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News
Issue #2001 - 25
(June 2001)
(Updated June
20, 2001)
DEVICES
Ericsson SmartPhone Wins Accolades for Innovation
Ericsson may find itself
in third place behind Nokia and Motorola, but its smartphone R380
has placed the Swedish company in first place for innovation. The
Swedish magazine 'Mobil' recently awarded the Ericsson smartphone
R380 its inaugural Golden Mobile award, bestowing it the honorary
title of "Innovation of the Year."
"The plan is for the Mobile Gala to become an annual event
focusing attention on the huge amount of creativity, innovativeness,
and entrepreneurial talent that exists in the mobile sector—a kind
of Oscar Gala for mobile phones," explains Niclas Lidström,
editor-in-chief of ‘Mobil’.
With an impressive lineup of combination phone and palmtop
computer devices launched this year, such as Nokia 9000 and SAGEM
WA3050, the jury of industry experts noted that the R380 was
"perfectly attuned to the times." Perhaps, what
differentiated the R380 was it’s deceptive design. It may look
like a typical mobile phone, but under the flip-up cover lies a
large, graphics-rich, touch-sensitive screen for accessing the
mobile Internet, and an e-organizer, and e-mail. For the business
traveler, it offers international roaming in over 120 countries, on
five continents.
Features of the Ericsson R380
Mobile Internet
- WAP browser, for accessing WAP Web sites and conducting
m-commerce transactions
- E-mail functionality allows the user to send and receive
corporate e-mail via their own ISP
E-Management
- Fully-integrated PDA, for accessing phonebook and calendar as
well as preparing notes and voice memos
- Large graphics-rich display allows for viewing graphic images,
pull-down menus, and charts
- PC synchronization for office applications such as e-mail,
calendar, contacts, notes and task list
Voice Communication
- Voice Control dialing and answering
- Vibrating Alert, discreetly notifies the user of incoming calls
For Ericsson, unfortunately, receiving national recognition does
not always translate into international sales.
For more information: http://www.ericsson.com/r380/index_blue.html
Mobileinfo Comments and Advisory: R380
was innovative for a short while. However, more nimble Kyocera and
Samsung have caught up. Without taking away Ericsson's
achievements in building a sleek smart phone, we would like to
stress that it is less important to be the first in the product
launch race to touch the ribbon. MobileInfo does not give much
credence to magazine awards for products because news editors
without sufficient business and technology experience get awed by
product features, simple demos and eat wholesale whatever they are
fed by vendors' PR folks. We believe that the real test is in
successful customer adoption - that will take more than one
award.
Note: This news release may contain
forward-looking statements. Readers should take appropriate caution in
developing plans utilizing these products, services and technology
architectures. All trademarks used in this summary are
the property of their respective owners.
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