SOCIAL NETWORKS:
Social networks are very critical when it comes to cell phones. It is important for
manufacturers to create phones with new capabilities, so that service providers can
market these features to consumers. By doing so, they can either attract new customers
or retain the existing ones. Therefore, service providers are rapidly coming out with new
technology in order to meet consumer needs.
In the past, the purpose of a cell phone was to make it easier for people to
communicate. Its only feature was to make phone calls and receive them. Today, it has
come to be much more than that. Handset makers focus most of their attention to the
younger market. This is due to the fact that many young wireless users view it as way of
meeting new friends, sharing pictures, using Internet, etc. According to Young wireless
users see phone as social network by Colin Gibbs, “The Seattle-based market research
firm found that youth users are nearly twice as likely to upload both photos and videos to
the Internet from their handsets, with nearly 9 million kids posting a cell-phone picture in
the last month.” Since cellular phones tend to attract younger consumers, many Internet
based companies are moving into mobile. Some of these companies include Yahoo,
Google, MySpace, and Facebook.
Moreover, cell phone providers are now introducing 3G services. 3G wireless
combines a mobile phone, laptop PC and TV. Some of its features include phone
calls/fax, global roaming, sending/receiving large e-mails, high speed web navigation,
video conferencing and more. Carriers that already use this service include Verizon,
which uses V-cast. Another is Sprint, which allows customers to watch specific
Television programs, listen to a Sirius radio channel and search the web for an extra $20-
$25 a month. Lastly, Cingular introduced MobiTV, which gives subscribers twenty-five
channels of live television. Manufacturers that participate with 3G handset are LG and
Samsung. However, other manufacturers have noticed many negative aspects of it.
Some drawbacks consist of the poor battery life and bulky size. Not to mention, the 3G
service is very costly.
Furthermore, this year Cingular came out with a new cell phone technology called
the Apple iPhone. The iPhone includes features such as an iPod which allows people to
listen to music and download. Also, it gives people the capability to watch videos. Other
features include the Internet, visual voicemail which allows you to go directly to any
voicemail without listing the messages. Finally, it is known for its high technology.
However, new ideas for technology have been coming out so quickly that the
iPhone is already old news. Google, which operates the leading Internet search engine,
offering target search results for more than eight billion Web pages while targeting an
audience of more than three hundred and eighty million people worldwide is coming out
with the Google Phone, also known as, gPhone. Google is coming out with this new
handset because they are frustrated with the way the cell phone industry works.
According to the article, Google Unveils Cell Phone Alliance by Amol Sharma and
Kevin J. Delaney, “Carriers and handset makers control what services customers can
access and use operating systems that sometimes restrict software developers from
accessing information like a user’s Global Positioning System location, contact list or
Web Browsing.” In other words, Google disagrees with the fact that cell phone users
can’t choose the type of service they want when they purchase a phone and are restricted
from using certain features. One aspect that sets the iPhone and the new gPhone apart is
that the Google phone will enable customers to use any service they want and they are
developing a phone that is more like the web. Google feels that if consumers have easier
access to the web than they will use it more often. Another important aspect that is
making the manufacturers want to sign with Google is that the mobile phones are low in
cost. Google is planning to give the phone to manufacturers for free or at least a big
discount. By doing so, the savings will be past on to the consumers.
In conclusion, the fact that Google is coming out with a low cost mobile phone
that can be used by any service is probably going to bring a lot of competition to the cell
phone industry. There is a good chance that once the Google phone enters into the
market; an increase in new ideas for technology will come more rapidly than it already is.