CTIA WIRELESS: A Handful of Handsets

Investigating "cool" new handsets at a show like CTIA is somewhat difficult for a Canadian company simply because we often don't know which models will be coming to the Canadian market, let alone when. Despite this minor roadblock, there were plenty of neat handset designs to see.

Before I get into the handsets, it's worth noting some consumer-friendly improvements that Microsoft has made to its Windows Mobile operating system, which is included in many smartphones. In fact, a Microsoft rep told us that this year, there will be 20 million Windows Mobile devices on the market! Although the majority of Microsoft's emphasis was placed on enterprise-level upgrades, Windows Mobile v. 6.1 provides some handy improvements for consumers that help simplify the user experience. The most notable improvement is such a small, yet appreciated feature: automatic Bluetooth pairing, which will not only turn Bluetooth on and search for nearby devices upon one-button activation, but will also enter the required four-digit pairing code (in Canada, it's typically "0000") for you! The rep noted that the adjustment was made based on consumer feedback. In a test group, he claimed that the change resulted in a 100% success rate for Bluetooth pairing, compared to the previous method, with was a bit more time consuming, and potentially confusing for the non tech-savvy individual. Future versions of the Bluetooth standard will likely do away with the four-digit pairing code altogether, but for now, this is certainly a handy feature for smartphone users.

Other Windows Mobile improvements include an e-mail wizard that contains a database of e-mail ISPs from all around the world that can automatically enter your incoming and outgoing server to save you the trouble. There's also support for e-mail services like Yahoo! Mail and Gmail. The Internet browser has also been optimized to improve Website rendering; and WiFi support has been ramped up.

Now, what about the handsets?

I was pleasantly surprised at the HTC booth. Recently, I reviewed the HTC Touch for here's how! magazine, and noted that what this touch-screen phone really needed was a slide-out keyboard. Lo and behold, situated right beside the HTC Touch in the company's booth was the new HTC Touch Dual, which is virtually identical but for a, you guessed it, slide-out keyboard. It's not a full QWERTY, but rather includes two-letters per key, so there's 20 function keys in all. HTC Senior Account Manager Brent Stephenson also confirmed that the TouchFLO technology, which I found a bit finicky in the original version, is continually improving. The Touch Dual operates on the GSM network, which means that should it come to Canada, it will be available through Rogers or Fido. Although Stephenson couldn't confirm Canadian information, he told me that the Touch Dual will be available in the U.S. in May, and will sell unlocked through Best Buy stores. Is this unlocked, direct-to-the-customer strategy an indication of a new direction for the wireless market? Something to think about....

Two other neat "touch" type phone (which is apparently all the rage these days) are LG's Venus and Vu, which officially launched into the Canadian market just prior to the show. I'm not a fan of dedicated touch-screen models, but after playing around with these two models for a few minutes, I found them really easy to manipulate. A slight vibration emits as soon as you activate a function with your finger, which I found oddly comforting. The Vu will automatically rotate the screen to fit a full QWERTY keyboard when typing, which is pretty neat. These are definitely two handsets worth keeping an eye on.

There were several new phone introductions from Samsung, but one of the most notable was the miCoach phone. As the product of a collaboration with sporting goods manufacturer adidas, the miCoach is designed for sports enthusiasts. In addition to doubling as music player while you're working out, it also provides personal training features, including a stride sensor and heart rate monitor, and can track data like time, distance, speed and calories burned. All you need is the adidas sensor, which can actually be attached to pretty much any running shoe on the market. Once connected, your virtual "coach" will motivate you to get in shape, letting you know audibly when you need to increase speed, or slow things down. The miCoach is currently only available in Europe, while pricing details and availability dates for North America have not been announced. The Instinct, which many are calling Samsung's "answer to the iPhone" also caused a stir at the show, even though it wasn't even on display. Available exclusively in the U.S. through Sprint, the phone includes features like touch-screen functionality with tactile feedback, a "favourites" menu for your most-often used functions, Visual Voicemail that lets you listen to messages in the order that you wish, and fast operation using the EVDO Rev A network.

From a Canadian perspective, there really wasn't anything new in the BlackBerry arena (bummer), but the company did highlight some neat, new applications for the device via third-party company partnerships. The one that seemed to garner a lot at attention was the ability to play the popular video game Guitar Hero on the phone. Now that is cool!

Finally, I must have popped into the Sony Ericsson booth about five times trying to get a look at the Xperia X1 in the flesh, which is the company's first Windows Mobile device. The Xperia X1 initially launched at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, and it won't be available in Canada until Q3 or Q4, nor in the U.S. until Q2. Given this, there were only a few demo units available, and I could never catch up with the one guy who had them! However, I was able to see the slick-looking device under glass, so I can speak to its attractiveness as an objet.

