[LINK] News: 'New mobile phones will double as credit cards'

[Richard Chirgwin]

Geoffrey Ramadan wrote:
[snip]
> On another point I have noticed on this thread... people still refer 
> to this device as a "mobile phone". In the not to distant future this 
> "mobile phone" will be able to:-
>
> - via NFC
>     - make cash-less payments (parking, news papers, etc)
>    - use as electronic entry ticket (send to you phone)
>    - make payment via mobile phone
>    - enable data transfer between devices (images, sound, mpeg)
> - play games
> - use as calculator
> - Media player/recorder (
> - Take high quality photographs
> - Take high quality movies
> - iPTV
> - Digital Radio
> - Clock/Alarm
> - answering machine
> - SMS
> - e-mail
> - browse
> - Decode barcodes (via camera) - use to provide consumer information 
> (via 2D codes) or have embedded URL, make purchases, barcode catalogs 
> etc.
> - have inbuilt GPS
> - Provide real time location based services
> - Memory Drive (USB/Bluetooth/NFC)
> - connect to your wearable health monitor and transfer data to your 
> Health Service Provider (HSP)
> - Provide duress alarm facilities (with GPS)
> - Video phone
> - Incorporate WiFi (for location based sevices - where is Dr X)
> - Localised Communicator (Use VoIP when within buildings via WiFi) 
> Future domestic phones could be replaced by WiFi interface.
> - universal remote controller (also controlled by speech recognition 
> technology)
> - video projector
> - virtual keyboard projector and sensor
> Adding Zigbee radios would also enable communications to
>    - interface to head up displays
>    - mesh with other devices within rooms - voting, gaming, etc?
>    - sensors and monitors (health, building, alrams etc)
> and of course
> - use as a mobile phone
> - etc I am sure you can come up with more features.
The feature set does, however, run into various issues.

1) The mobile phone makers are unique among consumer electronics in 
having convinced a significant section of the population to buy 
'converged' devices instead of, as is the normal habit, multiplying the 
number of limited-purpose devices they own. But it's very hard to 
unthread how much of this is genuine "want 22 new features" versus "new 
plan giveaways" and device subsidies.

There is strongish evidence that, absent of subsidies, consumers head 
for the bottom of the market and buy very simple devices. This is partly 
reflected in usage: SMS and voice calls are still overwhelmingly the 
revenue drivers in the mobile phone business.

2) At some point you run into very serious problems with the interface. 
The reason I have a newish Nokia is that the carrier sent it out to my 
wife; but she could not work out how to use it without severe 
irritation. So I got it...

Interface design on "converged mobiles" is truly horrible. IMO the 
interfaces I have seen are not driven by giving users easy access to 
their most important features; rather, they are driven by the imperative 
to try and drive users towards carriers' billable services. Hence on the 
Nokia ?6210? I inherited, it's easier to get to the Web browser 
(horrible) and e-mail client (almost inoperable) than to the SMS 
interface. It even takes (in my humble) too many keystrokes to make a 
phone call (why is there no "single button" last number redial? All the 
interface buttons are keyed to applications instead of phone calls - 
pure genius!).

RC
>
> I think it might be time we come up with another name for such a device.
>
> Reg
> Geoffrey Ramadan B.E.(Elec)
> Chairman, Automatic Data Capture Association (www.adca.com.au)
> and
> Managing Director, Unique Micro Design (www.umd.com.au)
>
>
>
>
>>
>>
>> cheers
>> rickw
>>
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Link mailing list
> Link at mailman.anu.edu.au
> http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
>