If Sony Ericsson Thinks That’s The Next Big Thing…
Yesterday, Sony Ericsson held an event that they had pre-announced as the launch of the “Next Big Thing” (see Engadget). With Apple’s iPhone launching in a matter of days, I was intrigued to see how Sony Ericsson were responding.
What did they announce? Some nice enough phones, that’s what… but honestly, these new devices are simply an evolution of what they already have (albeit looking like a return to form compared with some recent designs)… and far from being the next big thing, in some ways they’re barely keeping up with what’s already on the market:
- These “next generation” phones have 320×240 QVGA resolution screens… “great for web browsing”, not. The iPhone screen has twice the resolution and will deliver a massively superior browsing experience.
- One of the new phones “has GPS”. Great! Except it doesn’t really have GPS; you have to plug a separate GPS accessory into the phone. The Nokia N95 already has GPS built in.
- One of the new phones has a finger touch screen; except the user interface still requires the use of a stylus for some operations… cf the iPhone, which doesn’t.
Don’t get me wrong - Sony Ericsson makes some great phones (and my own phone is a Sony Ericsson), and they do have some great features and great design. But really, how on earth are these new devices supposed to be the next big thing? They’re just not.
The iPhone is obviously the next big thing in mobile. However, it’s a long way from being perfect. What all of Sony Ericsson, Nokia, LG and Samsung should have developed by now are handsets that match the iPhone’s strong points, and address its key weak points. The fact that they haven’t, speaks volumes about the ability of these companies to innovate, and their ability to even understand the space they operate in. If they don’t get their acts together before Apple releases “iPhone 2″, and “iPhone nano”, they might as well give up and go home…
Asam Bashir wrote:
Just thinking, what infrastructure would Apple need to become an MVNO like Virgin?
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2191928/european-operators-grumble
Becoming an MVNO and buying bulk from the combined Orange/Vodafone network would spice things up a bit…
Posted 15 Jun 2007 at 3:16 pm ¶
simon wrote:
I suspect Apple won’t do that, because they’re not going to want to set up the infrastructure to host the random access voice mail that the iPhone has (not that it’s difficult to do).
I think it was a mistake for Apple to build a phone feature like this, that requires mobile network operators to change the way their infrastructure works, in order to host the iPhone.
I just don’t think it’s a killer feature. And, as a result of having it, they unnecessarily restrict their channels to market. Without that voice mail feature, Apple could have just sold the phone unlocked in Apple stores - anyone could put their existing SIM in. Everyone would have won: Apple; mobile operators; and consumers.
Posted 15 Jun 2007 at 3:57 pm ¶
Asam Bashir wrote:
I’d imagine for the Euro iPhone that’s still a plan B, however, they still have plenty of time to lure a European carrier and plan A..
Posted 15 Jun 2007 at 4:01 pm ¶
simon wrote:
Sure. I suspect Apple will sign up an operator soon enough. My bet is on T-Mobile - they seem the only mobile operator that’s vaguely serious about the mobile Internet.
All the others appear to be totally clueless about the Net… almost to the point that it’s beyond belief that they could be so stupid.
Posted 15 Jun 2007 at 4:05 pm ¶