case of the Eee Pad Transformer.
and besides I want a 12" screen minimum.
A 12" tablet may not fit in the kind of bag where a tablet is carried.
An iPhone or iPad is not a general-purpose computer in the same way that a video game console is not a general-purpose computer: it won't run homemade software or any other software obtained outside a centrally censored source. It takes a $99 per year subscription to the iOS developer program to turn an iPhone or iPad into a general-purpose computer.
The fact that I can run Frodo, DosBox, and UAE on them
...applies only to Android. Tablets that run Android are general-purpose; tablets that run iOS are not.
It IS a general purpose computer! Just because the manufacturer/vendor/whatever chooses to lock it down does not suddenly make it a paperweight. Linux on the PS3 ring any bells?
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
If your chief concern as you posted is smart phone portability for phone connectivity... the current smart phones DO fit in your pocket. I'm pretty sure my iphone 4 fits in all styles of my pockets on all my pants. Smart phones aren't the bulky crackberries of last decade... you should check out your local phone store. If you currently have an ipod touch you should already know this... as an ipod touch is basically the same size as an iphone save for a little depth... and it should fit in your pocket.
250 million Nokia 1100's have been sold since its launch in late 2003, making it the world's best selling phone handset as well as the best selling consumer electronics device in the world. Beat that Apple or beat IBM first Stevie ? personally I know nothing is going to beat Winodws on a Nokia as far as phone goes, some things dont change
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Just because the manufacturer/vendor/whatever chooses to lock it down does not suddenly make it a paperweight.
I didn't say it was a paperweight. I said it wasn't general-purpose.
Linux on the PS3 ring any bells?
The removal of Other OS turned a general-purpose computer into a no-longer-general-purpose computer.
Computer is something that does more than entertaining. Smartphone is not a computer unless you run FOLD@home on it when it's charging at night.
It can run all the videos, render 3D, play music and rub your back at the same time at 10GHz, but it still won't be a computer.
Now, a rusty chip in your car that does only one thing: optimizing injection into your carburator - that's a computer.
Heck, the calculator I had in 1983 has more rights to be called a computer than a smartphone.
I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
I can probably do 90% of what I need to do on my smartphone. It does email and browsing; it can so ssh when you add an app for that. I usually don't because the screen size and lack of keyboard are limiting. Add a screen via hdmi/wireless and a keyboard via bluetooth and you have a computer fast enough for most people. Add Cisco VPN and a screen to my iphone and I literally don't need a laptop at work anymore. I would still want one at home for programming, photo processing and games.
Most people I know who are not in the IT business only use their computer for email and browsing. A tablet with a bluetooth keyboard is perfect for them. A smartphone with external screen and bluetooth keyboard is even better if you need email/browsing to be extra mobile.
The only thing stopping a smartphone or tablet from running FOLD@home is someone writing the code for it, same as any other computing device.
An android (or webos, or meego) device is a full Linux system! How can you possibly say it's not a computer? There are calculator emulator apps that run on smartphones...do you see how ludicrous your position is?
You mean the ones we piss billions of dollars away on aid cause they cant even grow their own food, or we are fighting for their human rights can afford expensive ass smartphones and their data plans?
must be nice
Where is my Tricorder!? enough with all these boring phone features! This thing should already do most of what a multimetter, weather measurement system, scanner device and x-ray machine.! Thos are the features I want. Yourface and tiwt are apps are already on the phone, Make a phone call!
Well said. Touchscreens are practically useless outside of clicking over-sized buttons and gross ape-like gestures.
For precision work, like re-positioning the text-cursor or clicking small targets, you really need something like an optical trackpad. With a touchscreen-only interface, such a simple and common task is extremely frustrating. (No, zooming in isn't an option. That completely defeats the purpose of having a larger screen.)
As for typing, no matter how awesome you think swipe is, it still can't compare to a physical keyboard either in precision or speed. Anything beyond sending a text or updating your facebook status and it's a huge chore.
The new Blackberry Bold 9900 is the best of both worlds, offering a touchscreen, full keyboard, and can't-live-without optical trackpad. Other smartphone manufactures would do well to copy this design. It's fantastic for productivity.
Required reading for internet skeptics
If I wear normal, regular fit Levi 501s then anything in the pockets gets bent when I sit down. These days I have to wear pants with pockets in the legs to carry all my gadget stuff ("cargo pants" in the USA). The only other choice is to carry a little handbag with me (but that's not happening).
Or perhaps a case with a belt clip. These work with the waste bands of jeans too, a belt is not necessarily required.
For one thing, I thought BlackBerry devices could only run applications written in Java or otherwise compiled to JVM bytecode (some models) or AIR applications (other models). When did RIM release an NDK? Or when did Frodo, DOSBox, and UAE get ported to Java or AIR? For another, you don't need to "root" an Android device to install APKs; any device with Android Market has adb install, and the vast majority of them have "Unknown sources".
A company you never heard of does web apps for government. In a meeting recently with some folks who administer public health for the disadvantaged, the company was told that increasing numbers of their public assistance clients are using smartphones exclusively for Internet access because a monthly mobile package is cheaper than a laptop / desktop and broadband Internet.
Ask Me About... The 80's!
i'm guessing that you are at the center of the universe
In the future there will be docking stations everywhere, and you'll be able to plug your smartphone with all your work/entertainment/educative environment into any one of them.