[Ben]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7078877.stm

An interesting look at smartphones, ARPU and data tariffs.


Can your phone take pictures? Probably yes.

But can it sync with the diary and contacts on your computer? Download and play music and videos? Play video games? Browse the web, do your e-mail? Tell you where you are and where to go?

Your answers are important - not just when you decide on your next mobile phone.

A whole range of industries is waiting for you to make up your mind, because it bets that you will want a phone that is smart, and sends and receives plenty of data.

[gorilla]

It's an interesting proposition. TWIT has a debate on this subject (sort of) this week. Basically, as phones get smarter and peoples behaviour changes, what happens to the humble pc? We are already seeing media centre pcs being pushed into the living room by mainstream shops like currys.

For most people, a pc is a media device and offers access to the net and to email. Phones are beginning to do this rather well. Screen size is an issue, as is battery life, which is why I don't believe that the pc will die.

Office apps, photo and video editing, downloading, are all primarily the domain of the desktop. Online apps are beginning to change this, and who knows where that will end, but there will always be a need for a powerful machine.

Perhaps the answer is not in more powerful mobile phones, but in an Apple TV style device, which would offer basic pc functions and a full media offering.

Whatever happens, the networks have to accept that new media is here to stay and they need to adopt it rather than try and compete.