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LAS VEGAS--In the-not-so-distant future, your cell phone provider will likely also be providing wireless Internet access for your digital camera, electronic book reader, or any other electronic gadget you may own.
During the CTIA Wireless 2009 trade show here this week executives from AT&T and Verizon Wireless described a new era in wireless in which their networks would be used not only for cell phones but also to provide network connectivity to everything from e-readers to personal navigation devices to heart monitors.
At a press event here on Thursday Ralph de la Vega, president for AT&T mobility, said that in a few years retail chains, such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart Stores, will be stocked with electronic devices that wirelessly connect to Internet.
"In the next few years, portable devices that aren't connected wirelessly to the Web won't sell," he said. "Wireless connectivity significantly increases the value of devices. And it's what people want."
De la Vega pointed to growth in the smartphone market as an indication that consumers are increasingly becoming more accustomed to always connected devices.
"It's like the PDA market," he said. "When you added wireless to a PDA, it became more useful. And the smartphone market was born. The same will be true of cameras, personal navigation devices or e-readers. And the companies that don't add wireless to their product won't be successful."
While an everything-connected world may sound cool, there are still lingering questions about how much this access will cost consumers and how users will actually pay for it. And if it wireless operators aren't willing to adapt their business models, it may be difficult to get consumers to sign up for pricey data services with lengthy contracts.
Glenn Lurie, president of AT&T's emerging devices business, said he realizes that that wireless operators will have to change how they do business.
"This is going to require a different business model," he said. "And we are going to have to break some rules to bring these devices to market in a customer friendly way."
An untapped market awaits
Today, nearly 85 percent of the U.S. population owns a cell phone. As this penetration rate approaches 100 percent, it's unlikely that cell phone operators will experience much new growth simply by adding new cell phone subscribers. Adding new devices, such as electronic readers and cameras, to the network greatly increases the addressable market. AT&T executives believe the market for connecting devices other than phones to their wireless networks could be as big $90 billion over the next five years.
Verizon Communications' CEO Ivan Seidenberg said during a press conference here this week that he believes people in the U.S. will own multiple wireless devices and that eventually wireless penetration could reach as much as 500 percent in the next few years.
"I'm not saying that people will be carrying around five mobile phones," he said. "But you might have something in your pocketbook that talks to a thermostat or any number of devices that are connected wirelessly across the global Internet."
AT&T has created a special business unit to identify and help get emerging consumer devices ready for its wireless network. Lurie heads up the new business unit and has spent the past five months talking to a wide range of device makers from garage start-ups to established consumer electronics makers.
Verizon Wireless is addressing this new market through its Open Network Initiative, which was launched last year and is designed to expedite the process of certifying devices for Verizon's network. Verizon has already certified some 36 devices, including a smart-grid device that monitors energy consumption and a wireless tablet for the health care industry that serves as a portable medical chart.
Tony Lewis, who leads Verizon's open network, said the company is also talking to consumer electronics makers.
One product category likely to make its way onto carrier networks first is the electronic book reader. Sprint Nextel provides wireless service for the Amazon Kindle. And the product, which allows people to download books, newspapers, and magazines over Sprint's 3G wireless network, has been a huge hit with consumers. Now other e-book manufacturers are looking for ways to wireless enable their devices.
Verizon is currently talking to five e-book makers about making their devices available on Verizon's network, Lewis confirmed. AT&T wouldn't provide details, but executives hinted that an e-book deal could be in the works its network as well.
New business models needed
The notion of providing wireless connectivity for consumer electronics devices has been around for a long time. Chipmakers like Qualcomm have been developing chips just for this purpose. And Wi-Fi is also finally making its way into many consumer electronics devices.
But connected consumer devices haven't taken off yet, mainly because the carriers' business models are too restrictive. Today, wireless operators typically offer wireless service for a single device. The phones are sold through the carrier. And the operator subsidizes the cost of the phone in exchange for consumers accepting a contract.
But if consumers are expected to own multiple devices that connect to a carrier's network, they're not going to be willing to sign up for multiple services. This means that mobile operators are going to have to change how they do business.
"We can't expect people to have five different accounts," Tony Melone, CTO of Verizon Wireless, said during an interview this week. "There needs to be a mechanism that allows people to have some kind of account for multiple."
Executives from AT&T and Verizon acknowledged that multiple business models will likely co-exist. For example, Amazon, which uses Sprint Nextel's network for wireless service on the Kindle, pays Sprint for the data access and bundles that price into the cost of the product. As a result, Kindle users don't sign up to for an account with Sprint Nextel nor do they pay a dime for downloading books over the Net.
