adds that more tablet devices
with shake and roll capabilities
are in product development.
Blackberry, too, looks like it will
undergo an interface change.
Industry reports say the device
might go one better than the
multi-touch with a “
multi-pres-sure” touch screen makeover, due
out next year. Meanwhile, also
raising the interface bar,
Microsoft filed a patent in October last year for “extensive filtered
lists for mobile device user interfaces,” where selected data and
service provided by multiple software applications can be accessed
through a group or list of items,
according to reports.
Such innovative interfaces,
like the Wii’s motion-sensitive controller, help to
break down the barriers between
man and machine, say analysts,
and help to fire up application
developers. The act of scrolling
through a hierarchy of menus is
considered an outdated way to get
information. Interface innovation,
as exemplified by the iPhone, has
positively influenced sales of
mobile devices. The number of
mobile phones sold in the U.S.
increased 16% from the second to
the third quarter of 2007, to the
tune of $3.2 billion, according to
NPD Group. Smartphones,
specifically, saw a 163% increase
year over year, the research firm
said. The iPhone helped to bridge
the gap between traditional
phones and more business-ori-ented phones, the firm adds. By
the end of January 2008, there
were some 4 million iPhones sold,
according to reports.
As the Consumer Electronics
Show in January showcased, competitors aren’t letting Apple do all
the touching. Sleek devices,
including universal remotes, got
the multi-touch treatment. HTC
Touch, Verizon’s LG Venus (at
$200) and Voyager to name a few
have added to the realm of devices
with these touchy-feely interfaces
at price breaks. Devices like these
helped sell 1. 14 billion phones
last year, up 12% from the previous year, according to reports.
At the 3GSM Mobile World
Congress held in mid-February in
Barcelona, industry bigwigs, like
Arun Sarin, CEO of colossal carrier Vodafone, paid homage to
Apple’s influential interface. During his keynote speech at the
show, Sarin told the audience to
keep it simple and advised for a
slash in operating systems. “The
simpler we make it, the more we
sell,” Sarin says on a video blog
on Vodafone’s Web site (captured
by a camera phone, by the way)
taken just after the speech.
Once user-friendly fronts
become the norm in mobile
devices, operators will still have
work to do. While the “Internet
on the mobile is really beginning
to happen,” Sarin says, operators
must innovate so they are not relegated to just becoming “bit
pipes.” He advised operators to
consolidate the number of operating systems that are used, according to reports. His own company
counts between 30 to 40 operating systems up and running on its
network right now and he suggests the number be reduced to
five or under, say reports. With
fewer operating systems, developers can create more compelling
applications to help drive usage.
Even as market watchers say
eventually the number of operating systems will dwindle,
increased interest in the OS space
has drawn big names. Last fall
Internet behemoth Google
unveiled Android, its mobile
operating system. The Linux-based mobile software solution is
designed under the Open Handset Alliance. Other players in this
area include Symbian, Linux, and
Microsoft Windows Mobile.
While operating systems duke
it out, the conference showed that
content remains a key issue. That
this year’s show got some star
power when movie mogul Robert
Redford and actress Isabella
Rossellini attended only underscores the importance of forging
deeper relationships with the
music and video industries to the
mobile world.
Even with the voluminous
expansion of content and move
toward streamlining operating systems, with increasingly innovative
interfaces becoming so addictive,
it looks like whatever wireless
brings us, getting there will be
half the fun. c
MEG MCGINITY SHANNON
( shannon7575@verizon.net) is a technology
writer based on Long Island, NY.