(1) Nokia design
I cannot understand why Nokia doesn't like flip phones. but I do
like the design of N-Gage. I was attracted by BANDAI Wonder Swan
which was release about the same time as the first i-mode phones.
(2) clamshell
I think flip phone was invented in the US. Motorola StarTAC used
to be a symbol of status and the price was very high. the idea was
to extend the line between the speaker and microphone, probably for
Senator John Kerry.
it's still mystery to me why the first HDML phones in 1997 and then
the first i-mode phones in 1999 were candy-bar type.
(3) functionality wins at last
the clamshell was not something to Japanese's taste. they preferred
candy-bars and manufacturers were afraid of change. specifically,
stubborns at Panasonic lost the #1 market share to NEC by sticking
to the wrong design principles.
Panasonic released its first flip phone, P503iS, two years later.
(4) #1 vs #2
though I like to tease DoCoMo guys, I fully understand the pressure
they have as #1 in the market. they have many things to look after
and cannot afford mistakes ... so they make mistakes every time.
au/KDDI is working hard to win teenagers and Vodafone.jp has been
doing great to lure young ladies. but that's because they don't
have a choice, that most rich men are married with DoCoMo already.
the young are leading the trend. nobody can deny it. but in Japan
teens between 13-19 yrs constitutes only 7.5% of market.
(5) camera
I'd like to have a 2 mega pixel camera phone. I meant I didn't see
camera, other than for video calls, on a mobile phone back in 1998.
cheers,
Ken
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Received on Tue Apr 20 19:25:18 2004