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As we continue to see the Applications market evolve we see multiple device channels helping the apps world flourish.  Ah, don’t forget the mobile carriers trying to get into the mix also.

For example, the new market segment being developed by emerging devices (3G, 4G, home).  Some nifty devices continue to come out and will keep hitting the marketplace.  Some of the early ones were the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS platforms.  These two alone opened the opportunity for many game developers.  Then you started seeing things like the Amazon Kindle with its cool high-resolution screen ideally suited for reading newspapers, books and magazines.  We all know the acceptance the Kindle had.  Shortly after that Sony came out with their reader, and Barnes and Noble did the same.  Some of these devices utilize wired and/or Wi-Fi access and others will have 3G and 4G chipsets.

Sprint’s initial modest involvement in the Kindle launch helped them bolster some demand and perhaps contributed a bit to slow down the bad streak of subscriber loss in several quarters.   But it was their strategy of being more open and looking for new models reaching out to 3rd party devices what helped them a bit.  However, they lost it to AT&T recently, which shows how quickly and fiercely competitive wireless providers have been in North America.  AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile all have wholesale reseller groups (MVNO groups) that negotiate access rates with 3rd party providers under white label arrangements.  One good example is AT&T, which has taken this very seriously and created a dedicated Emerging Devices group.  T-Mobile USA has gone very aggressively at Android based devices and it seems they plan to extend even more with their broadband network and tools to be much more web-connected in the way the web 2.0 and web 3.0 will be built.

Cable, satellite and wireline companies are making investments and trialing rich communication concepts and looking for ways to tie-in multimedia and communication devices and capabilities into the home.  This presents opportunities for telecom companies and developers to help enable a service delivery model that offers always-on access to Internet media content, information services and new communication services.

You also have companies like Microsoft, which not too long ago announced the Xbox 360 dashboard update.  Now users can purchase branded clothing for their avatars!  In addition, it improves Netflix streaming, the ability to purchase full games over Xbox Live and play them without a disc, which may prove to be the most forward-looking feature added to the service.  This trend could lead us to believe that Microsoft could be looking to bring the Xbox Live, Windows Mobile, and other similar properties closer together to create more of a casual “social gaming platform” that could be available via more than just one device.  Microsoft has been going after the three-screens: TV (with its Media Room console), the PC (browser), and the mobile devices (phone, portable media players, and perhaps more).

Then you have “qyoo”, which is a technology (uses a label/tag) that allows you to interact with your environment.  By simply taking a picture of a “qyoo” from a magazine, direct mail, newspaper or billboard you are then transported to a world of rich media experiences.  “qyoo” delivers movie clips, music, documentaries, photographs, social media and promotional offers right to your devices.

To be honest, I’m excited with all these market trends.  Still there is a lot to be figured out as far as eco-system is concerned for this new device market segment.  And I can easily see content providers and publishers trying to deliver content but leveraging exclusivity relationships to differentiate devices (like AT&T did with the iPhone).

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