The Big Mac of wireless devices has arrived. Shaped like a regular cellular phone, the Nokia 9000 Communicator opens to expose an interactive digital world of voice, data, fax, e-mail, computer, on-line and organizer features to appease the cravings of today’s business professionals.
Nokia Mobile Phones said the 9000 tops the new “smartphone” product category. Most smartphones, or superphones, in the market today feature voice, paging and short message services and operate on cellular and personal communications services frequencies. The 9000 runs on Geoworks’ GEOS 3.0 operating system and uses microprocessor technology and flash memory from Intel Corp., which allows for a high level of integration and power efficiency, said Intel.
The 9000 won’t reach the United States until more digital networks are up. Nokia plans to launch 9000 in 89 countries this summer, including New Zealand, Australia and parts of Europe and the Far East, which are equipped with Global System for Mobile communications networks.
First to market in broadband PCS, American Personal Communications, branded as Sprint Spectrum, offers all-in-one PCS handsets that provide its Washington, D.C./Baltimore customers alphanumeric paging and fax capabilities as well as voice, said spokeswoman Anne Schelle. Sprint Spectrum distributes smartphones from Nokia, Ericsson Inc. and Motorola Inc. The GSM digital phones start at around $100 retail, added Schelle.
The “all-in-one phone relieves the `too many gadgets syndrome,’ ” said Peter Nighswander, director of PCS market research at Washington, D.C.-based Economic and Management Consultants International Inc. Though Nighswander acknowledges a potentially strong business user market for smartphones, he said it’s too early to determine such a product’s chances for success in the consumer market.
EMCI’s Steven Virostek agreed, and added that a key indicator of a user’s product preference is his level of control over incoming calls. A pager allows complete control whereas a call on a mobile phone may be unknown. It is important to provide options or a menu of products and services from which “customers can pick and choose,” Virostek said.
Complete with dozens of buttons, liquid crystal display and an antenna, do smartphones stand to be … too smart?
Research indicates some consumers shy away from gadgets that appear at first sight too complex. But Roy Gunter, director of marketing for Nokia’s Wireless Data division said customer trials of the 9000 produced all positive feedback. “People look at it (Nokia 9000) and aren’t put off,” said Gordon Mayer, Geoworks president and chief executive officer. The 9000 looks and operates like a regular cellular phone when the keyboard is closed, added Mayer.
Geoworks of San Francisco has licensed GEOS to a host of vendors including L.M. Ericsson, which plans to have a smartphone product to market third quarter 1997. Geoworks’ GEOS platform is proprietary, but flexible. The interface for 9000 is proprietary to Nokia.
