CTIA WIRELESS: Am I in PC Land?

I realized after the "pre" show event, which took place in the Wynn Hotel on Monday night, that CTIA WIRELESS is really just as much a computer show as it is a wireless one. As I peek at badges as people walk by (come on, you all know you do it!), I notice tons of media outlets that have either the word "computer" or "laptop" in it. And really, don't wireless and PC go hand in hand? Often times, they do.

So much content and accessibility is available on mobile phones these days, from music to movies, games, e-mail, Internet browsing, etc. Much of this will either originate from a PC, or will be something you also enjoy on a PC. So it's no surprise that many of the technologies on display at the event help you better connect a mobile phone with a PC.

Take a company like mspot, for example, that offers a slew of mobile music services (the company works with both Bell and Telus in Canada). Using mspot's new subscription-based Remix application, customers will be able to take music from a PC (DRM-free, of course) and instantly transfer it to a mobile phone. The customer just needs to download software onto his PC, then he can simultaneously download tracks to his phone while they're being played back from the computer. mspot has already forged its first partnership for the service in the U.S. with AT&T. Another neat service (which I can imagine plenty of teens and "tweens" enjoying) is called Make-UR-Tones, which lets you take pretty much any song and make your own cut of it to become a 30-second ringtune for your phone. mspot has partnered with EMI Music, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, INgrooves, and IRIS to offer a selection of over 250,000 songs. Talk about personalization!

Meanwhile, on the more business-oriented side of things, French company Gemalto, which focuses on digital security, is offering a way for traditional wireless carriers to compete with the burgeoning VoIP category. More and more consumers are moving toward VoIP services like Vonage and Skype for making phone calls when they're out of town, mainly because it's cheaper. Gemalto offers a neat doo-hickey called the Upteq Smart Dongle that contains the customer's mobile phone information, and plugs into a PCs USB port. Once inserted, incoming phone calls will ring on both the handset and via a virtual dialpad on the customer's PC screen. He can then choose to pick up the call using the computer rather than the mobile phone, and thus circumvent a hefty long distance bill. Since Gemalto is a security company at heart, you can bet your bottom dollar that password authentication is required to actually use the dongle, since it contains all of the owner's mobile phone information. Gemalto already offers the Upteq Smart Dongle through Orange Business Services, the leading mobile network operator in France. It really is an ingenuis idea, and the perfect answer to the question: how can one compete effectively against VoIP services. Now, if someone could find a way that the traditional landline phone could better compete against VoIP...but that's another issue altogether...

When you really think about it (and I mentioned this in the previous post without even realizing it), mobile phones really are just like mini computers. In that respect, I'm preparing myself to see a whole different breed of propeller heads on the CTIA WIRELESS show floor.

As an aside, the Wynn Hotel truly is the classiest looking hotel in all of Las Vegas. I can't help but feel like I'm in an old Vegas movie when I walk in there!

E.T., Phone….My Cell?

Remember the days when you had to be some fancy-schmancy business person, or a well-connected techie with deep pockets in order to own a cell phone? And even when you did own one, it was a huge, brick-styled contraption that surely didn’t spell convenience in every sense of the word. Today, cell phones have grown so much in popularity, that recent reports indicate they’ve actually surpassed landline phones!

The Globe & Mail cites figures of $36.1 billion for cellular and Internet services in Canada in 2006, compared to just $9.75 billion for local phone services. Cellular phones accounted for 35 per cent of the total revenue with an impressive $12.64 billion.

According to a recent report, two-thirds of Canadian homes have at least one cellular phone; while about 7.5 million residents have broadband Internet access. I represent a growing category of consumer that doesn’t even own a landline service or phone, and strictly uses a cell phone and the Internet for communication.

In fact, I touched upon this very topic in the December 2006 issue of Marketnews Magazine (High-Tech Telephony, pg. 66). With the growing number of people who own cell phones, the traditional “home phone” is becoming a thing of the past.

