Urban Indians are driving forward the smarter phone experience

Wireless or better known mobile communication was powered solely by telecom services more than a decade ago. The growth efforts were focused on expanding to new markets and acquiring a wider customer base by offering simple services like calling, texting and basic VAS to a privileged consumer base.

Simultaneously, a mobile phone, apart from being used for calling and texting, served the consumer needs of checking time thus slowly replacing a wrist watch and subsequently the alarm clock, acted as a torch in the dark, was a handy calculator and in some cases, was used as a FM radio thus satiating the need of listening to music for free.

The intense partnership of smartphone manufacturers, telecom service providers and tech innovators, today, has transformed the concept of mobile communication to offer a much more wholesome experience offering a variety of apps that serve varied needs of the end user. Urban Indian phone users have started to prefer the smarter phones as they fulfil their quest to do more with less, complimented by the democratization of data prices has boosted the pursuit of Indian consumer’s needs.

Over the years design and usability have become very important to the mobile industry and technical improvements have been so impressive that the performance of today’s mobile phones can rival most computers and laptops we use today and in terms of screen resolution, even televisions. Either way, there is a fine line between what is and isn’t a smartphone these days, even if the so-called “dumb” or “regular” phones can perform many of the same functions. Even the cheapest, low-end smartphones are distinctly different from their non-smart counterparts.

The examples of the surge in adoption of cab and shuttle services, food ordering, selling used goods online, shopping / gifting online, accessing rich content on mobile etc. in Indian cities indicates that urban India is on the cusp of exploring, experiencing and evaluating the various needs a smartphone could aid to satisfy. That said, in a country with the size and economic diversity of India we have just scratched the surface.

In the times to come smartphones apart from being our primary screen for infotainment, would become an inseparable part of human lives and would serve the needs of navigation - owing to migrating population, access to bank account and digital locker, aiding in user authentication at various places and would replace plastic money. In case you thought, smartphones cannot get smarter, we’re only getting started with these use cases. Virtual Reality, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence combined with mobile communication will create possibilities that will seemingly be straight out of your favourite sci-fi movie, where your mobile device can remote control everything around you and give you the power at your fingertips.

This piece was contributed by Arun K, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Truecaller.