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What's coming in phone capabilities? March Issue Roxanne "The Expert" Singleton Since my last column, I had a chance to travel to the French Riviera and enjoy the infamous Cote d'Azur while doing a little business at the 3GSM industry tradeshow. I was so excited. I packed my beachwear, threw in the sunscreen and bragged with delight to my friends and family that I was headed to Cannes. Little did I know I would be spending a week in wicked rain that some called the worst storm to hit the area in 30 years. And if you missed it, let me be clear, it wasn't just rain. Apparently, fine red sand from the Saharan desert was lifted by wild winds and slammed in to the French coastline. What a mess. Kind of reminds me of the world of wireless. (This is my segue, it's just brilliant). There are so many things coming at us it's kind of hard to figure out what direction to go! Which brings us to this month's question: "I'm content with my phone for right now, but what do I have to look forward to this Christmas season? With the huge variety of phones available, what should I look for as a baseline in a device that I'd be happy to carry?" Let's be clear, the word on the street in 2004 is when data phones transition from being application-specific devices to service enablers functioning as flexible platforms that support a broader array of operator services using core technology platforms. By Christmas, you'll see operators offering phones that leverage common networking standards like WAP 2.0 or MMS. And it will be across a lot more integrated services — like personal publishing via MMS or dynamically updated phone menus using XHTML or presence enabled address books. By next year (that's 2005 for those of you just waking up), web-based technologies like scripting (ECMAScript) are going to help operators deliver services that will be dynamically updated using the web. ECMAScript will perform with the same responsiveness as today's embedded application. It is an open standard used by millions of web developers and it has enormous potential for new service development for wireless devices. So the key is to look for phones that demonstrate best in class support for data standards. Standards will become the critical enablers for the next generation of operator services. Phones that go "beyond-OMA" with native support for existing online communities and rich web content, such as streaming media, will also influence the next generation of operator services. Okay, all that being said, none of this really matters if the phone is poorly designed. Our team recommends looking for phones that deliver a high level of integration between applications and optimize usability by minimizing clicks: that means the ability to access a URL from a message, or compose a multimedia message direct from the camera. They also say the best phone will demonstrate a seamless UI, delivering consistency between applications and the rest of the phone MMI. So, what do I like? My favorite is the Sharp GX-30. I got to test it when I was in Europe (an Openwave perk). I have fallen in love with it. Not only is it a great phone, but I also used it as an MP3 player on the plane and to take some photos (and video!) during the big storm that I easily downloaded to my laptop. Let me know what phone you are using and why. It folks like you, the developers, that are likely to uncover the stars and the dogs before the rest of the world. I'd love to hear what is working (and not working) for you! Roxy |