Understanding the Mobile Landscape
The mobile phone revolution has changed the world we live in, and the world is continuing
to change daily. At the end of 2010, there were 5.3 billion mobile subscribers across
the world. By 2015 that number is estimated to expand to 7.4 billion. North America
alone counts for a tremendous number of these subscriptions, currently around 335
million. It’s more than the simple addition of more mobile phones into our
global ecosystem- the mobile phones themselves have changed. Whereas the past saw
phones that were built simply for placing phone calls or, sometimes, texting, the
modern day has seen the advent of the smart phone.
It should be no surprise then that one of the defining characteristics of the smartphone
revolution is the sheer number of apps that are becoming available. Everyone that
owns a smartphone has different needs and preferences in their apps, and there are
apps for every style and taste. All sorts of entertainment and utility are available
in the form of apps, and this is what has caused the number of apps to increase
so sharply. By the end of 2010 there were an estimated 6.7 billion apps- by the
end of 2015, that number is expected to increase to 37.6 billion. It goes without
saying that the market for quality apps is only going to improve. As smartphones
and tablets continue to find their way into the hands of more and more consumers,
there will be an ever increasing demand for quality apps.
You may wonder what, exactly, can be accomplished with an app. Perhaps you’ve
had limited experiences with these devices in the past. The wonderful thing about
smartphones and tablets is that the technology is constantly improving. Upon the
advent of the iPhone and its competing platform, Android, most devices had limited
RAM and processor speeds, limiting what they were able to accomplish. Even then,
however, the platforms were capable of supporting sophisticated applications that
would read and edit Microsoft Office documents, as well as entertain users by streaming
music and data through a 3g connection. Today, these devices have seen tremendous
surges in the quality of the technology, greatly increasing what these platforms
are capable of handling. Many of these devices now support Adobe Flash, thus further
enabling what the devices are capable of doing if they are given the proper conditions
from an app.
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