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CTIA 2005 preview: sexier and smarter cell phones
By Kent German
(March 11, 2005)
Cell phones are big in the South. Not only is the region home to some of the industry's major players, it also hosts the annual Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA) trade show. It's the largest show for the cell phone industry, and it bursts at the seams each March with new handsets, new accessories, new services, and new ideas. While I journeyed last year to my first CTIA in a very cold Atlanta, this year I'll be traveling to a hopefully warmer New Orleans. Though Mardi Gras has already passed and the long treks across the convention center are draining, the show should be an experience, and I'm hoping to be dazzled by the new mobiles I'll see. So as they say in the Big Easy, "laissez les bon temps rouler," or "Let the good times roll."
Motorola Razr V3
A lot has happened with cell phones since the last CTIA, and as William O'Neal reports in his look back at our top picks from Atlanta, not all of our chosen products have made it to market. That said, 2004 introduced some new trends to the wireless world that will continue well into the future. We saw a slew of megapixel camera phones, more multimedia- and entertainment-oriented handsets, the rise of true 3G networks in the United States, a wave of carrier mergers, and the long-awaited arrival of Bluetooth to the CDMA carriers. But if I had to name two landmark products from the past 12 months, they would be the Motorola Razr V3 and the PalmOne Treo 650. These hot handsets dominated nearly every other mobile release last year, and the themes they carried with them--cutting-edge design and more-intelligent smart phones--are not going away. And fear not, basic phone fans, there will be options for you. Read on to see what I expect to be big at CTIA and in 2005.
PalmOne Treo 650
Continued convergence
Though the merging of handhelds and cell phones isn't a new concept by any means, it's still worth mentioning that big things continue to happen in smart phones. Besides the new Treo in 2004, we also saw the updated Sony Ericsson P910 and Motorola MPx220, as well as several BlackBerrys, the Wi-Fi-enabled Siemens SX66, and a mobile equipped with Windows Media Player, the Audiovox SMT5600. More than just smarter smart phones, these devices have gone a long way toward destroying the "jack-of-all-trades, master of none" stereotype. Not only are these handsets packed with cool features for work and play and faster data speeds (with Bluetooth becoming more or less a standard), they continue to sport more user-friendly designs with improved screens, superior phone implementation, and QWERTY keyboards. At CTIA, I'll be looking for more smart phones in this vein, which includes the Motorola MPx, the Samsung i730, and the BenQ P50 series. Expect better, more sharply designed smart phones that can do it all and do it well.
Spring fashion
Nokia 7280
As we reported last year, cell phones are breaking the mold of the traditional candy bar and flip phone form factors. In 2004, we saw slider designs such as the Samsung SGH-D415, handsets with rotating screens such as the Samsung SGH-P735, and swivel mobiles including the Kyocera KX2 Koi, and the Sony Ericsson S710a. And we can't forget the superslim and hugely popular Motorola Razr V3, which already has spawned a line of successors. I expect that revolutionary designs--some with keyboards--will be a staple at CTIA, with such fashion-friendly handsets as the Nokia 7280 and other alternatives, including the LG F9100, the Nokia 6820, and the Samsung N330.
Bring on the Bluetooth
Bluetooth has long been the domain of the GSM carriers, while CDMA carriers sat on the sidelines. But with mobiles such as the Treo 650 for Sprint and Verizon's Motorola V710, Sprint and Verizon finally joined T-Mobile and Cingular in the 21st century. While the carriers have partially crippled Bluetooth's functionality, it's a start, and I wager we'll see more equipped handsets--both basic and advanced--at the show. Also, look for better Bluetooth headsets such as the Jabra BT800.
Siemens S66
No business like show business
You might have been labeled a crackpot a few years ago if you theorized that cell phones would be entertainment devices. They're useful, yes, and even annoying sometimes but never entertaining. Well, times have changed, and just as multimedia was a big theme at CES 2005 in Las Vegas, it will continue to be so in New Orleans. Made possible by the emerging 3G networks (see my next point), multimedia handsets will increase their footprint in the United States with a number of new product announcements. Imagine watching video, listening to MP3 files or the radio, and playing 3D games without ever leaving your mobile. Examples include the aforementioned Audiovox SMT5600, the Sony Ericsson K700i, and the Siemens S66. Keep in mind that implementation won't be perfect, and it will never be as clean as the TV in your living room, but there's no turning back now.
3G, you say?
LG VX8000
Third-generation cell phone technology, better known as 3G, isn't nearly as complicated as it sounds. As Ben Patterson writes in CNET's quick guide, 3G will bring wireless broadband data services to your mobile phone with speeds ranging from 144Kbps to 320Kbps. This translates to streaming audio and video, quick download speeds, 3D games, and videoconferencing. Though cell phone users in Asia and Europe have enjoyed 3G for a couple of years, it's just beginning to arrive in the United States. AT&T rolled out its 8-city UMTS 3G service last year, while Verizon started its 32-city V Cast EV-DO service last month. Now, with most of the major carriers moving full-speed-ahead with the technology, we'll find a lot more 3G-enabled phones at CTIA. Examples include the Motorola A845, the LG VX8000, the Samsung SCH-A890, and the Audiovox CDM-8940.
More megapixels
While camera phones are nothing new, that doesn't mean they're not changing. After the Sprint PM-8920 from Audiovox arrived stateside last summer, manufacturers such as Siemens and Samsung followed suit. Though the cameras on cell phones will remain far behind their standalone counterparts, the number of megapixels is climbing, as with the Samsung A800. Samsung has even announced a potential 5-megapixel phone. I predict that at CTIA, we'll see more megapixels and vastly increased camera-phone functionality, including the direct printing of pictures.
A final note: Expect to see more phones with both GSM and CDMA functionality, such as the Samsung SCH-A790. Of course, these are just my theories. To test them out, I'll be scouring the show floor in New Orleans with my notepad and my camera phone to see what's there, what's coming, and what's still a long way off.
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