Cramming Features Into Phones

Does your cell phone just make calls? Didn't you get the memo that your cell phone should double as a personal assistant – a micro PC that can dial numbers, zap text messages from a fancy keyboard, take pictures and serve as a digital Rolodex?

The cell phone industry keeps banking on these bells and whistles to help boost sales. T-Mobile and Nokia are among the telecom players unveiling new high-powered phones that serve double- and triple-duty tasks. Wireless company T-Mobile plans to sell a BlackBerry-centric phone developed by Canadian firm Research in Motion Ltd. that has a sleek keyboard for people to send text messages and e-mails. Meanwhile, Finnish cell phone giant Nokia today has raised the curtain on its Nokia 9300 phone, which sports a full keyboard and aims to be a mobile miniature PC of sorts.

"Both handsets, designed to feel more like a cell phone than a handheld computer, will compete with about two dozen other smart phones that run on advanced operating systems such as Windows Mobile, Symbian and Palm," the Associated Press said of the new devices. Tech gadget site Gizmodo has a picture of the new Nokia. "Despite the growing selection, smart phones are expected to account for less than 3 percent of all wireless handsets shipped in 2004, or about 17.6 million of an estimated 650 million, according to Kevin Burden, research manager for mobile devices at [research firm] IDC. The number is expected to nearly double next year to about 30 million, or 4.3 percent of an estimated 700 million shipments."

The AP gave more details on RIM's 7100t, which T-Mobile plans to have available starting next month. "The 7100t, priced aggressively at $199.99 after rebates from T-Mobile, still relies on the familiar layout of the alphabet on a 'QWERTY' typewriter but places two letters on each key to slim the device. So, for example, letters 'Q' and 'W' share a key in the upper left-hand corner." RIM has developed special software called SureType to help with automatic spelling changes since two letters will come from the press of one button, the AP said.

Scott Ballantyne, vice president of marketing at T-Mobile USA, which plans to sell the phone the first week of October, talked to the Seattle Times about the new combo phone. "The new 7100t is considered a 'phone-first BlackBerry,' meaning it looks like a traditional cellphone but it includes PDA functions, such as e-mail access and calendar features, said Ballantyne. Ballantyne hopes the phone, priced at $199, will appeal to consumers rather than business users, which make up the traditional market for converged devices." Ballantyne told Reuters: "We feel this is a mass market device. We believe this is not necessarily an already existing BlackBerry user who will change."
• The Associated Press via The Washington Post: Smart Phone Market Growing More Crowded (Registration required)
• The Seattle Times: T-Mobile to Sell BlackBerry PDA That's Cell Phone
• Reuters: RIM Launches BlackBerry With Revamped Keyboard

However, it looks like T-Mobile and RIM have some kinks to iron out before the device goes live for consumers. The partners "rushed out pre-production models for journalists to test before a bike race sponsored by T-Mobile this week, but the device and services were not ready for a trial run. The instant-messaging service was not yet available and the e-mail application malfunctioned on the handset provided to the Associated Press for testing. In addition, a more advanced Internet service planned for the device was not yet live, and the Web browser failed to connect repeatedly," the AP reported.

But MSNBC columnist Gary Krakow gave the device a glowing review: "This is an easy-to-carry cell phone which also has the patented BlackBerry always on, 'push' e-mail system, Web browsing and IM built right in. I've been playing with a beta version of the handset for the past few weeks and am happy to report that this time, RIM has created an almost perfect device."
• MSNBC: BlackBerry Phone Rings All the Right Notes

Nokia is hoping for better initial test runs. "The new Nokia 9300, which is both a phone and a personal organizer, is aimed at business users and will face off against rival hybrid devices from companies such as Hewlett-Packard Co., palmOne Inc., Motorola Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd," the Wall Street Journal reported today. "The gizmo, scheduled to go on sale early next year world-wide, is a further sign of the mounting competition in the market for mobile phones that can double as miniature computers. The new device also is designed to step up Nokia's push into the business market, part of a wider bid ... to jump-start its sales after several years of treading water. Company officials say the Nokia 9300 will be priced at about $785 to $845 before any subsidies by cellphone-service providers." More from the article: "As with previous Nokia Communicators, the new device looks like a phone, but can be turned on its side and opened up like a laptop to reveal a full keyboard and a wide color display. Instead of a touch-sensitive screen, the device is controlled using the keyboard and a circular keypad that moves a cursor across the screen. ... But it lacks one key feature -- it can't connect to the short-range Wi-Fi, or wireless fidelity, networks. Motorola, H-P and others have incorporated Wi-Fi radios into rival devices."
• The Wall Street Journal: Nokia Unveils Slim-Line Version of Top-End Handset (Subscription required)

The International Herald Tribune noted that Nokia also "expanded the number of mobile phones equipped with the BlackBerry e-mail application, a tool that many executives already use. The popularity of BlackBerry, a mobile e-mail service created by Research in Motion, has spread from the United States to Europe and Asia over the past 18 months," the article said. "BlackBerry's e-mail application is used by business professionals and others who like combining a mobile phone and instant wireless e-mail in a single device. RIM makes the hardware and software but also licenses the application to manufacturers like Nokia, Siemens and Sony Ericsson."
• International Herald Tribune: Nokia Woos the Business Market

Atlanta-based EarthLink is hoping for its own bite of the cell-phone market with plans to sell a BlackBerry device that combines phone, e-mail, Internet access and other features. "EarthLink, which has 5.2 million Internet customers, will sell the BlackBerry 7750 Wireless Handheld, which is produced by Research in Motion Ltd., of Waterloo, Ontario. The offering is another step in the migration of the BlackBerry from a gadget for always-in-touch executives to one for the masses. The device is distinct from the new BlackBerry 7100t that is to be offered by T-Mobile USA," the Wall Street Journal reported. "For EarthLink, the deal is part of its strategy to become a full-service communications company, a shift that has become important as its dial-up Internet business has declined."
• The Wall Street Journal: EarthLink to Offer BlackBerry Device (Subscription required)