Multimedia Handsets Lose Their Appeal

By Ian Bell May 11, 2005

Fewer than 9% of respondents to an In-Stat early adopter consumer survey were very or extremely interested in buying a cell phone capable of playing MP3 or other music files, and less than 11% were very or extremely interested in broadcast TV functionality, the high-tech research firm says.

“Cell phone manufacturers, carriers and content providers face serious challenges in convincing these end users of the benefits of music- or video-centric phones,” said Neil Strother, In-Stat analyst. “The survey did reveal some positives from respondents, however, including a willingness to spend a modest amount more for music or TV phones, and for additional storage.”

In-Stat also found the following:

— Only in the past year or so have smartphones started to build a significant market, after several years of hits and misses. A similar road is likely ahead for multimedia cell phones.

— Some mobile programming is quite clear: news and weather are winners.

— Payment schemes need more flexibility, however.

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Mobile

Classic BlackBerries are finally losing suppport as company shuts down services

BlackBerry Key2. Credits: BlackBerry official.

After kickstarting the smartphone era, BlackBerry's classic devices and services are finally shutting down. No, not the Android-powered modern BlackBerries such as the KeyOne, Key2, and Key2 LE, but anything that ran a BlackBerry-branded operating system. Whether this is a classic QWERTY keyboard powered by BlackBerry 7, or the iPhone-inspired BlackBerry 10, or even the forgotten BlackBerry PlayBook OS -- it's all shutting down this month.
"As another milestone in the BlackBerry journey, we will be taking steps to decommission the legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1, and earlier versions, with an end of life or termination date of January 4, 2022," the company announced. "As of this date, devices running these legacy services and software through either carrier or Wi-Fi connections will no longer reliably function, including for data, phone calls, SMS, and 911 functionality. We have chosen to extend our service until then as an expression of thanks to our loyal partners and customers."
BlackBerry bids farewell to its longtime customers. Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
It's the end of an era for what was once a distinguished product that defined the market a decade ago. Even predating iMessage, the BlackBerry instant messaging service -- BBM -- was a great selling point for the product line. As iOS, Android, and WhatsApp began to dominate, BlackBerry devices began to fall by the wayside.
The company tried to rejuvenate its smartphone business by launching its own touchscreen phones and later its own operating system in 2013, but had little success. Unable to keep up,ity stopped the creation of smartphones in 2016 and licensed services to TCL Ltd. between 2016 to 2020. BlackBerry promised to launch a smartphone by the end of 2021 in partnership with OnwardMobility, but that hasn't panned out.
The company has now shifted its focus to selling software. It briefly had a nostalgia-fueled increase in its share price this year, which later nearly returned to its original price. While the market has been saturated with multiple companies claiming a stake in the smartphone pie, hopefully, BlackBerry manages to return to some form of relevance with its current partnership.

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iPhone: Apple video highlights 10 cool features on its handset

iPhone 12 range

Apple has just dropped a new video highlighting 10 useful tips to help you get the most out of your iPhone.

10 helpful iPhone tips | Apple Support

Mobile

Samsung Exynos loses big even as MediaTek widens its lead over Qualcomm

When MediaTek overtook Qualcomm to become the biggest smartphone chipset vendor in 2020, it did so by grabbing 31% of the smartphone SoC market. A year later, the Taiwanese company has not only managed to hold on to that position but has also significantly widened its lead over Qualcomm.

According to a recent Counterpoint Research report, MediaTek’s share in the smartphone chipset market -- as of Q3 2021 -- stands at 40%, showing an increase of seven percentage points compared to the same period in 2020. This increase was bolstered partly by a surge in demand for 4G LTE phones in emerging markets (like India), where 5G networks are still several years away. In comparison, Qualcomm, which had 28% of the global SoC market in 2020, found its market share drop to 27%.