Unlike PCs, which thrive on their use of uniform, interchangeable hardware components, mobile phones must be individualised for particular types of users, Zapf said. He compared this thinking to the way Audi and VW cars use the same chassis, driving costs down, but are marketed to completely different buyers. "The one who is buying an Audi is thinking he has the best technology in the world. The one who is buying a VW thinks he has reliable technology that is lower-cost because of high volume," he said. "What is inside (a handset), such as the kind of microcontroller, is not really an issue for the end user. They want location-based services, or a particular kind of MMI (man-machine interface)... this is how the handsets are differentiated." This philosophy is far different from that of Microsoft's with its Windows CE-based Smartphone 2002, which gives all Windows-based smartphones the same MMI look and feel, and emphasises similarity to a PC, with mobile versions of Internet Explorer, Outlook and Word. Symbian devices also synchronise with PCs and run enterprise applications, but the marketing emphasis is equally on the individual device's style, Zapf said. "There's a big difference compared with a PC, and that is that a PC has never been a personal device," he said. "Unlike a phone, you do not carry your laptop around with you everywhere you go. People use their mobile phone not only for business, but for different things in their daily lives." Leaving the PC behind
Unlike Microsoft, Symbian's licensees are de-emphasising PC connectivity, with the logic that with mobile phone sales dwarfing PC sales annually, many wireless users are likely to be more familiar with a mobile phone than with a PC. "We are targeting today's phone users and bringing them upwards step-by-step to smartphones," Zapf said. "We are making things comfortable for them, and not making them go to a Windows machine to download software, or some crazy idea like that." Rather than focusing on one particular "killer app", handset makers should be emphasising that smartphones, with their open operating systems, will be able to stave off obsolescence, Zapf argued. "I'm not a fan of the killer app. The open platform allows for a range of applications, location services, e-payments, picture messaging, video messaging, movies. It hasn't yet been finalised," he said.
If it moves, we cover it. See ZDNet UK's Mobile Technology News Section for the latest news, reviews and price checks on mobile phones, PDAs, notebook computers and anything else you can take away.
Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.
