Smart Cases?
I'll have to admit. I honestly didn't know this was a thing until they mentioned support for it coming in Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1.
Frankly, I don't get it. I imagine that these only exist for the hero phones on Android. Mobile accessories suffer drastically due to a lack any sort of standard case form factors. Apple could pull this off in the past since there was only one form factor for their current gen tables and phones. But even that is diminished a bit with the addition of the iPad Mini and the fact that the iPhone 5c and 5s are not the same form factor.
In Android and Windows Phone devices the situation is worse. With multiple OEM's making multiple models and no two alike enough for these purposes it is a hard sale to get 3rd parties to manufacture these sorts of accessories. Which means that I would expect that most efforts are either 1st party efforts or partnerships with 1st party OEM's. At which point you're basically saying "hey we shipped this phone without the sorts of functionality that this smart cover adds so that you'd have to pay more for it!"
If the form factor of phones was more consistent that argument disappears. You could use smart cases as a Band-Aid to patch additional features into older phones and there would be a large enough market for the manufacturing of those accessories. For instance, my Lumia 1020 doesn't have the new Sensor Core tech shipping with new Lumia's. If a Smart Cover existed for my phone that added that and I was interested in that tech, I might pick that up.
But that isn't likely to happen. Microsoft might make a few smart covers for its newest phones and nothing else. And once they release a new line of phones, with new functionality, they will have long since stopped making smart covers for the last batch.
Unfortunately, the world loves playing chicken with itself. This technique is done for a couple reasons. But the biggest is probably to keep you constantly upgrading your phones. The problem is, technologically, we are quickly approaching the point tablets already hit. Phone specs aren't increasing at the pace they once were. In the next 2-3 years you'll be able to buy a mid-level phone and still have relevant hardware in it when your contract comes up for renewals. Carrier subsidies may be able to keep the trend alive for a few years beyond that. But phones WILL eventually hit the same wall tablets hit. And, things like smart covers and smart watches may actually reduce those estimates.
Here is a free idea for any enterprising people reading this. Start standardizing as much as possible. Instead of smart covers... smart cases. Create phones that are 2 pieces. One piece with the guts of the phone (touchscreen, CPU, GPU, antennas and the likes) with a standard connector, and then a case which the guts snap into containing things like batteries, sensors and the likes. Build them out to support a few standard screen sizes and then you have a solution which is somewhat upgradeable. A new phone might still cost the same, but if I can get a case next year with a bigger battery and all of the new sensors, I may fork out extra money to upgrade the case.
Also, the cases themselves can be all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors. If the connector were licensed it is an additional revenue stream for both the pioneering company or companies as well as 3rd party accessory makers. And then integrate all of the stuff that a smart cover would include. But, since it is also part of the physical phone case, they can be slimmer and lighter overall.
I would love to Microsoft do this with the next generation of Lumia's. They were part of the way there with the swappable backs on phones like the Lumia 820 (granted that was Nokia, pre-Microsoft, but still...). Maybe only baby steps, but it was a step in the right direction.
Frankly, I don't get it. I imagine that these only exist for the hero phones on Android. Mobile accessories suffer drastically due to a lack any sort of standard case form factors. Apple could pull this off in the past since there was only one form factor for their current gen tables and phones. But even that is diminished a bit with the addition of the iPad Mini and the fact that the iPhone 5c and 5s are not the same form factor.
In Android and Windows Phone devices the situation is worse. With multiple OEM's making multiple models and no two alike enough for these purposes it is a hard sale to get 3rd parties to manufacture these sorts of accessories. Which means that I would expect that most efforts are either 1st party efforts or partnerships with 1st party OEM's. At which point you're basically saying "hey we shipped this phone without the sorts of functionality that this smart cover adds so that you'd have to pay more for it!"
If the form factor of phones was more consistent that argument disappears. You could use smart cases as a Band-Aid to patch additional features into older phones and there would be a large enough market for the manufacturing of those accessories. For instance, my Lumia 1020 doesn't have the new Sensor Core tech shipping with new Lumia's. If a Smart Cover existed for my phone that added that and I was interested in that tech, I might pick that up.
But that isn't likely to happen. Microsoft might make a few smart covers for its newest phones and nothing else. And once they release a new line of phones, with new functionality, they will have long since stopped making smart covers for the last batch.
Unfortunately, the world loves playing chicken with itself. This technique is done for a couple reasons. But the biggest is probably to keep you constantly upgrading your phones. The problem is, technologically, we are quickly approaching the point tablets already hit. Phone specs aren't increasing at the pace they once were. In the next 2-3 years you'll be able to buy a mid-level phone and still have relevant hardware in it when your contract comes up for renewals. Carrier subsidies may be able to keep the trend alive for a few years beyond that. But phones WILL eventually hit the same wall tablets hit. And, things like smart covers and smart watches may actually reduce those estimates.
Here is a free idea for any enterprising people reading this. Start standardizing as much as possible. Instead of smart covers... smart cases. Create phones that are 2 pieces. One piece with the guts of the phone (touchscreen, CPU, GPU, antennas and the likes) with a standard connector, and then a case which the guts snap into containing things like batteries, sensors and the likes. Build them out to support a few standard screen sizes and then you have a solution which is somewhat upgradeable. A new phone might still cost the same, but if I can get a case next year with a bigger battery and all of the new sensors, I may fork out extra money to upgrade the case.
Also, the cases themselves can be all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors. If the connector were licensed it is an additional revenue stream for both the pioneering company or companies as well as 3rd party accessory makers. And then integrate all of the stuff that a smart cover would include. But, since it is also part of the physical phone case, they can be slimmer and lighter overall.
I would love to Microsoft do this with the next generation of Lumia's. They were part of the way there with the swappable backs on phones like the Lumia 820 (granted that was Nokia, pre-Microsoft, but still...). Maybe only baby steps, but it was a step in the right direction.
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