 Taking Over The World
Theo Boshoff
It seems that the world is being taken over by the mobile phone - according to Brett Loubser, product manager at Samsung Mobile SA, that is.
He says that the mobile phone is fast becoming the centre of the digital world and has, in a very short space of time, evolved from a device for making voice calls and sending SMS messages to a pocket-sized handset that provides access to just about any form of content.
Loubser says further that the cellphone also remains the biggest selling consumer electronics device in history, which he believes is a position that is not about to change any time soon.
"If you look at where mobile phone technology is going, with enhanced touch screen technology, high definition video and complete social media integration, there is no doubt that we are going to see an even bigger surge in mobile phone users," says Loubser. "It has been said that mobile phones already outnumber human beings almost 2 to 1 in some market regions, which shows where this evolution is heading."
The concept of the smartphone, which has exploded in the past 18 months (according to Loubser), is having a massive impact on networks as they now have to deal with 'always on' devices, constant updating and capacity usage. "Projections show that this is going to increase even further and that globally we will be using 40 times more data in 10 years' time," he says.
In light of this, Loubser foresees that new technologies will have to be implemented to allow for all of this content to be brought to the mobile phone. "While I don't believe other technologies will become redundant, mobile phones will continue to evolve and perform more functions in our daily lives. As South Africa enters a new era in communications, most smartphones will start incorporating functionality such as Wi-Fi to allow for some of the data requirements to be moved off the existing cellular networks," Loubser adds.
So the question isn't really if mobile phones will take over the world, as it seems that they are already doing, but rather if mobile networks will allow it to happen.
Loubser believes that our local mobile operators will indeed be ready to handle the load of data and voice traffic the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup will bring. |
