Friend: So how is that phone?
Ismail: The best phone i have ever used
Friend: But you cant MMS / It doesn’t have 3G / You cant forward SMS
Ismail: yes, but it’s still the best phone i ever had

Now, please note i have never been an Apple Fan having said that, it is the best phone i have used thus far. Iphone is impacting on mobile internet usage like how blackberry did on mobile email.

Recently a guy ran the girl friend/wife/significant other usability test on Ubuntu Linux, basically to see how easy it is for a non tech savvy user to complete basic functions. The IPhone passes these with flying colours. All my previous phones (HTC, Nokia) failed dismally with functions other then calls and SMS.

I believe this is important. Lets take a look at how access to communications can stimulate economic growth and raise the quality of living.

In a study (PDF) by Harvard economist Robert Jensen he reported that when mobile phones were launched in kerala in 1997, Fisherman used the phones to call local markets while still at sea. This in turned helped raise profits by 8%, lowering consumer prices by 4% and reduced catch wastage from 6.5% to practically nothing.

This is just with access to voice communications, now imagine what easy access to knowledge and information (The Internet) would do?

Mobile phones have been available for a decade in most parts of Africa and there are more people with mobile phones then computers. Africa only has about 4% Internet penetration compared to 29% mobile penetration. Also remember that a number of people using mobile phones in Africa may never have had access to computers or the internet growing up. The environment in Africa may be best for mobile internet. Though mobile internet has been stifled by high data prices, cost of handsets and complicated interfaces.

So what does this mean?

I do not expect the IPhone to actually make a difference since Apple caters for the higher end of the market. Though Nokia has been been working in Africa and if they can develop something similar just as intuitive with easy access to the internet at a much lower price they would win back a fan. With data prices lowering this would allow masses of people access to the large body of knowledge found on the internet. Good times ahead!

The use of sky-hooks system is a useful addition to the iPhone and makes sense when you consider that the iPod Touch does not have GSM capabilities. Though this is not the best and most reliable solution for the iPhone considering the GSM capabilities.

Location based services(LBS) on GSM have been around for many years with the GSM association, a global trade body for GSM, publishing reference documentation as far back as 2001. A number of operators launched LBS but the services failed to deliver the ROI. With the increase of social networking and social networks based on the location this should soon change.

How does all of this affect Apple and the iPhone? Apple should start taking advantage of currently implemented LBS architecture that has already been rolled out by some operators to offer a more consistent and better experience to customers.

Just recently Symbian has announced “Enhanced Location based services” as part of their leading mobile OS. The new architecture covers A-GPS, network-based and WiFI positioning. Expect a number of LBS enabled devices & applications from the Symbian crowd.

Considering Apple’s current business model with the iPhone being offered by a single operator it would be beneficial for Apple and their customers if they implemented these additional methods. It would be much more reliable and accurate at the same time allowing Apple to offer this feature in countries where Sky-hook do not have a DB of mapped out WiFi spots. If the operator has already invested in LBS infrastructure it would make a deal with Apple much more attractive, the operator gaining a higher ROI.

And then maybe…. just maybe we will finally see a real uptake of location based services.

“Nokia’s dominance at the top of the global chart has been weakened over the last 18 months. In the survey, conducted across 31 countries by Habbo, it is clear that Nokia has lost some favour with teens to Sony Ericsson and Samsung since autumn 2006″

“Despite still being the favoured handset in 15 of the 31 countries polled, Nokia loses out to Sony Ericsson in markets such as the UK, Germany, Denmark and Switzerland. In all of these markets Nokia ranked first in 2006.”

Do you think its pretty surprising?

Lets take a look at why Nokia became darling of the mobile world and why in my humble opinion it will soon be dethroned from it’s position at the top unless it does something drastic.

Back when cellular technology was new ;boring Motorola’ was the king of the hill, with their black flip phones that weighed a ton. Then along came Nokia with funky designs, clip on covers, enhanced SMS (multiple sms), picture SMS’s and predictive text. All of these things were revolutionary at the time, and it ensured that their phones became a ‘must have’ and turned a large number of teenagers into brand loyalists. These teenagers grew up, still caught up in their time warp and brand loyalty continuing to purchase new products even when it provides no ADDITIONAL value. This is a major coup for marketers and consumers are giving up their power but thats the topic of another post.

Now, Since then Nokia has not been revolutionary or changed anything fundamentally about how they do things. Why should they? they have a hoard of willing buyers who will always be willing to buy their new products with minor modifications of the layout of the buttons and additional features.

The problem with this strategy of ‘incremental’ innovation and tweaking of original innovations is that sooner or later someone will come along (i.e Apple?) and leap frog you and consumers will soon realise your products just don’t add that much value to their lives any longer. This is where you start to loose customers and you have to play catch up.

Grow up, Innovate or loose!