"The Kindle has a great business model," said Verizon's Lewis. "But it's not the only one out there."
AT&T's Lurrie said that how the service is monetized will depend on the device that is using the network. For example, Lurie said that most consumers would not want to spend an additional $10 a month for wireless service to upload photos to a digital picture frame. But they might be willing to pay for one-time use or even pay for several uses.
For all its talk of new business models and breaking rules, so far, AT&T seems to be following its traditional business model when it comes to selling Netbooks. Just as it does with smartphones, AT&T is subsidizing the cost of these mini-computers in order to get subscribers to agree to a data service contract.
And it appears the carrier is willing to deeply discount these devices just to get people using the network. Earlier this week, it announced a pilot program in Atlanta and Philadelphia where it will sell Netbooks for the cost of $50 to consumers who already subscribe to its broadband service. In exchange for this rock-bottom price, subscribers must agree to a two year contract for its $59.95 per month data service, which also provides access to AT&T's 3G network as well as its 20,000 Wi-Fi hotspots around the country.
But Lurie said that the company will not rely on subsidies alone to fuel adoption of these services.
"I don't think the subsidy model will drive the business," he said. "We will provide some subsidies, but we will be experimenting with all kinds of different business models."
De la Vega said the company is still in the early stages of figuring out the best way to monetize its services. But he said the old model alone will not be enough to grow AT&T's business in the new era of wireless where every device will be wirelessly connected.
"We need to be more flexible," he said. "This is a new frontier. And we need to approach it with new ideas. We can't be forced to go down an old path."
LG Neon
(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET)
The LG Xenon is clearly LG's premier announcement at CTIA this year, but the LG Neon deserves a closer look too. I had a brief hands-on with the device early yesterday, and it left a pretty good impression though I question some of the design choices.
Like the Xenon, the Neon has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and is meant to be a messaging device. It has a nice display and is slim and lightweight. The keyboard only has 3 rows instead of the 4 rows on the Xenon, so it's slightly more cramped. Still, the keys are well-spaced and have a bumpy texture for easier texting. On the front of the Neon is a navigation array complete with the two soft keys and four-way directional pad.
Here's where it gets a little interesting; the LG Neon's display is a touch screen, but only for the phone dialer. You hit a dedicated phone keypad button in the navigation array, and the virtual number keypad will show up. I was able to press the numbers like on an ordinary touch screen display, and there was vibration feedback as well. For the rest of the phone's interface, though, you're stuck with the regular navigation keys. Why LG decided not to make all of the functions of the Neon accessible via touch screen is a mystery to me.
Features of the LG Neon aren't as advanced as the Xenon's. It still has the 2.0-megapixel camera, music player, and stereo Bluetooth, but you won't get 3G and it only supports tri-band GSM. Pricing and availability of the LG Neon are still unknown, though we're sure we'll find out shortly.
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LG Xenon
(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET)
My first stop this morning at CTIA was to the LG booth, particularly to take a closer look at the LG Xenon, which was announced earlier this week. The Xenon is quite svelte at 4.16 inches long by 2.11 inches wide by 0.62 inch thick, and it has a nice 262,000-color 2.8-inch QVGA touch-screen display. Underneath the display are three physical keys; the Send, task manager, and End/Power keys. The task manager key brings up a list of open applications that you can toggle through. The touch screen has vibrating feedback, and there's an internal accelerometer that will rotate the screen from portrait to landscape mode in certain applications.
On the bottom row of the home screen are four shortcuts to the phone dialer, the contacts list, the messaging inbox, and the main menu. You can also toggle between three different home screens--one that lists your favorite contacts, one with just the standard home display, and one with your favorite shortcuts. The menu interface is similar to that of the LG Vu, with separate tabs for entertainment, settings, and so forth.
One of the highlights of the Xenon is its slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The keyboard has four rows of keys and is quite roomy. The keys are also sufficiently raised above the surface and are easy to type, at least in the brief few minutes I had to try it out. There are dedicated messaging keys on the keyboard, a dedicated emoticon key, an @ symbol key, and a dedicated .com key for entering URLs in the Xenon's full HTML browser.
Features of the Xenon include a 2.0-megapixel camera, a camcorder, stereo Bluetooth, threaded text messaging, instant messaging, mobile e-mail, quad-band GSM, 3G/HSDPA speeds, and, of course, access to AT&T broadband services like Cellular Video and AT&T Mobile Music. It will be available for $99.99 with a two-year service agreement on April 8 2009.
