Consumer trends with smartphones

Have you noticed that more people seem to be using smartphones these days? The days of the feature phone may be shortening. Some smartphones are very easy to use and so more consumers are gravitating towards them, even if they don't need Internet access on a mobile device. Soon, the term "smartphone" will evolve to mean different things.

For instance, some phones out there have a QWERTY keyboard and they run a very basic operating system. Users can check their e-mail, send SMS (Short Message Service) - also known as "texting," and may even browse the web on a rudimentary web browser. You're not going to see Skyfire on these devices. These phones don't run Windows Mobile, webOS, Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, or any other sophisticated OS. Instead, they are clean and simple. They attract millions of users who want a simple phone but who are also willing to check their e-mail on them.

Soon, these users will eventually migrate to a smartphone that runs a standard OS. Before we know it, everyone will have a smartphone instead of the traditional feature phone that we used to have. The big factor that's hindering most consumers right now is this: the price of a data plan. Once that comes down, then everyone will have a data plan. Remember when high-speed Internet was really expensive? Now, you can hardly find someone who uses dial-up.