Before smartphones, any entertainment on mobile phones consisted of ringtones, a few tracks of audio (often in bad quality), and various wallpapers. According to Market Watch, the proliferation of digital devices, including smartphones, has resulted in a transformation in the way mobiles are used and in mobile entertainment. They have affected every area of our lives and will continue to be one of the most used digital devices for the foreseeable future. The research they carried out also shows that 75% of mobile usage is for streaming.
Early Smartphones
In the early 2000s, Blackberry, Nokia, and Windows all introduced smartphones in the US market. They were nothing like the phones of today. They were bulky and had physical QWERTY keyboards. The developers were attempting to make them functional with the use of the telephone systems and compared to what had been available before them, they were deemed to be quite advanced.
‘Blackberry Curve 8520 KIeypad’ – langleyo via Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)
There were other phones called smartphones prior to this, but they were not available outside of Japan and were similar to these first ones that were for sale in the US.
In 2007, Apple introduced the first iPhone. Now there was a much flatter phone with full touch-screen features rather than a keyboard. For many, this was the first true smartphone. The iPhone allowed users to download and purchase additional applications from the App Store, mobile payments become possible, as well as using the cloud for storage.
‘iphones’ – Laura LaRose via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
The Evolution Of Smartphones
From 2010 onwards, the smartphone development moved on in leaps and bounds. There was some concern about the sustainability of the materials used to make them, but even these matters were addressed.
What was more surprising was how quickly people started to use them for everything. Today there is very little you cannot do on a smartphone. One of the biggest areas they had to be able to handle, and they have successfully achieved it, is the streaming market. From music on places such as iTunes, films on Netflix, to online casino games at CasinoEuro. Live casino games make use of live streaming to show players a casino floor, complete with tables and dealers, streaming the gaming action in real time to their phones (or even desktops).
If the smartphones had not been developed enough to allow the streaming of these things, they would not be as popular as they are today. According to Statista, the number of users will have jumped in the US alone from 62.6 million users in 2010 to more than 270 million by 2022.
The Future Of Smartphones
It is hard to imagine what other advances can be made in smartphones, although back in the 1990s no one thought a mobile phone would become a handheld computer, which is basically what they are now. Various things, such as voice and fingerprint activation have been added to some of them, although to date, neither of these things has proved overly popular. Apple now seems to be sticking with their Face ID system. So what is next for them?
That remains to be seen. No doubt in another 10 years time they will be far more advanced than they are today.
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