LG Xenon
(Credit: LG)
LG Neon
(Credit: LG)AT&T let the cat out of the bag a little ahead of the CTIA conference, introducing to its upcoming offerings two LG handhelds with slide-out QWERTY keyboards, the LG Xenon and the LG Neon.
Both handsets have touch-screen displays, and yes, both have QWERTY keyboards for easy messaging.
The LG Xenon measures 4.16 inches long by 2.11 inches wide by 0.62 of an inch thick. Weighing about 3.81 ounces, it has a large 2.8-inch display with vibration feedback, a home screen menu similar to the interface on other LG touch-screen phones, and a visual contacts interface.
Features include an MP3 player, a microSD card slot, a video player, stereo Bluetooth, a 2-megapixel camera and camcorder, threaded text messaging, instant messaging, mobile e-mail, quad-band GSM, 3G/HSDPA speeds, GPS, and access to AT&T broadband services such as Cellular Video and AT&T Mobile Music. It is set to start selling on April 8 for $99.99.
The LG Neon, sporting a slightly different design, has almost the same features as the LG Xenon. Its touch-screen display is smaller, and there is a navigation toggle underneath it. The Neon is already available in Canada through Rogers.
Features of the Neon include a 2-megapixel camera and camcorder, a microSD card slot, a music player, stereo Bluetooth, and tri-band GSM. The Neon has GPRS and EDGE connectivity but no 3G. No word on the Neon's pricing or availability just yet.
Getting a jump-start on CTIA 2009, AT&T Wireless announced on Sunday night the upcoming availability of two messaging-centric smartphones: the Nokia E71x and Samsung Propel Pro.
The two devices are expected to be in stores and online in the coming weeks, joining the carrier's four other new releases, the Samsung Impression, the Samsung Magnet, the LG Neon, and the LG Xenon.
The Nokia E71x has long been rumored for AT&T and is largely like the unlocked Nokia E71, which we reviewed in July.
The AT&T version comes in a sleek black and is currently the thinnest QWERTY smartphone on the market. The GPS-enabled device is compatible with AT&T Navigator for turn-by-turn directions, and it features Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, HSDPA support, and a 3.2-megapixel camera. The E71x comes with a very attractive price tag of $99.99, with a two-year contract and after discounts and rebates.
Meanwhile, the Samsung Propel Pro beefs up the offerings of the Samsung Propel with the addition of Windows Mobile 6.1. The slider phone comes in a cool silver-and-chrome color and also features a full QWERTY keyboard. It also has integrated Wi-Fi connectivity and a 3-megapixel camera.
The Propel Pro will be available on April 1 for $149.99 with the standard contracts and rebates.
Much to my surprise, I spotted the LG Invision Wednesday night at the Mobile Focus show here at CTIA. Even though the LG Invision has launched with AT&T on August 20, it was just a soft launch on the online store and not an official launch across all its retail channels, and we have yet to receive a review unit. So, I was eager to get my hands on it to see how it really looks and feels in person.
As a reminder, the LG Invision is the latest handset to support AT&T Mobile TV, AT&T's live streaming TV service. It is only the third handset that supports this service--the other two are the LG Vu and the Samsung Access. The AT&T Mobile TV service currently works in around 58 markets in the country, but sadly San Francisco is not on that list.
But even though I couldn't test out the AT&T Mobile TV service, I did play around with the Invision for a little bit. Measuring 4 inches tall by 2 inches wide and less than 0.5 inch thick, the Invision is certainly the smallest and lightest of all the AT&T Mobile TV phones. As a device meant for watching video, I was also pleased to see such a vibrant and colorful display, though it is rather small at around 2.2 inches. I would probably prefer the Vu for watching video because of the wider screen.
LG Invision in hand
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)You might notice that the keypad looks a bit unusual, and that's because LG has rearranged the keys so that the bottom three keys on the keypad are now flanked on the right side. This makes the handset feel slightly wider and shorter, and we think that people might have to get used to this new keypad arrangement. There's also a dedicated TV button around the navigation keys, plus the four-way toggle is arranged in a cross in the middle of the phone. I thought this felt cramped, but I'll have to use it for a longer period of time to really get a feel for it. The back of the phone is clad in a rubberized texture that feels a little like faux leather, which makes the phone easier to grip.
Other features of the Invision include a 1.3-megapixel camera, HSDPA speeds, AT&T Mobile Music support, a music player, and stereo Bluetooth. It is available online only for $99.99 with a $50 mail-in rebate and a two-year service agreement, and LG says it'll be available in retail stores later this year.
GPS and cell phone integration is an increasing trend as more handsets come equipped with the technology and location-based services get more advanced. AT&T, it seems, is particularly committed to the idea.
