Most smartphone users I know will never turn back to a conventional mobile phone again. They just derive too much productivity from it. It’s hands down the most efficient way to maintain a communications line to your contacts in the smallest form factor possible. Voice calls, texting, emails, instant messaging; they’re all available at your fingers with the right smartphone.

Yet, they remain a luxury or an unknown entity to the bulk of mobile phone users. Products such as the iPhone and Samsung’s flagship range of Android phones are positioned as high-end products with a corresponding price tag. Many a person whom I’ve talked to about a smartphone still give the excuse that it’s too expensive for them. Cheap smartphones, such as the China-made knock-offs that mimic popular smartphone models in terms of hardware design, are often poorly equipped in terms of software. I’ve had some hands-on experience with iPhone and Blackberry knock-offs and I’ve come to the conclusion that they simply cannot be labelled as smartphones due to the lack of the software features expected from a smartphone.

This barrier to creating cheap smartphones stems from the fact that a good mobile operating system is not a trivial matter. Many smaller phone manufacturers just do not have the resources to create their own operating systems from scratch. Enter operating systems that are provided by third parties. For some time, we have had several independent entities providing generic operating systems for mobile devices. Microsoft’s Windows Mobile is probably one of the earliest such operating systems. Unfortunately, due to the fact that licensing for Windows Mobile is a significant cost factor and that its phones were relatively poorly implemented compared to other smartphone vendors, it never reached the market penetration needed to turn smartphones into a commodity.

Enter OpenSource then. Having an OpenSource operating system may constitute significant cost savings for any phone manufacturer hoping to enter the smartphone market. There are basically two strong contenders in this category: Symbian and Android. Symbian has had a relatively long history and is currently used mainly in Nokia phones and by a handful of other manufacturers. At this point of time, however, it is rapidly losing market share and its future is frankly in doubt. Any phone manufacturer looking to integrate an OpenSource operating system into their device would probably have strong doubts in its future viability.

Enter Android. A product of the search behemoth Google and a critical component of the Open Handset Alliance, it has recently been seeing huge gains in terms of market growth and interest from phone manufacturers. It already has major manufacturers such as Motorola, HTC, Samsung, LG and Sony Ericsson backing it and manufacturing devices running it (i.e. not vaporware). However, as I said earlier, the current crop of Android devices tend to be positioned as high to middle tier products.

Enter the low cost manufacturers. I’ve been reading reports of more and more small phone manufacturers getting into the Android game:

• CSL, a Malaysian company known more for their range of Blackberry knock-offs, has recently come out with their first Android model.
• After the Apple iPad was launched, there was predictably a flurry of Chinese knock-offs, just like there was for the iPhone. But this time round, the knock-offs were running Android!!!

This is a significant step. While previously, cheap mobile devices often meant crappy software loaded inside, with Android, what you’re getting is probably just as good as you can get with any other manufacturer. Sure, you’ll probably be limited by crappy hardware, but the basic features of what I expect of a smartphone will be there. I do not need a top-of-the-line AMOLED or SLCD screen to view my calendar. I do not need a Snapdragon or Hummingbird CPU to check my email. All I need for it is to be decently made and cheap.

If I were to lose my Nexus One right now, I probably won’t be able to afford to replace it with a new top-of-the-line gadget. What this meant previously, was that I needed to downgrade myself to a non-smartphone and tough it up until I can afford one. However, with cheaper options running Android, I can switch to a lesser known brand and have basically most of the features I’m used to until I save up enough for one of ‘em dual core, dedicated GPU devices that are purportedly coming soon. I probably won’t be able to play Asphalt 5 anymore, but that’s not too much of a sacrifice. I can live without a few games, but I cannot live without having instant access to my emails.

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