Canada: Moving the mobility evolution forward

Pretty soon you'll be able to have your GPS system give you walking directions to your dinner date at Yonge and Bloor in downtown Toronto, text the link to a map with directions to your friend who is meeting you there, look up a video review of the restaurant on YouTube and then email the link to your friend in Vancouver - all on your personal mobile phone.And no, you haven't become Batman in the meantime.While Canadians as a whole are notorious for not using all of the functions their personal mobile phones are equipped with, this is beginning to change. Average Canadian mobile phone users are beginning to demand more from their devices including enhanced Internet browsing and the use of mobile applications beyond basic communication.It's no secret that many of these capabilities are already available and widely used in other countries around the world. But that didn't happen overnight and it won't happen that way in Canada. Instead, as the demand from average Canadian consumers for what is now considered "sophisticated" or "high-end" mobile technology grows, those applications and capabilities will become available and ultimately standard on most mobile phones in the Canadian market. As Canadian consumers adopt these more sophisticated mobile capabilities, the inevitable result is that the mobile industry in Canada will move forward.The ability to make phone calls was the original reason more than three billion people decided to carry a mobile device in their pocket in the first place. But now, people with smartphones (mobile phones with PC-like capabilities) spend only 12% of the total time they use their devices on making voice calls. In other words, 88% of the time people are using their mobile phone for something other than making calls.Browsing the Internet is now one of the fastest growing mobile phone activities. More Canadians surf the web with their mobile phone now because of the popularity of social networking and media sharing sites such as YouTube and Flickr. These sites are driving the demand for Canadians to be able to share, connect, and communicate on their mobile phones just as they do on their home computers.This changing dynamic of Canadian mobile phone consumers create great opportunity to begin offering more products and services that meet the needs of all consumers, not just the elite business consumer who currently uses the capabilities high-end phones offer.Driving the Canadian market forward is the personal relationship that people tend to build with highly capable mobile devices. Customization and new capabilities change the way Canadians feel about their mobile phones. Through customization - your mobile phone looks and feels exactly the way you want - and through having all of the mobile features that suit your lifestyle on the device, we begin to see our phones not just as a device, but as an extension and reflection of ourselves. It's not just a phone - it's my phone.In including all of these customizable and personalized functions on one single device, the traditional phone is evolving from basic communication device to an all-in-one smartphone with multiple uses. Some devices out there now combine the functionality of many portable single-purpose devices, like the camera, music player, video player and GPS system, all on one mobile device.This all-in-one functionality affects how users will access their entertainment. With these smartphones, users will no longer have to "go to their entertainment", either to their television set or to their home computer, but now will access their entertainment - videos, photos, music, and television - wherever they are. They will have access to entertainment content and capabilities on-the-go.For the consumer, the mobile phone becomes a "life in a pocket" device - an organizer, entertainer and communicator all in one. Canadians are going to begin demanding the total experience from such devices. They will demand top-notch email and personal information management services. They will seek to communicate effortlessly. They will need to mobilize their business resources securely. They will want wide-ranging on-deck services including the Internet and entertainment, and they will want a life balance with their device at the center of their mobile lifestyle, both in the office and during free time.While using your phone's GPS system to find directions to a restaurant may seem like a long way off for Canadians who may not have these capabilities on their phones or, if they do, don't know how to use them, trends in mobile phone use are signalling a change. Canadian consumers are learning to reap the benefits of a mobile lifestyle and are beginning to expect these complete mobile solutions to be offered.These changing needs bring great opportunity to design products and offer services that meet these needs. But it's also an exciting opportunity for Canadian consumers to help shape the mobile industry in Canada and ultimately to help move it forward.Tejas Rao is the Director of Technology at Nokia Canada.

Canada: Moving the mobility evolution forward

News | 08/21/2008 3:18 pm EDT

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