05-08-2002, 06:57 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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A market ripe for the picking, will MS take advantage of it?
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/ccarch/2002/05/08/baig.htm
The new $600 Nokia Communicator and $500 Blackberry 5810 are not garnering lots of "wows" from the media. For example, "Nokia deserves credit for delivering real-deal HTML Web pages; you can use horizontal and vertical arrow keys to scroll through a site. But to click on a link you must typically hit the "Control" and "Q" keys simultaneously to turn those same arrow keys into a mouselike pointer. Toggling back and forth by pressing Control and Q is a nuisance" and "It takes too many steps to accomplish various tasks. For example, to get to a Web site that you haven't bookmarked, you must hit the Internet key, select WWW for the World Wide Web or WAP ... click a menu button, click "Open" under "File," click on "Web Page" and then finally enter the URL, or Web address." Good grief - isn't it easier to manage files on an external SD card in a Palm? ;-)
The Blackberry didn't make it through the review any less scathed. "When I clicked on the browser while in New Jersey, I received an error message indicating that I wasn't in an area that could handle data communications. Even when I was in a coverage area, the browser is incapable of displaying full HTML Web pages. However, I also ran into snags on supposedly kosher "WAP" sites. Consider this message: "WAP Gateway: An internal gateway error prevents the gateway from fulfilling your request." "Clicking on "Register Now" sent a message back to VoiceStream that apparently fixed the problem. The BlackBerry phone felt like an afterthought. I was able to make and receive phone calls, but the service was spotty, and I never felt comfortable. There's no independent speaker, so you connect an earpiece (with microphone). Absent a phone keypad, dialing voice mail was, as with the Nokia, a chore."
The Treo from Handspring has seen lackluster success too. I think this is more the fault of the anemic Palm OS when it comes to being an online device since the current OS cannot multitask. Who wants to be in a web browser and have to close it to open your ewallet app to get a userID and password to a site?
The Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition and Smartphone 2002 devices really excel in this arena, but it isn't like MS can just contract with someone to make these and start shipping them to CompUSA or Amazon. These things have to go through carrier trials. You thought getting a tax cut through a Democratically controlled Congress was tough? You ought to get a device to pass a carrier trial. Here MS has no experience. This is the first time they have really tried to get a device to market that goes beyond someone bolting together some hardware for them. We've heard some good news from MS on this front - Samsung as a partner for example. But in the world of technology, that is old old news. I'm ready for a device already! I want to walk into a SprintPCS and pick up a Smartphone 2002 today, but these things take time, and it is beyond MS's control.
What do you think? Can MS take advantage of the markets lack of compelling phone/PDA devices or will this time allow the competition (read Symbian) to get to market first with a device the average person can use?
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05-08-2002, 07:15 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 13
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"$600 Nokia Communicator and $500 Blackberry"
This answers it all doesn't it? Am I the only one who thinks that prices ought to come down a bit? I know it's o.t. but yesterday I saw the Zaurus 5000 with a price tag of 699 Euros (a linux device, give me a break!), the HP 728 is supposed to sell (or rather not) for 1300 Euros.
Infrastructure wise the situation in the US is different, I know, but in many parts of Europe it's the price tag that keeps Smartphones from taking off.
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05-08-2002, 07:23 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Price has something to do with it but many would pay a nice price for something that works intuitively and doesn't cause you to sprain your fingers trying to go to a URL.
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05-08-2002, 08:04 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 19
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Treo Counterpoint
The Treo from Handspring has seen lackluster success too. I think this is more the fault of the anemic Palm OS when it comes to being an online device since the current OS cannot multitask. Who wants to be in a web browser and have to close it to open your ewallet app to get a userID and password to a site?
Ed,
I have appreciated for along time the perspective you have brought to PocketPC Thoughts. It's been balanced and fair as your recent piece shows. However I would take some exception to your comments on the Treo. I changed gears about two months ago from my Ipaq (HP 545 and NEC MobilePro before that) to the handy Treo device. It was really an experiement on my part and one that I am glad now that I took the risk. The ONLY thing (for my applications and use) that I miss is what you mentioned above regarding the multitasking. The Treo does, however, allow you to be in a voice call and operate any other app at the same time. While your multitasking point is well taken, I disagree with the "lackluster" statement. I absolutely love my Treo! It has performed admirably and believe me, I have put it through its paces. Certainly the Treo hasn't needed to be soft reset as often as my Ipaq by a long shot. "Different strokes for different folks." For me, the Treo's the ticket!
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05-08-2002, 08:07 PM
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Oracle
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 864
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Talking with Cingular folks looks like the Sendo phone will be available in a couple of months, and looks like the MM02 will be here shortly....I am ready to roll with either but want it here now not later!!!
