Delivery Platforms

Since exploding onto the handheld phone market with the iPhone in 2007, Apple has clearly established itself as one of the leading contenders in mobile technology. Time magazine named it the invention of the year when it was released, and with good reason. It quickly became the gold standard of mobile technology, against which all challengers would be judged. Apple’s tradition of innovation has guided every generation of iPhone (currently in its 4th iteration.) and caused it to sell over 50 million units as of April 2010.

Don’t discount the iPod touch either, running the same operating systems as the iPhone, and retaining most of the functionality, including Wi-Fi and App Store access, in April of 2010, Apple reported selling a total of 35 million of them.

After its release in October of 2008, it was obvious that Google’s Android operating system was going to be Apple’s main competitor in the mobile device market. By focusing on open standards and allowing multiple manufacturers to use its operating system on their phones, the amount of applications available on the Android Market has already grown to include tens of thousands of apps providing a vast array of services.

The first BlackBerry, introduced in 1999, was a two-way pager. It quickly grew into a full-fledged smart phone, and is currently holds the largest share of the smart phone market at just over 35% (source: Electronista. 10/06/2010.) This was due to the pioneering developments it made in mobile functionality such as messaging, e-mail and web capabilities, forever changing the way business was conducted.

Depended upon by millions of business-oriented users, the BlackBerry remains an indispensable tool for conducting business in the world today.