First, no apology, for writing about handsets. For media types, this might sound irrelevant, but the handset - in planet mobile - is everything.
As forecast, the iPhone has forced everyone to raise their game so that, not long from now, everyone who matters to advertisers will have a handset in their hands that they can reach.
For example, the first 'G-phone', T-Mobile's G1 is out there and being loved by its users - despite it being very much version 1.0, Blackberry has responded with the Storm and HTC is launching the Touch Fuze in America. All these devices have touch-screen interfaces. Let's remember that almost no handsets had this before the iPhone came along. Chiefly, touch screen allows a wad more space for your screen which, when it comes to media consumption, is crucial.
But, the three competitors are also seeking to fill the iPhone's gaps. First among these is that it has no proper QWERTY keyboard. If you want to use your phone for email and work stuff that too is a usability must since, as good as the iPhone's touch keyboard is, it can't match a slide-out, 'proper' keyboard.
All that means that, if you want to use your phone for email - and, let's face it, most 'ABC1s' do - then there are more and more options out there attempting to steer you away from an iPhone. So, competition is doing its bit to deliver handsets that genuinely can handle all the advanced stuff we need users to be doing to make the mobile a viable media (and thus advertising) platform. Which one would you choose?
