Larry Garfield takes some time to be positive, and suggests some features that most phones should have but don't.
Last week in this space, I commented on the growing feature creep pervading mobile phones these days. As manufacturers heap "multimedia" features into their handsets, however, in a futile effort to avoid commiditization, they miss the opportunities for building on existing media types. It's high time phones took their place as a one-stop-shop for all audio needs. That's right, I mean music.
Audio is the natural next step for phones, since they are already primarily audio devices. The form factor is well-suited to it, and much of the circuitry could be shared. The first step is an integrated radio. Nokia already integrates an FM radio into some of their higher-end models, but no one else seems to have gotten the hang of it. That's a good first step, but AM radio is still heavily used in the United States. Support for both bands would let phone users ditch their dedicated radios. That's one extra device down.
The next step is equally obvious, and is already starting to appear on smartphones and handhelds; audio playback. To do it right, the phone would need to support both the ubiquitous MP3 format and the royalty-free and more space-efficient Ogg Vorbis format, both of which have been supported on Palm OS devices for years. Of course that brings up the question of storage. While integrated hard drives are one expensive option, simply including a Secure Digital slot would be sufficient for most users. And please, SD, not just MMC, and make it possible to swap the card without taking the battery out. (This means you, Nokia.)
The next logical step, of course, would be to allow users to record directly from the radio when they like a song. Or record just a brief snippit and use their data connection to order a copy of some song they liked from an online music store, downloadable to the phone or their PC. But what of so-called "Digital Rights Management" lockdowns? Well as a user I'm firmly opposed to any sort of DRM whatsoever, even though the major copyright holding companies think it's the greatest thing since Alcatraz (you know, that prison they got rid of when they realized civilized behavior was a good thing). As a market observer, I see it as the number one thing holding back the technology.
That offers a number of other potential features, too. Imagine loading an MP3 file as your ring tone (oh wait, that cuts into carrier profits from downloadable ringtones). Or just to be cool, have your own Muzak track for when you have to put your friends on hold to take another call. Add in a high-bandwidth Bluetooth 1.2 or Bluetooth EDR connection to a Bluetooth headset, and you have wire-free listening on the go.
Of course, there is a catch to building a radio and audio player into a phone; power consumption. Baring some brilliant new battery technology, I'd still be willing to trade a larger battery pack for an integrated audio solution. When Sony Ericsson can claim 9 hours of talk time out of their tiny T630, a device the size of a Nokia 3510i should be able to power a radio or audio player for a reasonable amount of time.
So leave the video features to the video devices, and let's round out the audio on our audio device. The market is waiting.
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