Cell phone users more interested in battery life, sound quality
By Compiled from Times wires
Published June 9, 2003
Even as wireless companies pack new features into cell phones, most consumers remain more interested in seeing improvements in basics like battery life and sound quality, according to a new study.
The report from the A.T. Kearney consulting company and Cambridge University's business school had some good news for mobile phone companies, which have spent billions upgrading their networks to facilitate data-rich applications.
For example, 42 percent of teenagers surveyed said they would be willing to pay at least $1 to send a photo message from their wireless phone.
The study of 5,600 mobile phone subscribers in 15 countries also found that more than one-third used their handsets to get on the Internet at least once a month.
More than 60 percent of the subscribers surveyed said they want phonemakers to lengthen battery life and improve sound quality before adding new features.
The report also found that users were more concerned than last year about the security, privacy and complexity of new phone features. More than half of the respondents said they had gotten ads in text messages on the phones. Only 3 percent said such an add prompted them to buy something.
Danger's upgraded Sidekick packs more punch
Danger now comes in 65,536 colors - that is, the new T-Mobile Sidekick from Danger Inc. The Sidekick, a wireless communicator for telephone, e-mail, Web browsing and instant messaging tasks, first appeared last year with a monochrome screen but has upgraded to a 240-by-160-pixel color display. That is not the only improvement: The new Sidekick packs twice as much of everything under the hood. It now has 32 megabytes of memory and can hold 2,000 contacts and 50 text notes.
The user interface has been redesigned, and the optional camera accessory can now take and e-mail pictures with higher resolutions (320 by 240 pixels, up from 120 by 90).
The color T-Mobile Sidekick will be available for $300 at www.t-mobile.com and at CompUSA stores.
The device can be added to T-Mobile wireless phone plans for an additional $20 a month. It comes with standard personal organizer functions and, perhaps more important, games.
Nullsoft programmer to leave AOL
A young programmer whose software startup, Nullsoft, was gobbled up by America Online - then caused numerous headaches for its corporate parent - plans to resign after his latest piece of rebel code was pulled from the Internet.
Justin Frankel, 24, announced his intentions less than a week after a file-sharing program called Waste was posted, then pulled from the Nullsoft Web site.
Attempts to reach Frankel by telephone were not successful. An AOL spokeswoman declined to comment.
AOL paid $86-million for Nullsoft in 1999. At the time, the San Francisco company was best known for creating a popular music player called Winamp.
Despite the new corporate ownership, Nullsoft's team of programmers managed to maintain a freestyle hacker culture.
In March 2000, Nullsoft briefly posted a decentralized file-sharing program called Gnutella before it was axed by AOL. But the genie had been set free, and other developers refined the code to create post-Napster filesharing programs.
Nullsoft's latest creation was a filesharing program that allowed users to set up secure networks of no more than 50 people.
Within hours of its posting, Waste was deleted. In its place was a notice that said the program had been posted without Nullsoft's permission.
A light touch for your computer keyboard
The EluminX keyboard from Auravision glows in the dark, thanks to an electroluminescent panel that provides soft backlighting for its clear plastic keys.
The technology was first used in laptops developed for military use, where computing at night or in low light is frequently necessary.
The company has recently expanded the line beyond the original aquamarine model, introducing a keyboard that glows sapphire.
The EluminX keyboard, which has a list price of $99.95 and can be ordered online at www.eluminx.com takes a little getting used to. Learning where to place your fingers is a bit like learning to walk down stairs that are lighted from below.
AOL launches Black Focus section
Nearly two years after adding AOL Latino, America Online is launching a section for African-Americans called AOL Black Focus.
The changes reflect a larger trend in media to reach out to growing minority groups, particularly blacks and Hispanics.
The moves also are part of a strategy at AOL to create content and services to attract advertisers and subscribers.
Belinda Hankins, AOL executive director for African-American business, said she hopes her company also will develop more content for Asian-Americans, gays and lesbians, and senior citizens.
"We can't continue to speak to 30-million users in the same voice," Hankins said.
AOL, a unit of AOL Time Warner, is the largest Internet access provider but is struggling with erosion of its subscriber base, as customers defect for broadband service from other companies or for lower-priced dial-up access. Advertising revenue is also down.
The new Black Focus will rely on partnerships, from inside and outside the AOL Time Warner family, including Black Enterprise magazine, African.com and HBO.
There are plenty of Web sites competing for African-Americans, including BlackPlanet.com and BET.com.
Hankins said the competition doesn't worry her. "There's room for everyone," she said.
Coincidence, or Apple's jab at Bill Gates?
Apple entered Microsoft territory in May when it opened a retail store in Bellevue, Wash., but did the company really have to move in on Bill and Melinda Gates' phone number?
Bellevue residents can reach the Apple store by calling 709-3100. But if people in Seattle dial that seven-digit number, it rings up the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
An intentional swipe from one of Microsoft's biggest rivals? Apple has been known to take irreverent pot shots at Microsoft, but the company wouldn't comment on the issue Friday.
For the record, the Apple store is at (425) 709-3100 and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is at (206) 709-3100.
