CES Trend #6: The rush to render the iPhone obsolete

Full Web browsing

Until the iPhone launched, browsing the Web on the cellular phone was largely a frustrating and fruitless experience. Most of the Web was not available in a format suitable for viewing on the smaller screen of a handheld device.

iPhone's included Safari browser could be credited with changing this dichotomy. Consumers for the first time were able to view Web pages as they were intended to be viewed, no matter if they were formatted for the mobile phone or not.

Apple also overcame the screen size issue by allowing the browser to intuitively zoom in and out of sections for easier reading. Support for actual HTML standards and JavaScript means that a large majority of Web pages will appear on the iPhone screen just as they would on the desktop.

While Apple's mobile Safari isn't completely perfect, it is a step in the right direction, and has spurred other software developers to work on options for other phones. The first of these companies to offer an alternative is Opera.

Its newest Opera Mini browser works much like Safari does, taking Web pages and shrinking them down to fit within the traditional mobile screen, and allowing for zooming in and out of the various sections of a page.

However, Opera's browser doesn't seem to render the pages in the same way that the iPhone does. In tests of both options, Safari seems to consistently load pages closer to that of the desktop than its competitor.

Microsoft is expected to make similar improvements to Pocket IE in the next version of Windows Mobile, which could make its first public appearance at CES next week.

A move toward higher-quality materials

With cell phones continuing to shrink in size and shorten in life span before obsolescence, the trend in recent years has been to make them with cheaper materials. Plastic has become the shell of choice for most phones, and mobile devices have seen a drop in durability as a result.

With the iPhone, Apple went the other direction. Instead of using plastic, the phone was built with a combination of metal and glass, resulting in increased durability and an overall feeling of quality. In addition, the company also successfully shrank the size of its smartphone to a form factor that is much easier to hold in the hand.

In that category, the iPhone currently has no equal. While competitors like the HTC and LG are shrinking their smartphones down to a more manageable size, overall design quality still is lacking. The Touch line is built mostly from plastic, and the Venus only includes a few higher-end materials in its design.

Another break from the norm is the amount of memory made available within the iPhone. 8GB of storage space holds movies, pictures and data -- more than any other device in its price class by far.

Before the iPhone, this kind of data storage was only available on ultra-high end phones, like Nokia's music phones. With the expanded storage came an equally expanded price tag; for example, Nokia's N95 retails for $779 USD unsubsidized,

While many have complained about the iPhone's $399 USD price tag as being high, when looking at its competition, the iPhone could be considered a relative bargain. Apple's entrant into the mobile space may actually benefit all by bringing the cost of higher-end, higher-quality phones down to prices that the typical consumer can afford.

Rivals can go after users Apple has left behind

"[The iPhone has] certainly changed the game in a number of ways, especially with regard to putting the user interface front and center of the device creation process," Disruptive Analysis principal analyst Dean Bubley told BetaNews. "It has also really stimulated a re-evaluation of the commercial relationships of mobile carriers & their handset suppliers."

Bubley said that he doesn't expect the iPhone to be made obsolete by its competitors any time soon, however he suggest that Apple become more embracing of unlockers -- those trying to make the device work on carriers other than AT&T -- in order to avoid becoming an niche product.

In any case, the iPhone will certainly shake up the industry in the year to come. And while it may not necessarily become obsolete -- especially with Apple likely to unveil future upgrades and even a 3G model in the coming months -- the iPhone may lose some of its uniqueness as others attempt to mirror its success.