Quickies October 25, 2006

Doug Blows Off Steam: About WM5 Smartphones

I recently received a catalog from Mobile Planet the other day, from whom I purchased my first Tapwave Zodiac.� I love Mobile Planet catalogs, and this issue is devoted to “The Latest in Windows Mobile Powered Devices,” supposedly containing “An amazing variety of Windows Mobile devices.”�

So I opened it eagerly to see what it had, because I love convergent devices.� Here’s the list:

i-mate JAQ:� 200MHz, 64MB RAM, 128MB ROM, 2.8″ 240×320 screen, QWERTY keypad
Fujitsu Siemns LOOX T830:� 416MHz, 64MB RAM, 128MB ROM, 2.4″ 240×240 screen, QWERTY keypad
BenQ-Siemens P51:� 416MHz, 128MB RAM, 128MB ROM, 2.83″ 240×320 screen, QWERTY keypad
MIO A710:� 520MHz, 64MB RAM, 128MB ROM, 2.7″ 320×240 screen (no keypad!� shocker!)
E-Ten G500+:� 400MHz, 64MB RAM, 256MB ROM, 2.8″ 240×320 screen (no keypad)
i-mate SPL:� 200MHz, 64MB RAM, 128MB ROM, 2.2″ 240×320 screen, phone keypad
i-mate Smartflip:� 200MHz, 64MB RAM, 128MB ROM, 2.2″ 240×320 screen, phone keypad (but it’s a flip phone!� call AP!)
Samsung SGH-i320:� 416MHz, 120MB “User memory”, 2.2″ 240×320 screen, QWERTY keypad
i-mate JAM:� 416 MHz, 64MB RAM, 64MB ROM, 2.2″ 240×320 screen (no keypad)
i-mate JAM 128:�� 416 MHz, 64MB RAM, 128MB ROM, 2.2″ 240×320 screen (no keypad)

Yesiree bob!� An *amazing* variety of Windows Mobile devices!� They are all sooooooooo different!� You can get 240×240!� Or 240×320!� Or be a rebel, and get 320×240, and with no keypad!� Yowza!�

Talk about a lack of imagination on the part of WM Smartphone designers.� I’m reminded of a roomful of students, all of whom are copying off of the same test paper.� Can’t these guys break the mold a little?� Yeesh.� Why the heck any of these companies would expect someone to pick their particular brand of vanilla phone over another, I have no idea.� Reminds me very much of the days when all PCs where beige boxes with absolutely no attempt at differentiation.� I thought we were done with those days, but apparently not.�

And don’t even get me started about the names of these things.� No wonder the RAZR sold so many units.

But never fear, device lovers; I am sure that it is just a phase.� It seems pretty clear that Nokia, HTC, Samsung, and all the rest saw how successful Blackberry was, and didn’t want to miss the boat.� I am sure that once they are over their fevers, there will be more innovation, and we will begin to see more clamshell devices, more convergent devices, or at the very least more devices with a screen larger than 3″!� Why not sell a phone with a big screen and no keypad, but with built-in voice recognition and an included Bluetooth headset?� Or include a Bluetooth keyboard that is half or 1/3 size, but not attach it to the phone?� I’m sure some innovative engineer in Korea or Japan or Mountain View is dreaming up something right now.

But in the meantime, allow me to repeat:� Yeesh.

Tags: Bluetooth, Fujitsu, Mobile Phones, Samsung

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About Douglas Moran

View all posts by Douglas Moran

Doug is a nerd from way back, falling for a Commodore PET at the age of 15, and never looking back. Riding the nerd wave, he got a Computer Science degree and entered the tech industry at a young age, deciding after a year and a half of front-line phone technical support that he should try something, *anything* else. He settled on technical writing, and has been cranking out documentation for companies like Unisys, SGI, Cisco, Juniper, and many others ever since. He is nothing short of ecstatic to be working for H-P from his home base in Austin.

http://www.justanothermobilemonday.com netsyd

Very well said. You’re right about all of it.

Most of the current devices you are really doing nothing more than choosing between one set of shortcomings or another. For example the G500+ has GPS but no keyboard, the JAQ is about the size of an aircraft carrier compared to the i320 from Samsung and half of them don’t support the GSM 850 band – which makes them useless for Cingular users that didn’t start off as a AT&T city.

It’s frustrating to say the least … the real question of the day is how do they think they can charge $750 (non-subsidized) for a phone, when one with similar specs from a different company is only $400. That’s the amazing thing to me.

Brandon
http://www.justanothermobilemonday.com
MitchellO

My only problem with most of these handsets is that they lack 3G! I can’t buy a phone without 3G these days as my carrier is 3G (and they roam on the GSM network) and they use USIM cards.
MitchellO

Well, there are more problems than that (some of them are the size of bricks, others use crappy processors or come with no thumboard) but 3G rules them out of consideration right away for me.
dougom

See, I firmly believe that the market is wider than the cell phone companies currently do. I think there’s a market for a phone the size of a gherkin that has a tiny display and no fancy features, but looks cool (say, like the new Sony Walkman) and allows you to just make phone calls. And I believe that there is a market for a phone that is the size of a brick and has the rapid-processor-from-hell and allows you to do everything short of launching nuclear weapons remotely. And several platform levels between. But right now, they’re suffering from a lack of imagination.

In my opinion, anyway.
http://www.geardiary.com Judie

“I think there�s a market for a phone the size of a gherkin that has a tiny display and no fancy features, but looks cool (say, like the new Sony Walkman) and allows you to just make phone calls.”

I would love one of those for times when I don’t really have a place to carry a phone or PDA; certain dressy occasions come to mind.
Kismet

Nokia 7380 would fit the bill…

http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_7380-1332.php
http://www.geardiary.com Judie

Yes, it’s almost tiny enough! Make it small enough to hang it from a necklace and we’re in business.
dougom

See? I’m behind the curve again! Whenever I do reviews, I should call them “Behind-the-curve Reviews, for you late adopters!”
http://www.geardiary.com Judie

Ha! The phone kismet pointed out isn’t quite as tiny as the Walkman you mentioned. If it were, then you could say you were “behind the curve”. As it is, I think you are safe enough.
Kismet

The phone is fairly large, the pics are deceiving…

How about this?

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/cellphones/the-smallest-cellphone-weve-ever-used–exclusive-haier-black-pearl-gallery-207927.php
Kismet

Note to self, use html tags. -_-
http://www.geardiary.com Judie

That’s pretty cute.

Now find me something this small and I’ll buy it!! http://geardiary.com/?p=123
Kismet

Where would you put the SIM card.. XD

I kind of like this concept: LG
http://www.geardiary.com Judie

But it’s just a BT enabled handset; I want it to be the whole phone.