by Frank McPherson, author of How To Do Everything With Windows Mobile

 
Recently I received my copy of the Sharper Image catalog, and it got me thinking about how far Windows Mobile has come and wondering a bit about where it is going. The reason for this thinking is the Sharp Image 101TSI, which is a Pocket PC. I don't think this is the first Pocket PC that Sharper Image has sold over the years, but I do think this is the first branded by Sharper Image and that got me thinking about how pervasive Windows Mobile has become. The two page spread in the catalog shows four different phones, the others are not running Windows Mobile. The 101TSI is the most expensive of the Shaper Image phones, which is unfortunate. The specs aren't too impressive and it doesn't appear to be a 3G phone, but I do find the hardware buttons interesting and I am wondering whether the Talk (green) and End (red) buttons are split in two with the top two programmable?

I haven't heard anything about this device, so I am wondering who is the manufacturer. I am guessing that it is HTC given that OEM phones for carriers such as T-Mobile and AT&T even as they are making a bigger effort at selling under their own brand name. Unfortunately the HTC-branded phones are more expensive than their OEM equivalents, which leads me to my other observation about this Sharper Image phone. The catalog emphasizes that the phones are SIM Unlocked, with the heading "New phone. No strings!" One of the benefits we may all realize from the iPhone is a heightened awareness to the tying of phones to a particular carrier and it appears there is growing consumer displeasure over the idea that if they want an iPhone they have to get AT&T's service.

Because of the tying of mobile phones to carriers there really isn't such a thing as a mobile phone market in the United States, instead there is a cell phone carrier market. The carriers use the phones as competitive advantages such as AT&T is doing with the iPhone. I think that in 2008 we will continue to see the emergence of a mobile phone market in the United States where the manufacturers of the phones compete against each other and you will be able to use the phone with whatever carrier you want. Clearly HTC sees this happening, which is why they are working hard to develop their own brand but for it to succeed the SIM Unlocked, HTC-branded phones have to be price competitive with the carrier tied phones. Geeks like me are willing to pay a premium for an unlocked phone, but the market will not.

A true mobile phone market will be good for innovation with mobile devices because it will force the device developers to be competitive. Today a device manufacturer can use the popularity of a carrier to help sell their device, but when that goes away the manufacturer will have to rely on features or improvements in areas such as battery life and the display. Competition between device manufacturers will create greater demand on the operating systems that run on the devices, which is the tie to Windows Mobile. Finally, features such as multimedia, web browsing, and installing third party applications, which have been the hallmark's behind Microsoft's mobile operating systems since the beginning, will be expected. All mobile operating systems will continue to push the feature envelope, but ironically what will likely become a key differentiator is simplicity. While Palm may slowly no longer exist, the vision of their leaders has been valid the problem is that they got sucked up in the corporate goals like stock value that caused them to bleed the cash cow dry and not investing in true innovation.

All told, I think 2008 will be another interesting year in the Windows Mobile and the mobile device world.

Labels: 2008

posted by Frank at 1:17 PM

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