Electronix Express Newsletter

December 2007 Issue

Welcome to the December 2007 Issue of the Electronix Express Newsletter

STORIES

Blazingly Faster iPhones Slated for 2008

AT and T Aims to Dazzle Consumers With Shine Cell Phone

Net TV: Coming Into Focus

Used Cell Phone, Anyone?

Home Is Where the Femtocell Is

Test Drive a Porsche Cell Phone

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1. Blazingly Faster iPhones Slated for 2008

Would-be iPhone users who are frustrated with the speed of AT and T's EDGE network have something to look forward to: Apple is preparing to launch a 3G version of the device, according to AT and T's chief executive. The iPhone currently operates on the slower EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for Global System for Mobile communications Evolution) network technology, a fact that is often cited as a con in the seemingly infinite number of pro and con iPhone reviews published since the device was launched in late June. The units were purposely designed for the EDGE network because Apple found that making them 3G caused battery life to diminish too much.

"Moving to 3G makes a lot of sense for a device that has a very strong Web browser. It would complement some of the technologies that are already on the iPhone," according to analyst Ross Rubin.

There's no doubt that a 3G version of the iPhone would leave the current model in the dust for some data-intensive, non-WiFi operations. Rubin said, "It's like going from dial-up to a broadband connection." The iPhone is ideally suited to the faster connectivity. With that type of support there, iPhone users may see more focus on over-the-air transactions, more streaming media and perhaps downloads of TV shows which would be complementary to the iPhone's large screen and many other kinds of services. Apple iPhone owners craving for faster performance from the unique device might want to prepare for a trade-in next year.

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2. AT and T Aims to Dazzle Consumers With Shine Cell Phone

AT and T is perhaps best recognized in the last few months as the exclusive carrier for Apple's much-sought-after iPhone. By releasing other contending devices, it's possible AT and T is trying to diversify its offerings, particularly as competitors to the iPhone come out. The Shine cell phone may prove to be the one. The Shine by LG, offered exclusively through AT and T, is a sliding form-factor device that features a silver exterior and comes with video, music and camera features and a 2.2-inch mirror LCD screen. AT and T services including Video Share, Mobile Banking and Mobile Music come preloaded on the phone, which is available through AT and T's Web site and select retail locations for US$149.99 with a two-year contract and a $50 mail-in rebate. Additional features on the Shine by LG include a 2.0-megapixel camera with video record and Bluetooth 2.0 capability for music and voice.

News of the Shine by LG comes just a week after AT and T announced the SLM by Samsung , a music and multimedia phone that is the first of the company's music phones to feature Napster Mobile, a new service that enables AT and T's wireless customers to easily search a music catalog of 5 million songs, preview samples of each song and purchase and download songs to their SLM in less than a minute. In July, AT and T announced its eMusic offering, which features a catalog of roughly 2.7 million titles from independent artists, while in March it announced a partnership with BancorpSouth, Wachovia, Regions and Suntrust Bank for its mobile banking service. AT and T Video Share, meanwhile, allows users to send live or recorded video to others during a call. It works on AT and T's high-speed third-generation cellular network and requires 3G-capable phones.

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3. Net TV: Coming Into Focus

The Archos 605 player makes a big advance in the still-troubled world of Internet TV. The search for Internet TV continues a pace. Each month, there's more content out there on the Web that you might enjoy on a big screen. The long-elusive Internet TV device should let you grab what you want and watch it on the TV set of your choice. The Archos 605 Wi-Fi video player is one of the first Internet TV systems to hit the target. People tend to associate Archos with portable media players, but the fetching silver-and-white model surfs the Web, downloads content, and docks with a TV.

Even novices should find it relatively easy to operate, thanks to intuitive icons on a high-quality 4.3-inch touch screen. The Archos Content Portal, represented by one of those icons, lets you download movies and TV shows from CinemaNow. There's also a music download service called BurnLounge and a link to YouTube (GOOG), and Archos may announce several other content partnerships before the November launch of a new unit with a 7-inch screen. On all models there's a built-in Web browser with Adobe Flash Player (ADBE) support, which improves the hunt for Web content. Videos, Web-based games, animation, and other offerings look as good as they do on a laptop.

Want to take some recorded TV shows with you on a plane? You can connect this same dock to your cable or satellite set-top box and record programming in standard definition on the Archos player. To make the experience more TiVo-like (TIVO), the company includes a programming guide that's free for the first year and $20 a year after that.

