The future is mobile, as is made clear by the rapid advances that allow computing devices to become smaller, faster and more powerful than ever before. These technological improvements mean that it is easier to deliver state-of-the-art mobile technology to consumers at lower and lower prices. These mobile improvements are quickly becoming ubiquitous due to these lower costs, and the rate at which technology changes today is blindingly fast. Here's a look back at some of the top stories from just this past week on where the mobile market stands now, and how it's impacting our every day lives.
For example, more households around the nation are getting rid of their home phone lines since their mobile phones fill the same role but with added features. A recent report from the National Center for Health Statistics found that more than 40 percent of households in the United States did not buy or use landline phone services in the second half of 2014. The rate at which consumers are abandoning their landline phone lines has been steadily increasing, and the NCHS predicts that more than half of all households will be mobile only by the year 2020.
Mobile service providers are the ones to gain the most from a gradual shift from land-based phones to mobile, but the advent of tools like IP telephony and other VoIP technologies make the grounds of the mobile market ripe for competition. One of these competitors, FreedomPop, made the announcement earlier this week that they would deliver their free mobile service to European countries like the U.K., Germany and France, as well as several countries in the Pacific Rim. FreedomPop only asks their users to pay a one-time fee for a smartphone to deliver a free phone service that includes 200 voice minutes, 500 texts and up to 500MB of data.
Of course, mobile providers aren't taking this competition sitting down. A recent partnership between Verizon and Sony plans on delivering a high-quality tablet that rivals the iPad and Galaxy Tab. Called the Xperia Z2, the device has already received mass praise from critics due to its superior screen quality and 4G LTE capabilities, in addition to being waterproof and scratch-resistant. It is currently available for pre-order at $599.
Finally, a company called Matterport is in the process of developing special 3D cameras for mobile devices that would help these devices become contextually aware of their surroundings with a “human-scale understanding of space and motion.” The devices are in their early stages, but the company has already reported an additional $16 million investment in mobile development.
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