Pipeline Publishing, Volume 5, Issue 4

	This Month's Issue:
	Enabling Innovation

More than Shiny Handsets:
The Ups and Downs of
Next-Gen Mobile Devices

By Tim Young

Ah yes. That beautiful, classic tale. Phone meets wire. Boy meets phone. Phone ditches wire. Boy and phone go gallivanting around the countryside. Wire doesn't get to come along. The ol' wireless love story.

It's clear that wireless is a major part of telecommunications culture and shows no signs of abating. Culturally, wireless devices have become de rigueur for anyone who wasn't around when Sputnik made its first pass around the Earth (and are certainly not shunned by those who were). Logistically, wireless networks can cover emerging markets in which the infrastructure was never constructed or has been unearthed and sold for scrap copper.

Therefore, wireless is now. Newer and better devices are contributing to the creation and spread of a culture that demands high-quality, varied, interesting, and speedy mobile services that continue to grow and change with the needs of users. Next-Gen mobile is expected not just in Tokyo, but in Sao Paulo and Johannesburg and Des Moines.

With that said, let us consider, first of all, the poster child for next-gen devices in the wireless world:

The Get Smart shoe phone.

Just kidding.

I'm referring, of course, to the Apple iPhone.

Newer and better devices are contributing to the creation and spread of a culture that demands high-quality, varied, interesting, and speedy mobile services that continue to grow and change with the needs of users.

OS of the sort that Mac users have grown to love? Check. Blazing fast data speeds available outside of Wifi range? Nope. Apple launched a next-gen device on a network that couldn't support it in all its glory. Fast-forward a year, and early adopters are burned (for at least the second time, as the earliest of users were awarded for their zeal with a precipitous price drop mere months after they were presented with their sleek communicators) when the 3G iPhone hits shelves offering, to paraphrase the Apple ad campaign, "twice the speed at half the price." Nice.

Setting an Example

There are some lessons to be learned from the experiences of the iPhone thus far.

First of all, any device is only as advanced as its network. The first generation iPhone rolls out, and consumers are psyched and ready to roll. Hot little handset, all aluminum and tempered glass? Check. Sweet touch-based

As other handset manufacturers and service providers rush to match the success of the iPhone, we run the risk of having the telecom equivalent of millions of Maseratis and Ferraris on dirt and gravel roads. Until networks can be suitably equipped to handle the bandwidth needs of new devices, we'll end up with inevitable bottlenecks.

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