Smartphone landscape in 2011

What in store for smartphones in 2011, you could be forgiven for thinking that innovation in smartphones have reached saturation point, what's left to explore? Manufacturers continue to push the envelope, however, announced smarter smart phones for years to come.

The trends and predictions for smartphones in 2011 gotten a kick start to the CES in January and there will be another series of energy at the Mobile World Cong next month.
So just what are the trends to follow when it comes to smartphones and their OS, hardware and software in 2011? You can download e-books from Amazon about tablets here.

Smartphone OSRight now smartphone OS is super live, active between Google Android and Apple the IOS.

While IOS has the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad in its portfolio, Android has emerged as a hot favourite with the likings of Samsung, HTC, Motorola, LG and other leading equipment manufacturers, including Shanzhai.

Apple's hold on the smart phone market had grown to 16.7% in 2010 but is facing tough competition from Android on all fronts.

The rumour mill says there will be a new iPhone this year, and Apple is going to take the competition to a new level.

Insiders suggest that Apple will react in a big way in 2011, comprises a rumor a Verizon iPhone.

Who knows, maybe Apple introduces cheaper iPhone to compete with the droid, Galaxy and HTC phones.

Smartphone OS game is going to be hard in 2011 with Gartner estimating that by Q3 Android will have a 25.5% market share.

Android, with its current growth rate, can catch up with Symbian's 36% share in 2011 to become the almost popular smartphone OS over the world.

Microsoft Windows 7 Phone, which was launched in 2010, will also be looking to increase its market share in 2011.There are also some rumors doing the rounds of an alliance between BlackBerry and Microsoft.

The rumor has it that BlackBerry smart phones will run Windows 7 Phone, with seamless access to both Microsoft Exchange and BlackBerry messaging.

The new version of Palm WebOS is also rumoured to be coming soon.

HP is also preparing to unveil a brigade of WebOS powered devices in 2011, with a powerful interface and features.

Android, Apple, Blackberry, Windows 7 Phone and WebOS ... I miss something? Oh yes ... MeeGo.

It is high time Nokia introduced MeeGo in the smart phone market before it is too late. Hardware trendsSmartphones has already begun to enter the segment of netbooks, laptops and desktop computers, and this has become deeper with the influx of dual core processors in smartphones.

More than 25% of smart phones to be shipped by the end of 2011 expected to have a dual core ARM chips on board.

The dual core processors will bring faster browsing, seamless flash content, responsive gameplay and better video capabilities of smartphones.

Sony Ericsson is rumored to launch a PlayStation phone soon.

There is speculation that Nvidia will also tailor its Tegra line of processors to enable high-end gaming in smartphones.

Dual cameras will also be a trend in 2011, and also error-free recording in hi-definition 1080p mode.

They may also include HDMI video output to view videos on hi-definition TV and external monitors.

This will be followed by a transition to portable HD mobile home, with fast video streaming and download courtesy 4G network.

Android Gingerbread 2.3 pre-empted the next hot trend of mobile technology, near field communication (NFC) or short-range wireless technology.

NFC failed to get picked up as well in 2010, due to the lack of compatible devices, but 2011 could see several devices that support NFC, iPhone 5 may be one of them.

The dual SIM has become the norm for mobile phones all over the world thanks to Shanzhai and it is likely that this year dual SIM functionality will be a hot trend in branded smartphones.

Remember Intel? It is a company that is not oftentimes in the picture when it comes to smartphones, but they can also take a line on it in 2011! Intel CEO Paul Otellini has announced that smart phones that run on Intel's smart phone processor, which is now in the customer sampling stage, coming out in the second half of 2011. Intel chips are expected to support all the popular smartphone operating systems like Android, Windows and MeeGo.

Software trendsThe key trend in 2011 for smart phones will be mobile applications.

Apple has more than 3 million apps, Android has more than 2 million, and even the late-comer, Windows 7 Phone, has over 1,600 apps.

The app stores are now inseparable from smartphones and this binding is only going to get stronger in 2011.Location based networking applications is going to be the next big thing in smart phones to find restaurants nearby, for business promotion.

Social networks will also continue to grow larger and can become a primary way of sharing information between smartphone users in 2011. It may be a consolidation of mobile devices and the development of mobile to mobile communication technology that face time, Skype and messaging applications.

Next we will see the incorporation of mobile tools in smartphones.

Microsoft may launch mobile office for all the smartphone platforms, Apple and Google to introduce desktop-equivalent browser for their respective platforms.

There are some exciting units lined up for 2011 ... Verizon iPhone a possible 5, LTE-enabled smart phones from Motorola and HTC, Sony Ericsson PlayStation phone, really capable of playing smartphones, and more.