Preparing for CTIA WIRELESS 2010: 10 Things to Look For

CTIA WIRELESS might not have all the same buzz and global appeal as Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, but this week, Las Vegas will play host to the North American trade show that covers the mobile phone industry.

2010 will mark the third year that Marketnews has scoured the CTIA show floor to bring you the best of what's to come. And each year, it seems that the mobile phone becomes more and more entrenched in the consumer electronics industry as a whole. In 2008, Bluetooth headsets, GPS, and RFID tracking products stood out at the show. In 2009, it wasn't so much about new handsets as it was a heavy focus on services, applications, and user interfaces. The show was slightly smaller last year compared to two years ago, as expected with the parallel economic slowdown. This year, I expect it will be a bit more abundant, but perhaps still not up to 2007 levels.

This is, however, the first time that I'm heading to a trade show without being 100% certain of what the major trends will be. Mobile is moving so quickly and in so many directions, that it's tough to tell what will dominate. This show will likely be a mish-mash of anything and everything, without one or two clear dominant focuses like we've seen in previous years and with other trade events.

This isn't a bad thing. It just confirms the notion that wireless is at the hub of the technology wheel. We'll make sure to keep you apprised of the directions that wheel is rolling.

For now, there are a few areas that likely will be hot topics at the event.

Bluetooth Headsets/Speakerphones: This isn't a new category, but most certainly a rapidly growing one. This will be the first CTIA show since hands-free legislation passed in heavily-populated spots like Ontario and B.C., so we can expect to see some new wares on display. The speakerphone category will likely lead the pack in terms of new innovations, although it will be interesting to see how this plays out amongst so many other in-car Bluetooth-capable products coming to market.

Custom A/V Apps: I was shocked to see home automation company Control4 exhibiting so prominently at CES, showing off products like the company's new BlackBerry and Android applications that joined the already-existing iPhone app. Might we see more home automation and custom A/V companies (or application facilitators) at the show? One area I expect to see a lot of growth in is applications or products that allow you to use an iPhone as a remote control for home theatre devices.

TV Integration: The announcement about Google's supposed upcoming TV service, based on the Android platform, came out today. But companies like Samsung have been touting the benefits of integrating mobile phones with network TVs for some time now via technologies like DLNA and dedicated apps stores. I wouldn't be surprised to see many others follow suit.

Middleware: Every smartphone has an operating system. It might be iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Symbian, Windows, etc. But middleware created by the handset maker itself (or perhaps a third-party firm) that adds another layer (almost literally) of customization to the device is becoming more and more common. We saw a similar trend last year as many companies developed their own user interfaces to run overtop existing operating systems. This year, we'll see ones like Samsung's Social Hub and Motorola's Motoblur, come to fruition.

Social Networking: The previous point segues nicely into this next anticipated trend: social networking on mobile phones. In a recent interview for an upcoming article in Marketnews Magazine, Rogers Communications Senior Director of Mobile Consumer Marketing, Alan Shulman, told me that he believes the time people spend on PCs accessing social networking sites versus they time they spend on a phone doing the same will likely flip going forward. He also opined that we'd see functionality for these sites become available for phones that might not necessarily be available via a PC. Although he would not elaborate, the comment certainly piqued my interest.

The iPad: I'm on the fence about this one. Will we see an iPad at the show? Probably not, unless it's under bulletproof glass with an army of guards surrounding it. But what we might see is a lot of accessory companies capitalizing on the popularity of the upcoming device, and showing their wares. After all, many of the companies that will make accessories for the iPad, like cases and skins, are the same companies that make accessories for other mobile devices, including the iPhone.

Mobile Payments: These were trialed at Mobile World Congress, and many trials continue to take place here in Canada for making contactless payments with a mobile phone. Will 2010 finally be the year we see mobile payments really break through into the market? What we see at CTIA WIRELESS might just help determine that.

Skype: It's already happening in the U.S., and the VoIP company has made its service available via apps on several mobile phone platforms as well. Now it's time for wireless carriers to look more seriously at Skype services. How will this affect cellular voice services going forward? Will data become a greater focus than voice as consumers turn to services like Skype to chat verbally on the go?

Netbooks: These are portable-sized computers that can operate on both WiFi and 3G via an appropriate plan. I'm not sure whether we'll see any of these at the show. But it's certainly a category worth examining, especially as the iPad, which in itself can be considered a combination smartphone/netbook (at least the 3G-capable version of the tablet) comes to market.

Carrier Networks: With Bell and Telus now offering an HSPA network, WIND Mobile up and running in Canada, Public Mobile is coming this may and Mobilicity sometime in the spring, the carrier network landscape is certainly hot in Canada. Will we see this spill over into the U.S.-based show as all carriers discuss plans for upcoming LTE and 4G networks? Probably. Timelines, and the possibilities for future services will certainly be on the minds of many.

Stay tuned for daily reporting and videos from CTIA WIRELESS, which takes place from March 23-25, 2010.