ABI Research Sees More Smarts Ahead

According to ABI Research, the market for smartphones will grow from around 10 percent of the total handset market in 2007 to 31 percent of the market in 2013. A new study from this research firm projects this meteoric growth to be a product of a number of complex factors, including carriers’ drives to grow data revenues from advanced services and the general trend to pushing “smart” operating systems down into middle tier devices. The report finds that the iPhone effect is truly filtering through the handset market as other OEMs strive to remain competitive. Features that look set to proliferate and become central to enhancing user interface experiences include touchscreens, touchpads, and accelerometers facilitating tilt and shock sensing, as well as haptics providing tactile feedback. “Smartphone and OS Markets” provides a thorough overview of the smartphone market and concentrates on key developments in device feature set expansion and the evolving software landscape. The report covers important topics including specific features and technologies that enhance the user interface, in addition to the encroachment of open source software into the smartphone domain—London, United Kingdom