In 2007 we had great changes in the mobile industry. Since Microsoft got in field the smartphone market have been really stable. Smartphones softwares from Symbian, Linux and Windows Mobile were the big dogs until now. Two well known brands decided to take a share of the market, Apple introducing the Iphone and Google with the annunciation of Android platform running the first handsets next year.

Those two last points shake up the plans for some mobile operators, and create confusion among end users who now have to do a lot more research before purchase any handset. Developers are also affected as they also need to pick which OS stick with.

So what is causing all this noise about the smartphone industry if it only represents 8% of the handsets sold last year? Well the hopes are in the natural evolution that technology brings, the industry has high hopes the actual owners will move to the new generation of mobile phones. Despite, it looks like those old barriers that mobile operators created are falling, allowing end-users to choose which mobile access their network. Verizon and AT&T have recently made bold statements indicating that they’re opening up their networks to more devices.

In addition, Operators learned that is not easy to create a web portal that satisfy costumers. It’s an incredibly resource intensive and expensive undertaking,"  Scott Horn said, general manager of Microsoft’s. The shift away from the walled garden is just starting in the U.S., he said. Allowing easy access is necessary on software on the phones. Microsoft Windows Mobile users are interested in IM and Hotmail, Google has a whole host of services that it targets at mobile users, from which it hopes to earn advertising dollars. And Apple has cleverly linked the use of the iPhone and its software with iTunes, where customers can buy content.

All those changes represent a huge challenge for operator who still are reluctant. Couple of operators last year have supported the idea of just integrate some OS to their network in a way to reduce cost with training and personnel.

In the end there is more benefits than threats as it will take users for a new era of smartphone awareness

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