Future of smartphones is Android

The future of smartphones is Android, according to internet and cellphone expert Arthur Goldstuck.

Goldstuck said that many BlackBerry owners in South Africa would probably move on in the next two years if the brand did not adapt to change, the Business Day reported.

The eventual "domination of Android phones" would be driven by the range of applications they were able to carry and the fact that they were cheap.

Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middle-ware and key applications distributed free to cellphone manufacturers.

"Any phone can use the Android software, unlike Apple [iPhone] and RIM [BlackBerry], which are specific to their phones. This means that many manufacturers can produce a cheap smartphone and they can all communicate," Goldstuck said.

When it came to smartphone use, South Africa was leading in Africa, but Goldstuck expected that the country would be overtaken by Nigeria and eventually other African countries by sheer population numbers, but also because of cheaper broadband use.

"While data use is growing experimentally in SA, people are still being held back by the high cost of data and are being careful about how data are being used.

"In Kenya, it makes sense to use SMSes to interrogate market prices, but in SA it's more expensive than taxi fare, so it's cheaper for consumers to get in a taxi and go to [the] shops," he said.