Soon, There Won't Be Smartphones, Only Dumb Ones

Motorola buying Good Technology today is only the latest deal that points to the fact that phones with e-mail and Internet soon will be the only ones we want.Elena Malykhina notes this week how Sony Ericsson, a cell-phone maker that's a bit player in smartphones, bought a platform for mobile app development to bolster its ability to put more features on its phones. Vodafone's also doing deals with Microsoft to get app-rich phones, which Samsung will make for it. Techdirt questions whether RIM's BlackBerry will be able to counter this move, as a broader range of employees demand mobile e-mail and phone-makers bundle it in with their products.

Malykhina tackles this ground in a package of stories on smartphones, including buyer's guide and a research-driven article on what applications will be most in-demand on mobile devices. Among a lot of interesting findings, that research makes a clear conclusion: Two thirds of the 527 business-tech pros in our survey say smartphones will be among the mobile devices most in demand over the next 12 months. No other device was cited by even half, and just over a third mentioned cell phones.