In addition to trying to dominate the category of more expensive and sophisticated smartphones, most smartphone developers have now opened one more page in their competition - in this case, to claim as many buyers as possible with small balances. This was shown at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, the world's biggest mobile telephony exhibition last week, in which nearly all the manufacturers that participated announced their plans for new affordable devices.
As "smartphone" owners have already surpassed 1 billion, the "take-off" of economic models is aimed at "the next 1 billion consumers" who will get their first smartphone. New users are expected to come mainly from the developing world (eg Latin America and Asia) and less developed countries, where the penetration of smartphones is already high. To attract them, manufacturers are leveraging the fact that hardware costs ever cheaper, giving them the opportunity to launch models with good performance and low price.
This was the logic behind the Firefox OS from the non-profit Mozilla Foundation, which debuted at last year's MWC, and one of the first compatible models, Alcatel One Touch Fire, is already available in Greece. In this year's report, however, the Mozilla Foundation decided to ... lower the game even further by announcing a smartphone worth just 26 dollars. The 3,5 inch device will be manufactured by the Chinese Spreadtrum and, although it will not claim special laurels for its speed, it will offer the basic features of an "smart" phone such as surfing the Internet and accessing applications.
The non-profit foundation did not stop there, however cooperation with Spreadtrum, as at the exhibition it showed the third consecutive and much more "mature" version of its operating system, with the aim that Firefox OS devices offer an even more satisfactory user experience, despite their not high technical specifications. Devices that will soon be enriched with more affordable options, as at the Mozilla Foundation stand one could see two new models from ZTE (Open C and Open II) and three from Alcatel (Onetouch Fire C, Fire E and Fire S).
The "next billion users" was mentioned verbatim by Stephen Elop, executive director of Nokia, presenting the new proposals of the Finnish company, which are included in the low and middle economic category. Of these, the spotlight was stolen by the Nokia X, X+ and XL, the company's first phones with Android operating system. A move that raised questions among many analysts, since Nokia has already agreed to buy the division mobile from Microsoft, and is supposed to act as an "ambassador" of the operating system Windows Phone 8 of the American giant.
The answer probably lies in the fact that, at least in its basic functions, Android has little hardware requirements. Therefore, the X Series incorporates lower cost components than Nokia's Windows Phone models, making it much lower in price: the three smartphones will cost 89, 99 and 109 dollars, respectively.
At the same time, Microsoft is also planning to give a potential "presence" to the economic models with Windows Phone. Although Microsoft didn't reveal a specific device at the MWC press conference, it did announce an update to its smartphone operating system. The new version of Windows Phone 8 will be released in the spring, and many of the changes included will give manufacturers the opportunity to launch cheaper products - with lower-cost processors, less RAM and more limited storage than today. .
At the press conference, the US company reported on the upcoming Windows 8.1 upgrading, where the minimum hardware requirements will be "relaxed" again. A fact that makes analysts predict the release of tablets at a significantly lower price, even starting with 180 euros.
Sophisticated models
Although plans for low-cost smartphones set the tone at this year's World Mobile Congress, that doesn't mean that new sophisticated devices, with the latest technology, did not parade from Barcelona. Case in point Galaxy S5 της Samsung, η νέα «ναυαρχίδα» της κορεατικής εταιρείας, που ανταποκρίνεται στην ανάγκη των χρηστών για μεγαλύτερη ασφάλεια, καθώς ενσωματώνει τη δυνατότητα ταυτοποίησης του κατόχου του μέσω δακτυλικών αποτυπωμάτων, στα πρότυπα του iPhone 5S της Apple. Υποστηρίζοντας technologies που του επιτρέπουν να καταγράφει τους σφυγμούς και τη φυσική δραστηριότητα, το S5 εγγυάται επιπλέον εντυπωσιακή ταχύτητα, εξαιρετική αυτονομία και λιγότερες… βλάβες, αφού είναι ανθεκτικό στο νερό και στη σκόνη. Παράλληλα, έχει αναβαθμισμένες φωτογραφικές επιδόσεις, χάρις στη νέα κάμερα ανάλυσης 16 Megapixel, η οποία μπορεί να καταγράφει και βίντεο Ultra HD.
The "present" in the new era of ultra-sharp video also gives Sony's new Xperia Z2 with its enhanced camera, which has 20,7 Megapixel resolution, accompanied by sophisticated image stabilization software and supports several new features. From its predecessor, Z2 keeps its water and dust resistant while it is equipped with the latest and strongest Qualcomm (Snapdragon 801) processor, larger RAM (3 GB), and a "brutal" (3200) ). Sony has reserved a new 5,2 inch screen for its new premium smartphone proposition, powered by the Live Color LED technology, to deliver even more color.
Source: kathimerini.gr
