Back in the early 2000s, smartphones were very different from what we know and love today. On the one hand, we had feature phones with (relatively) large screens with music, games, and cameras, while on the other hand, we had PDAs built mostly for business use with large touchscreens, running Windows, Word and Excel, handling portable printers and connecting to the internet. It wasn’t until the launch of Apple’s first iPhone that smartphones as we know them appeared – and they changed things completely. By now, they have grown to dominate the world of online entertainment.
Mobile gaming
Handheld consoles have always had a special place in the gamers’ hearts. After all, gaming on the go was all they had dreamed of. From the GameBoy to the Nintendo Switch, handheld gaming has seen an incredible evolutionary journey. But for most, these are not the true mobile gaming devices – smartphones are. Smartphone games are now a dominant force in the gaming industry. They have become the most profitable branch of the gaming business, beating console and PC games. And this is without counting the games you can play at the
ZAR mobile casino – casino games played on the go generate revenue in a different branch of the entertainment industry.
Mobile music
Portable music players have come a long way since Sony launched its first Walkman in 1979. The medium used to store music has evolved from magnetic tapes to flash memory. Today, in turn, even local storage is obsolete in many parts of the world – streaming is slowly replacing it completely. Today, people have a world of music at their fingertips thanks to streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music or
Tidal. And most of them use these services on their smartphones, the go-to portable music player of our times.
Mobile movies
The first pocket-sized TV, the
Panasonic IC TV MODEL TR-001, although “pocket-sized” was a bit of an overstatement as it weighed around 1kg. Since then, not only did portable video players shrink, but the means of broadcasting have changed as well. Today, many of us stream our movies and series, and many of us do it on our smartphones. Today, all major streaming services are available on mobile, and we know of a few mobile-first streaming services as well. It’s not unusual for us to see people watching the latest episode of Star Trek, The Boys or One Piece on Netflix, Paramount+ or Apple TV+.
Smartphones dominate the world of entertainment
Smartphones are much more than just
communication tools. Today, they dominate the entire world of entertainment, covering gaming, music, and movies. But they are much more than that: they are tools that allow their users to capture the moment through their high-quality cameras, even create on the go.