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05-08-2002, 08:10 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Re: Treo Counterpoint
Quote:
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Originally Posted by riverbruce
While your multitasking point is well taken, I disagree with the "lackluster" statement. I absolutely love my Treo! It has performed admirably and believe me, I have put it through its paces. Certainly the Treo hasn't needed to be soft reset as often as my Ipaq by a long shot. "Different strokes for different folks." For me, the Treo's the ticket!
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Absolutely - different strokes, different folks. Point of clarification - I did NOT say the Treo was lackluster. I said its market success has been lackluster. Last I heard (about 3 weeks ago) the Treo had only sold 15,000 units nationwide since its Feb. release.
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05-08-2002, 08:43 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 315
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I think we need to keep the distinction between North America and ROW in mind when talking about smart phone devices. Thus far, most, if not all smart phone devices that exist or are rumored to exist, have been GSM, which effectively rules them out for NA. I say this because the GSM carriers offer horrible coverage, at least out on the left coast. I would love to have a MS SP02, but I will never switch to a deficient network to do so.
So, the question then becomes, is anybody going to produce a CDMA version? There have been Samsung rumors, but nothing even close to verified, unless I've missed something.
Affordable or not, I don't think smart phone devices will take off in NA until they come out in CDMA. Or, the GSM carriers spend billions to expand their networks, which at the very least would take years to complete.
Waiting patiently for a CDMA SP02...
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05-08-2002, 09:02 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 34
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I have a Nokia 9210 Smartphone/Communicator/Superphone/... and I agree in that it is very difficult to manage. I miss a pen or even a simple integrated stick. The user interface is rather poorly designed with a mess of options: you have keys, action keys, function buttons, menu buttons, menus, ...
Process is pretty slow but battery life is decent. Browsing is horribly slow because of GSM speed (9600/14400-HSCD).
Data communication speed and cost are the two major drawback in these phones and will continue to be until 3G phones appear in the market, of course with the necessary infrastructure to support it. In Europe GSM coverture is very good so this is not a problem now but speed it is. Not to mention that GSM cost is high. You can expend 10 USD per hour in the average case -so you will not likely use these phones for browsing-.
Price is an important obstacle for trying the 'new' technology but I think the real reason of lack of success is that people do no want such a technology at this moment.
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05-08-2002, 10:21 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 110
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The main issue is what you want to do with these devices. Personally I never use my 9210 - at least directly - for browsing. On the other hand I do use it for email where it is very good. The only criticism here is that it takes far too long to download "headers only".
On the "web" side I never bother with the browser - life's too short to browse over a GSM connection. But I do use a brilliant tool from a French outfit called Kylom. They make a currency converter that grabs "simple" information off yahoo and plugs it into the 9210 clientside programme (which takes care of all the formatting, display, intelligence etc) - ie it's what seems to be called a "rich client" these days. I'm convinced this is the right way to go - what ever the device.
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05-08-2002, 10:50 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 140
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In defence
Interesting comments in that article. Unfortunately, I feel that the writer suffered from 'lack of exposure'.
Why he navigates to web pages as he does is beyond me! I just press CTRL+O and type the address (note that the first few steps he makes to navigate to a web page are simply application navigation - maybe he gets confused without a 'Start' button and navigable sub menus). Someone should have told him that you can add the Web Icon to the front 'Desk' screen thus letting him navigate to a web page with much greater ease (maybe he's the type who never uses CTRL+X, CTRL+C and CTRL+V in Word).
Neither do I understand his problem with the screen. It's the best colour screen I've seen (especially after seeing various iPaq screens in PCWorld and the E115 I used to own). I've not had any trouble using the 9210 in direct sunlight (not that I get much of it around here).
GSM web browsing at 14.4 sucks like a leach, but it's a little better at 28.8 as provided by Orange over GSM in the UK. This way, I can go straight to Hotmail (for instance) without having to visit a cut down 'Mobile Hotmail'. (though getting past the hardware tests on the Orange network usually means that Orange are the last UK Carrier to get new phones).
No USB? Yeah, that's bad. He does have a point there. But I prefer not to have a cradle. The cradle for my old E115 was a pain and I hated having to carry it around with me all the time.
All in all, I'd have no serious complaint if this was a review of the 9210 (though even then it would be misinformed and really quite naive). Yet, this was a review of the 9290 which is an even better model!
Anyway, it's been noted many times by people around here that the 9210/9290 is not a Smartphone (despite being a very smart phone), so why the comparison? I though that argument had been done to death?
I can't wait to see the 7650 and P800! But until then, the 9210 is here and now and that matters more to me at the moment.
Take a look to see what's coming (and already here)
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Linear Mode
