13. Java Apps
Up until now, Java (J2ME) has been mostly a platform for mobile gaming.
2006 will see a whole bunch of non-gaming applications, ranging from messaging/IM to banking, from presence management to browsers, like the new Opera Mini.
Watch the wave come in.
14. Wi-Fi enabled 2.5G Phones Go Mass Market
So far, wi-fi enabled mobiles have been specialist and high end models. 2006 will see this feature in more mainstream, mass market phones, assuming (and it’s a big assumption) that operators agree to sell them.
This means that you can potentially surf the net via a hotspot or at home. And even make VoIP calls at a far cheaper rate than offered by network operators – and if the hotspot is free, your call will be free too.
Analysts are very divided over the impact this will have – will it be the death knell of operators as we all stand in one place (you can’t move around, as you’ll loose your connection) making cheap calls?
I think it won’t have much of an impact at all next year. Setting up the phones will beyond the ken of most people, even if they understand what their phones can now do. It seems that although many of us buy new models becasue they have lots of features, these are forgotten as we leave the shop, as we settle in to the old patterns of voice, sms and the occasional game of Snake.
Wi-fi on phones will have a negigible impact until the phone automatically detects the best quality/best priced network to use and hands over from one to the other without bothering the user. That’s what? At least 5 years down the line.
So yes, some of us techno fiends may set up our phones and make the odd VoIP call in 2006, but operators can sleep safely in their beds next year – from this danger at least.
Image from Slate.com
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