A Hardy Group Holds Out on Smartphones

Though it may sometimes seem in the developed world as though everyone has an advanced case of smartphone addiction, the size of the market for the trendy gadgets may be larger than most industry observers think. And as the sector matures, products at the highest and lowest ends of the price spread are likely to fare the best.  

By TechCrunch: By Ingrid Lunden The next step in Intel’s (INTC) ambition to become a central player in the mobile ecosystem is dovetailing with mobile carrier Orange’s strategy to grow its line of own-brand smartphones.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland — You meet someone, there’s chemistry, and then come the introductory questions: What’s your name? Come here often? Are you my cousin? In Iceland, a country with a population of 320,000 where most everyone is distantly related, inadvertently kissing cousins is a real risk. A new smartphone app is on hand to help Icelanders avoid accidental incest. The app lets users “bump” phones, and emits a warning alarm if they are closely related. “Bump the app before you bump in bed,” says the catchy slogan.

Teen smartphone ownership is rising across the board, but surprisingly, some of the highest penetration rates are among teens in low-income households.  According to Pew, overall teen smartphone penetration was 37 percent, up from 23 percent in 2011. Pew defines teens as Americans aged 12 to 17. 

The community, which provides support for homegrown startups, asked its members what they thought the New Year had in store for UK small businesses. “Despite the doom and gloom of the recession,” said Enterprise Nation member Sheryl McFarlane of Little Acres Rural Business Solutions. “Small businesses will continue to buck the trend and do well in the New Year.”

Smartphones have changed lots of people's lives, but there's one group that's been mostly left out of the revolution: the vision impaired. A touchscreen just doesn't have enough tactile clues for a blind person to navigate and voice commands are infuriatingly awful. They mishear the voice, are drowned out by background noise, and otherwise cumbersome to use.

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