Kyocera Wireless Corp. hopes to reach two fast-growing markets with its QCP 6035 Smartphone, combining the functionality of a tri-mode CDMA phone with a personal digital assistant incorporating Palm Inc.’s latest 3.5 operating system.
The hybrid, set to launch during the first quarter of next year, is the company’s first attempt to update Qualcomm Inc.’s pdQ Smartphone, launched prior to Kyocera buying Qualcomm’s handset division earlier this year.
While still bigger than the average wireless phone, the flip-style QCP 6035 is more than half an inch shorter and narrower than the pdQ, while offering increased talk and standby times. In addition to being more than two ounces lighter than the previous edition, tipping the scales at just more than seven ounces, the Kyocera phone features a screen size that is only slightly smaller than the screen on the average Palm PDA.
“The most important factor was the size of the phone,” explained Gary Koerper, product and program manager for the QCP 6035 Smartphone. “The phone had to be small enough to be used as a primary phone by consumers who are used to the small phones offered today. The small size of the phone is by far the biggest advantage of the QCP over the previous pdQ phone.
The QCP 6035 phone features include a built-in speakerphone and universal earphone jack, smart keys on the bottom of the faceplate providing one-touch access to contacts, ringer settings, voice and text messages and speakerphone activation, speed dialing for 199 numbers and voice-activated dialing, 15 ringer types plus a vibrating alert, text telephony for hearing-impaired users and Kyocera’s SmartSound feature that automatically adjusts the volume during a call based on surrounding noise levels.
The phone’s PDA features include 8 MB of internal memory, standard Palm OS applications including an address book, date book, memo pad and to-do list, support for applications written for Palm OS-based organizers, Tap `n’ Dial one-touch dialing of contact numbers from the address book, HotSynch to Palm Desktop capability using an integrated synch cradle/battery charger and infrared dataport beams allowing the exchange of business cards, phone lists, memos and add-on applications to other IR-enabled Palm OS devices.
In addition to wireless phone and PDA features, the QCP 6035 includes wireless Web access supporting HTML browsers, Web clipping applications and WAP browsers; support for accessing corporate POP3 and ISP e-mail accounts using the Eudora e-mail application; and integrated wireless modem capability providing wireless data/fax capabilities for laptop computers.
Koerper noted that the phone should appeal to both PDA users, cell-phone users and wireless carriers. Since the most likely source of the device will be through wireless carriers, typical cell-phone customers should be exposed to the added functionality of the device. PDA users, a big market for the phone, will be attracted to the all-in-one functionality of the device, the company said.
Kyocera said the final cost of the phone will be determined by wireless carriers, but expects the phone to costs between $500 and $550.
The competition
Kyocera’s phone comes at a time when the PDA/wireless phone convergence market is attracting plenty of manufacturers. At the recent Comdex show in Las Vegas, L.M. Ericsson showed off its R380 World Smartphone, a standard-sized mobile phone that opens up lengthwise to reveal a horizontal touch-sensitive screen offering communications and personal organization tools. Instead of offering the standard Palm OS or Pocket PC platform from Microsoft Corp., the Ericsson phone uses Symbian’s operating system. Ericsson plans to launch the R380 by the end of the year in the U.S. market with a price under $700.
Not to be left out, Nokia displayed a plastic prototype of its GSM handheld device designed to serve as a cell phone, PDA and camera. Nokia said the new phone, dubbed the 9210 Communicator, will upstage its competition by offering a color screen, in addition to using the EPOC operating system from Symbian.
“PDA’s offer a large functionality advantage over phones in a lot of ways,” said Cynthia Hswe, senior analyst at the Strategis Group. “Manufacturers can differentiate themselves with smartphones and attract the high-end user who can benefit from having combined functionality in one device.”
Hswe noted that while the market for these integrated devices may be segmented now due to their high price, the market will eventually become more receptive to what they have to offer as supplies increase and prices fall.
While these smartphones have obvious advantages to business users who would typically carry around separate PDAs and cell phones, the trick for handset manufacturers will be to convince consumers who are dedicated to using either device that hybrids offer additional benefits with few drawbacks.
