Ovum on smart versus feature phone by Tony Cripps
Samsung Jet: how smart is my feature phone?
This week Samsung launched its new mid-range Jet handset. With a finger-touch AMOLED display, web widgets, WebKit-based browser and highly responsive interface, the device looks set to dent sales of its new smartphone brother, the Omnia II. Furthermore, it raises questions about where the value in smartphones really is and where it needs to be.
Feature phone 1 - smartphone 0
A side-by-side comparison between the two devices pre-launch left Ovum wondering which device consumers would opt for. For us it was no contest: the Jet.
Where the Windows Mobile-based Omnia II felt sluggish when scrolling around the screen, the Jet lived up to its name and zipped around quicker than a speeding iPhone.
Admittedly the time we spent with both devices was brief - and there was no chance to test the web-browsing performance of either device due to poor in-building coverage where the demo was given - but the instant impression gained was that the Jet is the more desirable device.
The supposed benefits accruing to the Omnia II as a result of its “smartphone” software seemed minimal next to the Jet. Both do many of the same things: proper web browsing (with embedded Flash), web widgets and cross-platform multimedia in the form of DivX video support (Samsung remains one of the few OEMs to have understood the value in supporting this format, which is widely supported by PCs and consumer electronics - see our report Multi-screen video: matching demand to devices). It's just that for those shared capabilities the Jet pulls them off with greater aplomb than its big brother.
A new stay of execution for proprietary phone operating systems?
The Jet's secret is in its combination of smartphone-style hardware with a (supposedly old-fashioned) proprietary operating system (OS). With the OS residing on the baseband and the multimedia functions handled by a dedicated 800MHz application processor, the performance overhead is fairly low - hence the Jet's speedy performance.
Samsung clearly sees a brighter future for its proprietary software platform, SHP, than it did even six months ago. Indeed, Samsung spokesperson Gilad Bachrach admitted as much.
The ongoing investment in the platform remains considerable, as the integration of the WebKit-based Dolfin Browser into the Jet demonstrates - this is the first instance where we're aware of this high-end browser engine finding its way into an old-style phone OS.
Feature phones can outdo smartphones on out-of-box web experience
Which leads to the question, where now? While smartphones are clearly the major growth segment in handsets right now - Ovum forecasts smartphone shipments to reach 406.7 million in 2014; 29% of the market - there is clearly much room for manoeuvre in the less-heralded feature phone category, and a renewed threat from below.
True smartphones will in future be defined more on their vertical integration with cloud-based services and active management by their maker (and user) than on their extensibility per se (see Of iPhones and Androids: redefining the smartphone and other devices).
However, on the evidence of the Jet, the feature-phone sector could be set for a parallel shakeup as vendors seek the best out-of-box experience and pre-integration with the most popular web applications for consumers.
For many, that experience, allied to better price performance, may prove more attractive than infinite new applications and regular software updates. |
