A lot of attention has been given to sub-$100 e-readers such as the new crop of Kindles. But a report from PaidContent suggests another generation of sub-$100 devices might be on the horizon: the sub-$100 smartphone.
PaidContent reports that consultants at Deloitte see an impending wave of cheap smartphones hitting the market—as many as 500 million of them by the end of the year. By and large, these will not be Android, iOS, RIM, Symbian, or Windows Phone based phones, but rather they will run on closed, proprietary platforms. Most consumers care more about touchscreens or keyboards than what OS the device is running.
These phones will not likely have 3G, but could have other useful features:
WiFi is likely to become a “standard” feature of these devices, as will email, instant messaging, a pared-down form of apps and a camera—a list of services, that, along with the touchscreens, seem to now be the smartphone bare essentials. As prices for components continue to drop, specifications for these sub-$100 phones will continue to get better (or smarter, as the case may be).
It’s not clear, of course, whether any of these phones will have the ability to read e-books. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Amazon or other major e-book companies reached out to cut deals with carriers to get their readers included on that “pared-down” list of apps. A smartphone is a digital device you’ll probably keep with you at all times, and if you can read e-books on it, chances are at least some of you will.
Oh, I shudder when I hear this news. I’ve diddled with numerous phones with”closed, proprietary platforms.” I’ve yet to find one that’s not worthless.
The people who create such systems seem to delegate the UI, not just to some geek, but to the new unfortunate hire, who’s clueless about what he’s doing. The result is what you find on TV and DVD remotes and their on-screen interfaces: clumsy, awkward and non-intutive. No one but the designer can find anything.
You’re right about reading on smart phones. One reason I’ve been unable to persuade myself to get an iPad is that for reading on the go, my iPhone 3GS is actually better. Yes, the screen is tiny, but because it slips in my pocket, it’s always with me. I wouldn’t carry an iPad as many places. And besides, in some work contexts, it’s easy to slip in a little idle-moment reading. Others will think, “Oh, he’s just checking his messages.”
nWhat they are describing here are not smart phones, they are called feature phones. A few years back before I made the jump to smart phones, I had an LG Lotus. Not bad for what it was; you could even get some basic apps for it… Opera-Mini was great (made web browsing possible since the default browser was painful). Never found even a basic ereader app for it, but you could read P.G. Text files on the browser.
Still, I would say that a proper smart phone opens a whole new world. 4″+ screen, and a good ereader app, and you are golden. I read on my Android Phone with a 4.3″ screen and Aldiko almost as much as I do on my dedicated ebook reader.
There are already sub-$100 phones running Android and iOS that allow users to read e-books just fine. Featurephones are likely on their way out anyway.