Slew of new smartphones shed light on enterprise mobility evolution

Steve Patterson, writing Network World's PhilAndroid blog, argues the new Motorola phones are "customer acquisition platforms that attract and engage consumers with the un-tethered mobile capability to run data-intensive applications like Google Maps, FacebookFacebook, YouTube and Skype in the way they would ordinarily run only on PCs or on Wi-Fi-connected mobile devices." Alles zu Facebook auf CIO.de

"This mobile platform consisting of data-intensive applications, compelling preloaded Google apps, fast un-tethered browsing and long battery life is game changing because it captures customers and increases the amount of mobile data intensive application time displaced from PCs (including Macs)," he writes.

Nokia did emphasize hardware features to differentiate its second-generation Lumia phones: new display technology that minimizes motion blurring and boosts brightness in sunlight, wireless recharging based on the Qi standard; and on the higher-end phone, a greatly improved camera and more powerful battery. But what makes the camera effective is the way it leverages both new editing features in Windows Phone 8, along with new third-party apps, and the accompanying free 7GB storage account on MicrosoftMicrosoft's SkyDrive cloud storage service. Alles zu Microsoft auf CIO.de

Nokia is currently the leading Windows Phone vendor in the U.S., but that's not actually saying much, as one analyst notes. "Despite recent gains, Windows Phone is not yet performing to Ovum's expectations," says Tony Cripps, principal analyst, devices and platforms, Ovum, a technology market research firm.

Cripps has a novel thesis about why. "This is, at least, partially as a consequence of the strength of the opposition [iOS and Android], but partly, we think, as a deliberate move by Microsoft and its hardware partners to avoid flooding the market too quickly with the platform before they are in a position to play up its synergies with other Microsoft products, especially Windows 8 for PCs and tablets [due out this fall], and its business applications," he says. "The clear benefits to businesses from the ready integration possible across Microsoft's products set will set a benchmark for BYOD strategies focused on out-of-box device capabilities once Microsoft's full range of new platforms is available."