Which Way Will Wireless Go?

Mobile devices and services vie for hearts and minds at wireless show.

Yardena Arar, PCWorld.com

NEW ORLEANS--If the nation's cellular carriers have their way, your next mobile communications device will be loaded with games and other content aimed at getting you to spend more on the carriers' services. But which device will you choose?

Contenders include Danger (makers of the innovative Sidekick), Microsoft, PalmSource, Qualcomm (creators of the Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless, or BREW, mobile phone application development and distribution system), and Siemens Mobile Phones. Representatives of the companies touted the merits of their technologies at a panel Sunday during the Mobile Entertainment Summit, an all-day companion event to the CTIA Wireless 2003 show here this week.

Sorting Devices

The session kicked off with a presentation by Jason Devitt, chief executive officer of Vindigo. As a provider of mobile content from a growing stable of partner publications (including PC World), the firm has worked with many types of mobile devices. Devitt drew on Vindigo's experiences to offer a somewhat developer-oriented perspective on the pros and cons of the competing technologies.

Devitt's ideal mobile device? "The Apple IPod," he said wryly after lauding competitors' attributes. He also noted Microsoft's enterprise-friendliness; Palm's huge consumer and developer following, as well as the operating system's stability; Java's strong development tools; and the revenue-generating ease-of-use of Qualcomm's BREW system (which encompasses distribution as well as application development).

Devitt noted that phones have gained considerable ground against personal digital assistants as content purveyors over the last three or four years. In 1999, phones simply had no way to properly display the kind of formatted content at which Vindigo excels, including maps and color graphics.

But the newest generation of color handsets and the advent of faster, next-generation digital cellular networks make over-the-air delivery of Vindigo content on phones feasible. It also helps that carriers have developed viable revenue-sharing models for content providers, Devitt said.

Pros and Cons

Discussing the relative merits of BREW phones versus Java phones, Devitt said that though Java is easier for developers to work with, BREW appears more consumer-friendly. It's much easier to download and install new applications with a BREW phone, he noted. "In 2003, BREW apps will make five times more revenue than Java apps," Devitt predicted.

Also, "in Java, no one can hear you scream," Devitt said, alluding to Java's open-source nature. That means developers have no one source to seek out if they have problems. BREW developers, of course, can simply go to Qualcomm.

Devitt indicated that Vindigo found the Palm operating system easier to work with than Microsoft's mobile OSes, which he described as somewhat "flaky."

Devitt noted that Vindigo is not motivated to develop content for the Symbian phone OS, because every Symbian phone also supports Java. But Martin Fichter, Siemens Mobile Phones product management director, said his company has decided to develop Symbian phones in part because that OS offers the easiest one-handed operation.

What's Up Next

What capabilities will these devices acquire next? Mike Spain, Microsoft mobile devices director, mentioned the capability to wander seamlessly between local and wide-area wireless networks. Albert Chu, business development vice president of PalmSource, talked about the importance of improved multimedia.

John Arledge, business development vice president of Danger, said his company is working on making Sidekicks "more phonelike." Qualcomm's Mike Yuen cited GPS and location-based services as well as better audio and displays.

Moderator and Zelos Group senior analyst Seamus McAteer said that improved color and graphics will motivate customers to buy phones capable of playing such retro arcade games as PacMan. He expects that capability will appeal to a wide audience of cell phone users.

The proliferation of mobile devices--many of them doing similar things in slightly different ways--and many different networks may be confusing to consumers, the panelists acknowledged. Still, Siemens' Fichter agreed with Devitt's prediction that "the market will remain balkanized for years."

Said Fichter, "For a carrier, it is a lot more rewarding to be different than to standardize." That means consumers are likely to have considerable choices in their mobile device purchases for some time to come.