Rants And Ramblings About Mobile Technology
Anders Borg writing about the fun and crazy world of mobile and Internet service technologies.
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Friday, August 18, 2006
A smartphone trend and possible consequences
I don't think I've discovered something you don't already know, but it might lead to some events that might not be totally obvious:
All popular smartphones have alphanumeric keypads, and a flat form factor with a wide display, and display and keypad in the same fixed plane, as in RIM BlackBerry, Nokia E61, Sony Ericsson M600 etc.
Due to that I expect the following to happen (of course pure speculation):
* Nokia will drop the Communicator form factor, and go for E61 like smartphones
* Sony Ericsson will drop the P series form factor and use only the more modern/ergonomical M600 like form factor
Some still say a touch screen for handwriting is as good as a keypad, but in the broader market I believe few agree.
A touch screen could still be there (it doesn't cost much) for browser/map/menu/etc navigation.
If there's no touch screen, navigation could be made simpler/quicker with a wheel (a la Sony original phones, iPod etc) and/or an accelerating joystick or button that could be moved in any direction, that also has a select function. Separate buttons for arrows (even though often designed as a ring) and select makes navigation quite tedious and slow.
Here's another smartphone with the trendy form factor:
Excalibur up close and personal - Engadget Mobile
All popular smartphones have alphanumeric keypads, and a flat form factor with a wide display, and display and keypad in the same fixed plane, as in RIM BlackBerry, Nokia E61, Sony Ericsson M600 etc.
Due to that I expect the following to happen (of course pure speculation):
* Nokia will drop the Communicator form factor, and go for E61 like smartphones
* Sony Ericsson will drop the P series form factor and use only the more modern/ergonomical M600 like form factor
Some still say a touch screen for handwriting is as good as a keypad, but in the broader market I believe few agree.
A touch screen could still be there (it doesn't cost much) for browser/map/menu/etc navigation.
If there's no touch screen, navigation could be made simpler/quicker with a wheel (a la Sony original phones, iPod etc) and/or an accelerating joystick or button that could be moved in any direction, that also has a select function. Separate buttons for arrows (even though often designed as a ring) and select makes navigation quite tedious and slow.
Here's another smartphone with the trendy form factor:
Excalibur up close and personal - Engadget Mobile
