Bmobile officially launched its first Android enabled handset range to the Trinidad and Tobago Mobile Consumer Market this month with the addition of the Xperia X10 mini and X10 mini pro. Both handsets are compact versions of the Xperia X10, which deliver powerful and application packed mobile phones to subscribers. According to Bmobile, this Xperia family is the first in a series of Android enabled handsets that they will be bringing to this market. This technology affords the user a revolutionized mobile experience with thousands of mobile applications (apps) that users can access.
The Xperia features mobile access to email, photography, video streaming, HD videos and music management, all with high speed internet capabilities.
Google has achieved something remarkable with its open-source Android operating system. Since Apple's iPhone revolutionized the smartphone in June 2007, bringing touchscreens and a beautiful user experience to the masses, it's been without a rival. Sure, there's a small legion of BlackBerry fans, and a few Nokia die-hards, but the critical consensus up until about a year ago was that the iPhone's achievements were peerless. Android's success is starting to show in the numbers as handset sales exploded during�the second quarter of 2010,�while the smartphone sector in general enjoyed a strong period of growth, according to a report from Canalys.
During the quarter, shipments of Android handsets shot up by 886 % worldwide, according to a year-on-year comparison published by Canalys. The figure includes the sale of nearly 500,000 Android devices in the Chinese market, which was non-existent in 2009. Android was the top choice for U.S. consumers who bought a smartphone in the past six months with Research In Motion's BlackBerry and Apple's iPhone tied for second place, according to market research company, Nielsen Co. According to Nielsen, the figures suggest an increasing number of consumers are now asking for Android handsets by name. Operating systems are no longer simply a by-product but a key selling point in their own right.
Apple's App Store has over 300,000 applications, while the Android Marketplace has only just broken the 90,000 mark but Android's rapid growth and adoption gives it the potential to catch up to the iPhone App Store. Android also has another advantage: a completely open market. Apple receives around 10,000 app submissions per week, yet many apps are overlooked because they appear too simple or denied because a similar app already exists. The Android Marketplace is driven entirely by its consumers, so the best app is the one that succeeds - not the first one to reach the market. In addition, the Android Marketplace doesn't censor its apps, so the possibilities are truly endless. Where once companies had to have an iPhone app, it's now understood that they need to offer both an iPhone and an Android variant.
"Android is taking the smart phone market by storm," said Tina Teng, senior analyst, wireless communications, for iSuppli. "The OS started with entry level models in 2008, but the flexibility Android offers for hardware designs and its appealing business model in terms of revenue sharing have attracted vigorous support from all nodes in the value chain, including makers of high-end smart phone models. Cell phone OEMs representing all tiers of the industry have committed to support Android, including Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, LG, Huawei, AsusTek and ZTE," she added.