Ina Fried

Recent Posts by Ina Fried

Holidays Over, Mobile Industry Gears Up for a Busy 2012

If 2011 was the year where a rising tide lifted all the smartphone boats, 2012 could be a year of choppy waters.

It’s likely a make-or-break year for troubled RIM, and a time when a growing armada of Android-based ships must prove they can sail on their own. Meanwhile, after several years in dry dock, Facebook must finally launch a mobile vessel or risk being left on shore permanently.

Those were some of the predictions offered up in wireless analyst Chetan Sharma’s annual outlook survey.

Other developments seen as likely are the entry of Amazon into the mobile market (beyond its Kindle line), as well as the question of whether a tight partnership with Microsoft will help Nokia to right its listing ship.

Of course, even smooth sailing wasn’t enough to keep all boats afloat last year. HP managed to capsize its webOS in calm water, while RIM found itself further and further adrift and Windows Mobile struggled to get beyond the marina.

On the tablet front, Google is seen steaming ahead despite a slow start, with as many respondents seeing Android as the leading tablet maker as the current leader, Apple.

And with that, it is time to torpedo this nautical metaphor.

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Nobody was excited about paying top dollar for a movie about WikiLeaks. A film about the origins of Pets.com would have done better.

— Gitesh Pandya of BoxOfficeGuru.com comments on the dreadful opening weekend box office numbers for “The Fifth Estate.”