In the latest edition of The GfK TechTalk magazine, Richard Preedy looks at the issue of switching between smartphones (differentiated by their OS e.g. Android) and why it’s becoming increasingly difficult for consumers. When benchmarked against everyday services and utilities, consumers worry more about having to switch the type of smartphone they own than their insurance, home telephone or pay TV providers.

In this video blog, Richard Preedy explains why simpler, integrated user experiences are playing a huge role in driving this aversion to switching. These user experiences are no longer just device-specific, but relate to the wider ecosystem of digital content and devices.

You can read the full article by visiting the latest GfK TechTalk online magazine here.

Consumers are now using various connected devices to socialize, communicate and access a plethora of content and services. Smartphones have accelerated this trend and allow consumers to manage more of their personal and work lives without being restricted by location or time. Cloud based services are the next step in liberating consumers’ most loved content and service as the device is removed as a barrier to access. Network infrastructure is central to this shift to the cloud. 4G networks are the catalyst needed and security the hurdle to overcome. However, with learnings from the enterprise sector, security is not only an obstacle but can also serve as a driver for adoption.

In the PC market, Microsoft’s Windows OS is as common as the mobile phone in your pocket. However, Windows Mobile has struggled to capture the imagination of both consumers and businesses. In fact, with a rapidly declining 5% [1] of the global smartphone market it’s fair to say that relatively speaking Windows Mobile has been a horrible failure. But that’s all about to change.

Recent research by GfK NOP [2] shows that interest in Windows Phone 7 (the catchy name given to the successor of Windows Mobile 6.5) is strong. Almost one in five (18%) of UK mobile phone owners say they would consider a Windows Phone 7 (let’s go with WP7 from here on in) handset (available on HTC and Samsung devices among others) when they next come to renew, upgrade or buy their next mobile phone. Of course current smartphone owners display much higher levels of interest (32%). What’s more, Microsoft will be pleased to hear that of all smartphone owners, those using Google’s Android will be most interested (41%) in WP7. So what’s changed?

This week’s tech news has been dominated by Windows Phone 7, but the radar will soon switch to next month’s release of ‘Kinect’, Microsoft’s new motion sensing system for the Xbox 360. While Microsoft is playing catch-up in the smartphone business with Windows Phone 7, Kinect is definitely a leading edge (and potentially revolutionary) tool that could redefine the gaming industry…and technology in general.

The Xbox division at Microsoft has been very busy developing Kinect and the ‘Xbox Live Game Hub’ which is the key gaming feature for Windows Phone 7. The Xbox franchise has never been more important for Microsoft and it is a long time since industry commentators suggested that they should have never entered gaming. Last week Steve Ballmer was in London talking to students about both Windows Phone 7 and Kinect but indicated that he was more excited by the latter. “The device that I’m most keen on…is the next generation of the Xbox 360,” he said. At first this seems very strange, as an estimated $400 million will be spent marketing Windows Phone 7, but when considering the technology and potential behind Kinect it is clear to see why this is so exciting and why it will be shaping the way we interact with technology.

Growth returns to Western European consumer technology markets in Q1 2010. GfK TEMAX data shows that consumers are more willing to upgrade their home technology as well as experiment with new smartphone mobile technology.

GfK TEMAX data shows that, overall, the consumer technology market recorded 2.7% growth in Q1 this year compared to Q1 in 2009. Key technology sectors have recorded year on year growth, including Telecommunications (+4.9%), Information Technology (+3.6%) and Consumer Electronics (+0.7%) in Q1 2010. Smartphones, Windows 7 and LCD TVs are all driving factors of growth in their respective sectors.

Smartphones continue to drive growth in the Telecommunications market

While the telecommunications market declined by -3.2% in the fourth quarter 2009, the first quarter of 2010 returned to growth with a +4.9% increase year on year.

Expect to see a vibrant and competitive tablet PC market over the next 12 months as Apple sell 2 million iPads globally in less than 60 days.

Apple certainly knows how to get the media and public excited about their latest creation, the iPad. Everyone is talking about the iPad and tablet PCs and this is not just tech press but also mainstream news bulletins. Apple is extremely proficient at sparking people’s imagination around all the creative ways their products, iPhone and iPad, can be used. Apple’s famous strapline for the iPhone was “there’s an app for that” which creates a powerful perception that anything is possible, and the same applies on the iPad.

A recent UK study finds consumers have less faith in Facebook than either Microsoft or Google to keep their personal information private

Social networking sites typically involve disclosing often very personal information to your circle of friends and to this end, it is important to have faith that the social networking brand will respect the privacy of this information.  Recent research by GfK Technology indicates, however, that Facebook has lower levels of trust in keeping personal information private than either Microsoft or Google.  Given the remarkably high levels of usage of Facebook this is clearly a concern for the brand owners.

This illustrates the dilemma facing organisations such as Facebook – whilst consumer behaviour or personal information can be key to creating new services that are enjoyed by users, there is often a sense of unease about data being used in this way.  Furthermore, as is likely the case with Facebook, the illicit activity of unscrupulous users of the service (such as those posing as friends in order to conduct fraud of some description) has a knock-on effect for the brand.

Users of Google Chrome are young and heavy users of the internet. By attracting this demographic they are best placed to topple Internet Explorer from top spot in the browser wars.

We recently showed that Internet Explorer’s UK market share is being eroded by the recent EU enforced . Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome are the main beneficiaries as they continue to increase their share of the internet browser market, but where exactly is this growth coming from? We have used the GfK browser data to understand who exactly is using the different browsers and what this all means.

Since Windows introduced a browser ballot at the start of March, GfK Technology research shows that Internet Explorer has lost market share in the UK. Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox have been the main beneficiaries of this new EU enforced regulation.

It was inevitable that Internet Explorer would lose some of its market share when its users were offered alternative browsers at the start of March. The EU thought it was essential that consumers should be offered a choice of browser, to stimulate competition in the browser market.

Early data suggests that when faced with an option, UK consumers have opted for an alternative browser. As we approach the end of March we can see that since the beginning of the month Internet Explorer’s market share in the UK has dropped 5%, with Google Chrome and Firefox each gaining an additional 3% market share.