Mobile phone technologies keep advancing everyday. To the point that we are now asking ourselves if a picture was taken with a phone or a camera. With Apple’s iPhone being the leader in mobile phone photography, it seems as if everything is continually changing, so much so it can feel difficult to keep up with trends. From new application updates to software updates, our phones hold a vital position in our everyday lives. It is the main point of contact for our loved ones. Many companies will now issue their employees a mobile phone only to be used to professional use.

Mobile phones, just like the internet, was originally created for military usage. In the mobile phone’s first stage, it was the newest form of military communication technology. As mobile/cell phones made their way into the consumer market, they started as a military bag phone. From there, there was the revolutionary Nokia phone. Then as cellular providers such as Sprint, U.S. Cellular, Verizon, and AT&T started popping up all over developed countries, they began to recognized the potential for financial growth and investment opportunities in the new market of mobile phone technologies. From the original versions of phones, they started advancing to be more compact. Something so large became a tiny little phone in two parts that was easy to flip and open with a tiny keyboard. The next came a Razor phone from Motorola. What was first just a means of calling another person utilizing cellular towers now became an text message device and camera. The first camera phones took very low quality pictures, but they were pictures on a mobile device nonetheless. As companies began to realize that mobile phones were becoming necessary to the everyday lives of citizens in developed countries, cellular providers and carriers started to charge users even more for texting and data to send pictures. Mobile phones began carrying internet on them where users were able to download applications for games or for email accounts. They could receive and view emails from others and send emails themselves, thus beginning a new area of mobile internet communication.

This new mobile technology quickly started to act a catalyst for brand wars. As phone technology became increasingly intelligent, companies capitalized on touch-screen phones. One of the first groundbreaking technologies was the Apple touch screen iPhone. It brought music listening, messaging, and linking to a computer full circle. Now Apple ID users were able to link all of their devices and have music downloaded directly to their phone. It brought the iPod and a phone into one device. Android smart phones were in early competition with Apple for differing features. Androids were much more customizable and powered by Google. Google is a driving force in search engines on the internet, so having something powered by google with a gmail account made it very simple to link everything. Linking devices is important to consumers that own multiple technologies that utilize data.

Mobile technologies are so integrated into to lives of consumers that now instead of a brand war, it has become the latest application must haves. Phone companies continue to capitalize on data usage from consumers by charging them for data/internet. Videos take the most data to load, but connecting to wifi doesn’t charge consumers against their data plans. Many companies have now come through with plans with unlimited data that allow consumers to use as much data as possible without being charged for going over their data limit. This can be beneficial to consumers that do not have the means necessary to connect to wifi constantly or are in continuous travels throughout their career.

As companies continue to fight for advertising revenue on mobile applications, they will have to be extremely intellectual in strategizing their marketing and advertising campaigns to consumers. Mobile phone technology used to be something that was targeted at the general public. Now with everyone owning a phone and a mobile data plan, the market share is targeted more at advertising revenue to get consumers to click on advertisements, subscribe to their newsletters, and turn on notifications. Companies and brand gain increase awareness when consumers sign up for mobile text notifications. This will send a text their way anytime they decide to alert them of information. Even insurance companies have mobile applications and text alerts to notify customers when their bills are due. Consumers have so many apps available from ones that allow them to play games to ones that show them football odds and have sports betting communities. With global network access, mobile phone owners are able to communication anywhere in the world. This creates tiny niche communities and large organization and networks. The entire communication process of mobile technology is ever evolving into the most efficient and fastest way possible to reach out to others.

As previously stated, mobile phone technology went from being a large military phone to something so compact, and then to a device with a touch screen. Now phone’s are reverting back to larger sizes for bigger screens. Some of the largest iPhones aren’t much smaller than a mini iPad. As marketers and brand managers research the industry, they will have to partner with software developers to provide the most advanced mobile technology for consumers to adopt and begin utilizing in their everyday lives.