What a year it was in the world of mobile! Of course, you’d know that already if you’re a regular here at mobileapptesting.com. The real question is what were the year’s biggest stories and developments? Well, we’d have a hard time arguing against CNN.com. Here’s an abbreviated version of the their top 10 stories in mobile tech (many of which have a great deal to do with mobile app testing). Enjoy!
1. Goodbye (mostly) to unlimited data plans; hello throttling. The digital divide between those with high-speed Internet access and those without remains a huge problem in the United States and elsewhere, leading to significant inequities of opportunities and services.
2. Growth of mobile streaming media. It seemed to be the year when streaming media for mobile really took off. According to The Nielsen Company, 14% of U.S. mobile users (about 31 million people) now watch videos on their smartphones and feature phones, a 35% increase over last year. Also, 29% of U.S. smartphone users stream music or Internet radio to their phones, up 66% from 2010
3. 4G network rollouts. This year, all major U.S. carriers and several of the discount regional ones were busy rolling out their faster 4G networks. This label comprises three major technologies: long-term evolution (LTE, used by Sprint, Verizon and MetroPCS), HSPA+ (used by AT&T and T-Mobile), and WiMAX (provided by Clearwire and resold by Sprint in some cities). These technologies offer different speeds, strengths and weaknesses — so what the 4G experience means to consumers will vary widely by carrier and location.
4. BlackBerry outage and continuing RIM decline. For several years, even after the first iPhone launched, Research in Motion’s BlackBerry line of phones was the 800-pound gorilla of the U.S. smartphone market. This was driven mainly by business users, who were attracted to the phone’s advanced messaging and encryption features.
5. Android commands half the U.S. mobile market. According to ComScore, as of October 2011 the Android operating system was used on more than 46% of U.S. smartphones. If this growth continues, then by now Google’s open mobile platform may already be on about half of all U.S. smartphones in use. This leaves Apple’s iOS in second place with nearly a third of all smartphones, and all other platforms (Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, etc.) occupying far smaller market segments.
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