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4. Used Cell Phone, Anyone?

Apple is just the latest in a growing number of companies warming to the idea of selling refurbished mobile phones in the U.S. In the U.S., cell-phone makers and wireless carriers in general have been reluctant to offer used goods in this country. Until recently, used phone collectors have mainly shipped those goods to refurbishers overseas. Cell-phone refurbisher Cellucom Group, based in Hilliard, Ohio, says its monthly production doubled in the past year, to 100,000 phones a month. The company, which sells its wares in the U.S., employs 140 technicians in Ohio, but plans to more than double its staff there to 300 people by 2010. It's also about to open another plant, where used phones are repaired and tested, in North Dakota.

The companies are responding to growing demand from U.S. carriers big and small. The country's largest wireless service provider, AT and T (T), prominently features a refurbished phones section on its Web site, and sells 71 models, including Research In Motion's (RIMM) popular BlackBerry Pearl and the Samsung BlackJack music phone, that have been revamped. Virgin Mobile USA and more than a dozen other carriers that resell wireless services from AT and T, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint Nextel (S) currently offer refurbished handsets to customers. Smaller rural wireless service providers are jumping on the used phones bandwagon. And insurance companies increasingly buy refurbished phones to offer to consumers who lose or damage insured handsets.

What's driving the demand? It's due in part to an increase in the prices for new phones. Refurbished phones offer a way for carriers to placate users who can't afford pricier models.

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5. Home Is Where the Femtocell Is

What is a femtocell you ask? A femtocell is a device that acts as an in-home wireless access point. The femtocell looks like a typical modem or router and uses a high-speed Internet connection, rather than the wireless network, to convey a call from a handset to the carrier's switching station, where it's directed to its destination. Derived from the word "femto," denoting something one-quadrillionth the size of a given unit, femtocells sidestep nearby towers and the spotty coverage they sometimes provide. Companies such as Motorola and Google are investing in femtocells, which promise to improve cell-phone coverage inside houses.

Ask the folks at T-Mobile USA why most people switch mobile-phone providers and they'll tell you it is because they can't get good network coverage inside their homes, where anywhere from 27% to 41% of all wireless minutes are spent. The technology holds enough potential that Motorola and Google are dedicating serious resources to femtocell development. Why the seemingly sudden flurry of interest? By 2012, there will be more than 150 million users of femtocell products on 70 million access points worldwide, according to consultancy ABI Research. Some even speculate femtocells will supplant technologies such as Wi-Fi and WiMAX, which themselves are not always reliable or convenient.

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6. Test Drive a Porsche Cell Phone Porsche adds a mobile phone to its luxury line of watches, ties, and of course cars. It may be the preferred accessory for those who can't afford its wheels. Since 1948, the Porsche brand has been synonymous with sleek and fast-- cars, that is. Now comes Porsche's boldest foray outside its comfort zone: Porsche Design Group unveiled its first mobile phone, in France. Designed by Porsche, but engineered and manufactured by France-based Sagem, the $1,600 handset will debut in Britain, Dubai, and other overseas markets later this year. The phone is expected to reach the U.S. in early 2008, possibly through Porsche auto dealerships and the five U.S. Porsche Design stores.

This is not the first time a cell phone maker has partnered with a world-renowned automotive brand. In 2003, Motorola (MOT) unveiled two Harley-Davidson (HOG) versions of its V60i phones for the U.S. market Sharp teamed with Ferrari in 2005 on a red GX25 Ferrari phone that was sold by wireless service provider Vodafone (VOD) in Britain. Vodafone, earlier this year also launched the McLaren Mercedes GX29, a square, metallic phone for fans of the Formula One racing team co-sponsored by Mercedes-Benz.

The notion of automaker-turned-phonemaker may grow more common if, as many experts expect, mobile handsets become more integrated with cars themselves. Future handsets may be able to locate a car in the parking lot, lock and unlock doors, or remind the driver it's time for an oil change, says Richard Doherty, director of the consultancy Envisioneering Group. Fashion houses Prada and Diane von Furstenberg are already designing handsets, while Gucci is also rumored to be developing one. In reality, as basic features vary little from phone to phone, popular, non-wireless brands may be the key to selling more devices for a higher price. "We are going to see fashion, personality, lifestyle brands [driving cell phone sales]," says Doherty.

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