Smartphone competition has been a driving force in most of the
cool technologies we take for granted today.
GPS, NFC, virtual
assistants, fingerprint readers, Bluetooth, 4G -- even the idea of
the touch screen, really first took off in the world of smartphones.
But not every new smartphone technology or trend is a winner.
IÃ?m Donald Bell, and in this Top 5 IÃ?m counting down five of the
dumbest smartphone fads, ranked by CNET Senior Editor
Jessica Dolcourt.
Starting off at #5: Kickstands!
Now, these made sense in theory.
Why not give your arms a rest and just casually take in some
Netflix?
But in reality, thereÃ?s rarely a surface conveniently
perched in front of you when you want to kill time.
Even then,
either your headphones donÃ?t reach, or the speakers arenÃ?t loud
enough, or the angle isnÃ?t right, or you have a panic attack
because you actually let go of your smartphone for 5 minutes.
4.
3D anything
At #4: 3D anything.
3D cameras, 3D screens, 3D video, 3D
games.
Sane people donÃ?t make their phone buying decision
based on which one can play Avatar.
IÃ?m willing to bet they
almost sold an EVO 3D to Anthony Weiner, until he realized
people still need to wear those dorky glasses to see your
pictures.
Because seriously, if you really canÃ?t tweet your junk in
3D, then whatÃ?s the point?
I also fail to see the point of #3: dual-screens.
The Samsung
Continuum, Kyocera Echo, LG DoublePlay, Samsung
DoubleTime -- around 2011, everybody was seeing double.
They
were on the right track -- people did want bigger screens and
better multitasking.
But hinging two crappy screens together is
not the same thing.
Worse, you got double the screen smudge.
It
was like opening a smudge sandwich.
Gah!
Coming in at #2: Facebook phones.
HereÃ?s a site that is loved by
billions, and yet when you build a phone around it, people run for
the hills.
First there was the HTC Status, with its dedicated
Facebook button.
Then the HTC Salsa.
And then figuring that the
third timeÃ?s the charm, the HTC First.
Now youÃ?d think people
would have at least bought that phone by accident, considering
that they released the HTC First around the same time as the
HTC One.
But no, Facebook canÃ?t even trick people into buying
their phone.
1.
Mini phones
Alright, and now, the #1 worst smartphone fad: miniature
phones.
And I mean the really small ones -- not like the HTC
One Mini, which is actually bigger than the iPhone.
As the entire cell phone industry rushed to create phones with
bigger and bigger screens, a few daring rebels decided to think
different.
Remember the Microsoft Kin One?
The one that lasted
8 weeks.
Or the HP Veer, one of the last gasps of WebOS.
I
donÃ?t know if they were trying to market these to prison inmates
or toddlers, but it didnÃ?t work.
CLOSE
-------------------
So there you go, 5 smartphone trends that crashed and burned.
But thereÃ?s more!
For a bonus flop, head over to Jessica
Dolcourts full gallery, and for more Top 5s from me,
Top5.
CNET.com
IÃ?m Donald Bell, thanks for watching.
