Australia is pretty lucky when it comes to smartphones. We have three major carriers (Telstra, Optus and Vodafone), and a sprinkling of virtual network operators (Dodo, iPrimus, Virgin) who all contend with each other to offer the latest and greatest phones on 24 month subsidized contracts. In the US, each phone has a specific agreement with each carrier, often releasing the same models under different names and creating a big confusing mess.
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Very few phones create exclusive agreements with carriers. LG usually only release their Prada phone with Vodafone, and Dodo creates exclusive deals with some tablet manufacturers, but for most handsets you still have your choice of provider. Here’s a look at phones we can expect to see coming down the pipeline in the next few months.
Apple
Simply put, no-one knows. The iPhone is due for a big refresh, but characteristically of Apple, there’s nothing in the way of details forthcoming. Many expect an announcement in June, with a release in October. But more likely the announcement will come with the release. You could start a betting pool on the name – iPhone 5, or just iPhone? The latest iPad is just called ‘iPad’, so if you want an older model, go with the iPad 2, and quietly descend into madness. Anyway, the new iPhone is so far just a theory.
Samsung
Samsung have slowed their roll lately. After throwing every idea out to the world and hoping something would stick, a few things finally stuck. The Galaxy Nexus has been a bit of a bust, but the Galaxy S2 and Galaxy Note have been big hits in the “like an iPhone but not” and “kooky banana” categories respectively.
With its status as the Android manufacturer of note assured, Samsung has narrowed its focus somewhat. The Galaxy S3, previewed here, will not be a massive departure from the status quo.
HTC
HTC have concentrated on their One line, with the One X garnering the most attention. Like Samsung, HTC have slowed down their anything-goes approach in favour of more focus. Unlike Samsung, this is to stop it from bleeding money. The next thing for HTC is to return to it’s roots with a Windows operating system. Their Titan 2, a 4.7” Windows Phone handset, hasn’t gotten a widespread release yet; like many manufacturers, they may be sitting on their hands waiting for Windows 8, which will be a hybrid PC and Phone operating system.
Sony
After breaking up with Ericsson, Sony’s mobile division has been developing their XPERIA line, to match other capitalized champions like CYBERSHOT (cameras) and BRAVIA (screens). Their next big phone will be the XPERIA Sola, focusing on entertainment. It will showcase a new screen technology that allows you to interact with items on screen with your fingers hovering slightly above it. Corny. Sony, overall, has posted a stunning $5.7bn loss this quarter: they might have to jettison their mobile arm soon if it doesn’t offer something new that people will really want.
Nokia
The figures aren’t in yet on the Lumia line, Nokia’s flagship Windows Phones. The 800 and 710 are selling in Australia, with the 900 (bigger screen) and 610 (uh, crappier?) expected this June. To demonstrate they haven’t rested solely on their relationship with Microsoft, Nokia has also developed the 808 Pureview, which challenges the enormous Galaxy Note in sheer “why the hell not” –itude. The 808 will sport a FORTY ONE megapixel camera, making it far more camera than phone. In fact, it’s far more camera than most cameras.
Some may call it silly packing that much megapixel into a form factor that can’t take a big lens, I say it’s something different that will help pull Nokia out of the doldrums. The Pureview, not yet set for release in Australia, will run Belle, the latest incarnation of the Symbian operating system.
Motorola
It’s a shame the RAZR Android phone gained so little traction. It’s a pretty good phone, and should be showing up as a bargain ($0 on $29 cap plans) soon. Motorola will meanwhile probably hold off on releasing Atrix phones here, as Google (it’s parent company) decides whom to go with for its next Google Phone. For those unaware, Google hooks up with a manufacturer every once in a while to release a ‘pure’ Android experience – a phone that’s more Google than it is Samsung, or HTC. Now that they own their own manufacturer, many predict they’ll use Motorola to make their flagship Nexus phones for a while. As mentioned before, Samsung’s latest Nexus model is a fantastic phone that has suffered in the shadow of the Galaxy S2.
RIM (BlackBerry)
Oh who cares. No wait, that’s not fair. After their ponderous (some may say “stupid”) WAKE UP campaign failed to entice the masses to buy their stale year old phones, BlackBerry is due for a major release. They recently previewed a new operating system, which looks merely good and not groundbreaking. The new OS is not yet available on something you could buy, but the announcement showed off a development device, going out to developers, that resembles something like a phone-sized Playbook. That might be good – the rubber backed Playbook is a solid design, in want of a good operating system. Hopefully, RIM will get back to developing a good phone and give up on the advertising campaigns for a while.
The Curve 9320 has been released in the US, but This Isn’t The BlackBerry You’re Looking For. It’s a strictly entry-level phone that comes with a dedicated BlackBerry Messaging (BBM) button. Hot. Dog.
LG
LG is a company that still makes phones, allegedly. Their Prada phone, running a pretty but otherwise shrug-worthy Android build, has failed to excite even the thinnest of Australians. Their Optimus line has fizzled with 3D: truly, they will need to do something soon to prove they can do something different.