Smart Phones, Software Development and the Future

Smart Phones, Software Development and the Future

The market is flooded with new, shiny and do-it-all smart phones and every manufacturer is trying to woo new customers with new ideas, designs and features. Apple's iPhone, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7, Google's Droid, and Rim's BlackBerry are a few in the list.

Today, I find my iPhone being one of the most common parts of my life. If I leave it for 15 minutes, I feel like I have left a body part somewhere. To give you an idea, here is a list of the tasks I do with my iPhone.

Obviously, Phone calls
Text messaging – I found it useful even when there is noise, you can still text.
Emails – I check most of my emails while I am doing some other activities such as at the Gym, waiting somewhere or even while watching TV or waiting for Neel's school bus. This saves me lot of time and hassle of going to my computer.
Photos and Videos
Music – I use all the time at the GYM.
Games – Neel and I play lot of games on it. I play two games only, Angry Birds and Chess.
All schedules and reminder
Maps and directions
All calendar events
Alarms
Online banking and stock market updates
Stop Watch – I use all the time when I am having Neel practice at the field.
Weather – I check it every day, a few times a day to keep me up to date with the weather.
News – Check news online
Website updates – I check C# Corner and other websites
Messengers chats
Shopping research

Smart phones market is the fastest growing business today and probably for the next decade.Nielsen predicts that the smart phones will take over the regular phones in year 2012.

IDC predicts, the he worldwide market for smart phones expected to grow 55.4% this year compared to 2009 amid better than expected demand. This is 10% higher than the previous forecast from the International Data Corporation.

IDC prediction also predicts that by 2014, the Android and Windows Phone will take over the iOS (iPhone) by a big number and Google's Android will lead the way.

Source

As a developer, you should think about development of smart phones now. Smart Phones development is one of the Top 6 Software Development Trends in 2011. Today, the market is flooded with many Tables. Check out my blog Are Tablets the Future?

I have been a Windows Client applications developer for almost 14 years now. I have also been developing Web application for a while but recently, I have switched my focus to smart phones. Novell, recently launched the MonoDroid that I am using to build Android based applications using C#. I am using the MonoTouch iPhone/iPad development.

Android has take over BlackBerry this year. One third (32%) of users in USA now use Android and only 10% users use iOS and Windows. About 30% use BlackBerry.

Cheers!