CTIA 2009 starts April 1st with Google, Microsoft, Nokia and RIM looking smart. Meanwhile, optimistic projections of cellphone growth just six months ago, are now looking foolish.
The cellular industry now claims 4 billion people on the planet are connected wirelessly. But the trillion dollar industry cannot avoid the global economic crisis. IDC recently reported that handset sales were down some 12.6 percent in the 4th quarter of 2008. Strategy Analytics predicted last month that the global mobile phone market would shrink 9% in 2009.
At the Mobile World Congress last month in Barcelona, Microsoft’s AppStore was largely sidelined by Android and Symbian, and even Palm’s WebOS. But at the US equivalent, this week’s Cellular Telephone Industry Association convention in Las Vegas, Microsoft is talking up its agreement with LG, which will result in 50 new Windows Mobile products over the next three years. And their Windows Marketplace for Mobile (video).
Monday announced more than two dozen partners for its upcoming Windows Marketplace for Mobile, including EA Mobile, Pandora, and Netflix. Users with Windows-based phones will be able to buy apps with their credit cards or have the purchases posted to their mobile phone bills.
Windows Mobile 6.5 will have improvements to the user experience, including a greater emphasis on touch controls; “dramatically better” mobile Web browsing; expanded music, video and other consumer-oriented capabilities. It will be on the LG-GM7300 and HTC’s Touch Diamond 2 and Touch Pro 2 which will be upgradeable to Windows Mobile 6.5. Version 7 is set to come in 2010.
CTIA 2009 will showcase mobile web stores and applications, but Samsung introduced their new Mondi today, a WiMax and Wi-Fi MID that uses Windows Mobile 6.1 platform with a 4.3-inch screen and slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and Opera 9.5.
C/Net is heading to Las Vegas for CTIA 2009. Take a look at what they’re expecting to see there.
Google News has more stories including, Microsoft’s AppStore, AT&T Announces Six Phones with Keyboards such as Samsung’s Impression and Magnet, Airvana’s ‘Connected Digital Home’, Motorola’s LTE eNodeB, Hot Trends at CTIA and CTIA exhibitor news