The key word, however, is “traditional”, as neat, new home phone incarnations attempt to rejuvenate the category. These include things like Bluetooth phones, which connect with your Bluetooth-equipped cell phone to allow for making and receiving calls in areas of the home where you might not get adequate cellular reception (e.g. a basement); and Skype-capable multi-handset bundles that let you chat via the Internet in every room of the home using a traditional-looking handset.

It’s great to see even the home telephony sector moving forward with technology. Members of the consumer electronics industry can read High Tech Telephony by logging into the digital edition of Marketnews Magazine. Consumers can check out Talkin’ on the Cheap, a hands-on review of five Skype phones, on pg. 86 in the December 2006 Holiday Issue of here’s how! magazine (Click Here to download the full issue in PDF format: http://www.hereshow.ca/Uploads_Issues/vol5_no6_FullIssue.pdf)

[Photo: GE’s 28300EE2 2-in-1 Internet phone system can function as both a traditional landline phone, and an Internet phone. This model, and four others, were reviewed in the Dec. 2006 issue of here's how! magazine.]

Update: Wal-Mart Steps Up CE Presence

We've been told by spokesperson Christi Gallagher at Wal-Mart Canada that the announcement mentioned below is specific to U.S. Wal-Mart stores. However, Wal-Mart Canada has been remodeling its existing stores and opening new Super Centres over the past year, all of which employ a new format for the electronics department. In the case of new stores, this represents about 7,000 sq. ft. of space dedicated to consumer electronics: about double what was previously offered! All stores also feature a new, more open-concept design that allows customers to walk freely through the aisles instead of entering a dedicated CE area.

Gallagher says the changes were made based on research conducted with its Super Centre stores. Not surprisingly, she says iPods and HDTVs are two of Wal-Mart's "hottest selling items right now". The retailer has even added a Connection Centre kiosk in new stores that features things like mobile phones, satellite radio receivers, and GPS devices. Although Wal-Mart Canada hasn't taken on the Skype products like its counterpart in the U.S., the retail giant has been offering Vonage VoIP service since January of this year.

In a way, this is also good news for other CE retailers: if the biggest retailer in the world is ramping up its technology offerings, this means that interest in CE products is as healthy as ever.

Wal-Mart Steps Up CE Presence

According to several reports, U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart is stepping up its consumer electronics offerings, adding more flat-panel TVs from brands like Philips, Sony, and Samsung; and bringing on VoIP products from Skype, including calling cards. I was unable to confirm just yet if the additional SKUs will be available north of the border as well (stay tuned). Either way, this is big news for fellow CE giants, not to mention independents, both of which have been finding it hard to compete with Wal-Mart’s massive price cuts.

Let’s put things in perspective: right now at Future Shop, a brand-name 32-inch widescreen, high-definition LCD can be purchased for just shy of about $1,200. A no-name model is available for $700. A year ago, the same product would have been about double that!

Last month, Wal-Mart Canada added the Prive brand of LCD TVs to its roster: budget-conscious consumers can grab a 32-inch model for a measly $470. The CEO of Prive’s parent company, SOYO, commented at that time that the company was “happy” to be part of Wal-Mart’s “aggressive plan to build its consumer electronics division.” Aggressive is an understatement.

At this rate, we’re bound to see a “buy one, get one free” sale on HDTVs by Christmas. The mere thought deserves a chuckle, but this is a serious issue. A breaking point is going to be reached at some point in the near future. It’s already begun to happen: Circuit City announced a massive restructuring plan in February, closing a whole whack of stores in both the U.S. and Canada. And the retailer wasn’t shy about the reason, citing “intensified gross margin pressures” experienced with flat-panels TVs in the third quarter.

Of course it can be argued that customers won’t get the same level of product knowledge and customer service through Wal-Mart than they would a specialized, independent retailer; or even a CE-targeted big-box one. But it appears that Wal-Mart is ramping up its staff product knowledge as well: reports online claim that U.S. employees have been put through extensive product and customer service training within the consumer electronics department.

Wal-Mart obviously means business in this area. How will this bode for traditional CE retailers, not to mention the rapidly dropping prices of product like HDTVs? We’d love to hear your comments.