That's just a small cross-section of the phones on display at the show. Stay tuned to the April issue of Marketnews Magazine for more information on these, and other models specific to the Canadian market.

[Photo: LG Vu].

Bluetooth Makes Leaps with Help of 802.11

The Mobile World Congress is currently taking place in Barcelona, Spain, which means tons of announcements from the wireless arena are hitting the newswires today. One major development hails from Bluetooth SIG, which revealed its plans to essentially piggyback on the 802.11 wireless standard. In simpler terms, this means that larger pieces of data, like video or big picture files, can be transmitted via Bluetooth. Although this will have an impact on any device that incorporates Bluetooth technology, it's especially important for mobile phones.

Imagine being able to snap a fairly high-resolution shot using your camera phone, then simply beaming it, at full resolution, to your buddy's phone right beside you. Or imagine downloading an entire album of music from a store wirelessly using a Bluetooth phone. Who knows: this could very well be the way music is purchased in the future!

Michael Foley, Ph.D. and Executive Director of Bluetooth SIG explains exactly how the piggyback process will work.

"What we're doing is taking classic Bluetooth connections, using Bluetooth protocols, profiles, security, and other architectural elements, and allowing it to jump on top of the already present 802.11 radio, when necessary, to send bulky entertainment data, faster."

Foley goes on to explain that, when the hefty speeds of 802.11 aren't required, the connection will simply revert to its normal speed so that devices continue to run smoothly.

The company still plans to launch its own, higher-speed specification in partnership with the WiMedia Alliance brand of ultra wideband technology; but the utilization of 802.11 will help make faster speeds possible today, and not just in the future.

It's typically unlike a company to make a quick, band-aid fix to get the ball rolling; but I commend Bluetooth SIG on finding an interim method using already available resources that will make consumers happy in the immediate future. It's a great move on the Group's part, not only to help bolster the reputation of Bluetooth as a wireless standard, but also to keep up with the growing number of multimedia applications being integrated with mobile devices. One can now do things like stream video and satellite music, take upwards of 5 MP photos, and even watch TV programming right on a handset! It's a natural progression for wireless transmission to follow such rapid development.

With things like faster speeds and bigger memory (as per SanDisk's announcement at CES of a 12 GB microSD card!), the cellular industry is poised for major growth this year.

[Photo: Sony Ericsson's new XPERIA X1 mobile phone, debuted in Spain, is the company's first foray into the Windows Mobile world. In addition to stereo A2DP Bluetooth technology and WiFi support, the phone also includes a 3" touch-screen that can be divided into 9 handy panels; a 3.2 MP digital camera with the ability to also shoot short video; GPS functionality; and a whopping 400 MB of internal memory.

Camera Phones Won't Take Over Entry-Level Digicams Just Yet

A few months ago, I talked about how camera phones are continually getting better, and could eventually take over the entry-level digital camera market. According to a new study by market research firm In-Stat, digital camera manufacturers need not worry just yet, as we're far from this actually happening.

The study found that mobile phone digicams are most popular among - no surprise here - the GenZ consumer, which represents those aged 13-24. Overall, only 15% of consumers of all ages say they use their camera phone as a primary means of taking photos; while 65% say they prefer a dedicated digital camera. (I have no idea what the other 20% use, but that's a different issue altogether).

Why aren't camera phones up to the task just yet? Although customers are quite satisfied with their operation and features (heck, many go so far as to include things like flash, zoom, and even white balance!), they aren't too happy about print quality and "the cost of sharing/receiving photos." I agree with the first reason and, if anything, it's a good indication that people are in fact still interested in printing images. I can only assume that the pricing concerns are in relation to sharing and receiving the images from mobile-to-mobile which, indeed, is oddly expensive.

For example, it costs $0.50 to send a picture message through Rogers Wireless; and if the recipient needs to log onto his mobile browser to view it, he'll incur charges of about $0.05/kb. (Of course this depends on the specific plan, but these are the pay-per-use rates).

However, there are other, more cost-effective ways to share camera phones images, albeit not instantaneously. Most camera phones use flash memory cards, or can connect to a PC via USB cable. Once an image is on your computer, you can do with it as you like: e-mail it to a friend, upload it to a photo-sharing site, and even post it to a social networking site. Once a more advanced Bluetooth standard comes into play, we might even be able to send high-res images from phone-to-phone by simply putting the two devices in close proximity to one another. And, after all, there's no way to "instantly" share images from a dedicated digital camera either, so this shouldn't be considered a "disadvantage" with camera phones.

Personally, I still use a dedicated digital camera, and use my cell phone camera (which boasts an impressive 3.2 MP of resolution!) for "emergencies only". I can, however, foresee a time when the two devices merge into one. Heck, Mio Technologies just launched a portable GPS unit that doubles as a media player and triples as a 2 MP digital camera. The possibilities of convergence are simply limitless.