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AAA Mobile Navigator
(Credit: Networks in Motion)At CTIA Fall 2008, the carrier announced that it has deployed assisted GPS technology (A-GPS) to its network to speed up the time it takes a GPS-enabled mobile to get a fix on a user's location by using cell tower triangulation.
In addition to the A-GPS network, AT&T also revealed that it will launch several new location-based services to give its customer a choice in navigation software. The carrier currently only offers AT&T Navigator (also known as TeleNav Navigator), but it will soon be joined by MaqQuest Navigator and AAA Mobile, which is powered by Networks in Motion, the brains behind Verizon's VZ Navigator. Both applications are expected to be available in the coming weeks.
(Credit:
Engadget Mobile)
While we're expecting to see the HTC Touch Pro land at Sprint or Verizon Wireless (thanks FCC) later this year, it might just be that the Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone is also headed to AT&T. According to Engadget Mobile, a cached Google page revealed a teaser for the Touch Pro on the carrier's Web site.
Rebranded as HTC Fuze, the smartphone could be the replacement for the aging AT&T Tilt, shipping with the latest operating system out of the box and of course, sporting a fresh design. At first glance, the HTC Fuze might look like its sibling, the HTC Touch Diamond, but there's an added slide-out full QWERTY keyboard to please all the messaging fanatics. The device also has the TouchFLO 3D interface that makes the Windows Mobile OS look more easy to use; whether it actually succeeds in that is debatable.
As far as features, the HTC Fuze will support several e-mail solutions, including Microsoft Direct Push, Good Mobile Messaging, and BlackBerry Connect, and offers world roaming and push-to-talk capabilities. Wireless options are fully represented with HSDPA support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. The HTC Fuze will be compatible with AT&T Navigator for text- and voice-guided turn-by-turn driving directions and AT&T Cellular Video.
Of course, the page did not reveal key information like release date or pricing, but we'll be keeping an eye out for any news. Who knows, perhaps we'll find out something at Fall CTIA 2008, which is just around the corner.
Motorola Q Global
(Credit: Motorola)A new Moto smartphone joined the Motorola Q9h in AT&T's lineup on Thursday. The Motorola Q Global is largely like the Q9h except it ships with Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard Edition and comes with a pinstripe design and metallic silver casing.
We're glad that some things remain the same as the smartphone continues to offer HSDPA support, integrated GPS, and Bluetooth. In addition, rather than the standard Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, the Q Global comes preloaded with the DataViz Documents to Go Suite and Opera Web browser.
Other highlights include support for Good Mobile Messaging and BlackBerry Connect; threaded text messaging, Moto's CrystalTalk technology for clearer calls; and a 2-megapixel camera. The Motorola Q Global is available now for $149.99 with a two-year contract.
LAS VEGAS--AT&T's top wireless man told the Wall Street Journal at the CTIA tradeshow here this week that the company is considering using Google's Android handsets.
Ralph de la Vega, head of AT&T's wireless unit, told the Journal he has reviewed the technology closely and is "confident it is something we are going to want in our portfolio."
This is good news for Google, which benefits greatly from having as many carriers and handset makers as possible using its new operating system.
When Google announced it was developing the open-source, Linux-based Android platform last year, the company also announced the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of handset makers, carriers and chip designers that will work to implement Android.
Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile signed on as part of the consortium, but AT&T and Verizon Wireless, the No. 1 and No. 2 operators in the country, had not committed to using Android.
That said, it's not surprising that AT&T has expressed interest in Android. Verizon executives have also said they are looking at Android for their consumer branded phones but, like AT&T, they are not willing to commit to Android. Still, Verizon's newly launched open device program would allow device makers to use Android. My guess is that if a handset maker comes up with a compelling phone that uses Android, Verizon and AT&T will surely offer them on their networks. But for now, it's hard to say what those phones will look like since no manufacturer is actually selling Android handsets yet.
While there's been a lot of hype surrounding Android, the reality is that Android is simply an operating system just like Windows Mobile and Symbian, which are operating systems designed for smartphones. Operators also use dozens of other operating systems on their regular phones. This has turned into a bit of a problem for operators because it's difficult for developers to come up with new applications and services quickly. Arun Sarin, CEO of Vodafone, the biggest cell phone company in the world, addressed this issue during his keynote at the CTIA show. And he urged the industry to work with fewer operating systems.
Google's Android is one of many Linux-based operating systems designed for mobile phones. But because the software is backed by Google, it might actually have more legs than other versions of the software. Ultimately, Android's success will be determined by what phone manufacturers and application developers do with the software. After all, consumers don't buy operating systems. They buy cool devices that can do really cool things.
