EarthVision Newsletter Archive
Back to Archive Home PageSent: Wednesday, August 30, 2000
Subject: EarthVision Cellular Consumer News! Issue #14 Vol. 2Another issue of the EarthVision Cellular Consumer Newsletter. This newsletter is for the soon to be educated cellular phone user community. If you know of anyone else that may have an interest in our newsletter, make sure to forward them a copy. Now we move forward at Mach II speed!
[Note: This newsletter is delivered Bi Weekly on Wednesday.]
************************************************************ SURVEY SAYS! MANUFACTURERS DON'T HAVE A CLUE
NEW TWIST TO EARTHVISION CELLULAR DIGEST ARTICLES COMING
WAP PHONE SALES PULLING UP WITH TRADITIONAL CELL PHONES
WIRELESS INTERNET DURING FLIGHTS IS BACK ON THE TABLE AGAIN
WAP BROWSING BY CELL PHONE USERS NOW BEING TRACKED
FUTURISTIC PHONE DESIGN COMPETITION IS HEATING UP
TEAM SPORT EMBLEMS AND NOKIA FACEPLATES
NEW WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY COMING TO EARTHVISION CELLULAR?
WIRELESS SUBSCRIBER NUMBERS TO HIT 1.7 BILLION! ************************************************************ EarthVision Cellular Consumer News Issue # 17 Volume 2
SURVEY SAYS! MANUFACTURERS DON'T HAVE A CLUE
Cellular phone users have the power to shape the wireless future but you just don't know it. The manufacturers of cellular phones want you to exercise that power too. The problem that arises is that there is a wide communication gap between the consumer and the manufacturers of cell phones.Consumers don't get what they want in the features of a phone and manufacturers are guessing at what you want in the features of a phone. Don't you think it is time to change that? We do.
It was decided that EarthVision Cellular would take the initiative in helping cellular phone users tell manufacturers what it is they really want in a phone's features. Very soon we will be developing an online survey and the results will be forwarded to the manufacturers of cellular phones.
Before we can do that we will need for our subscribers to break out their pioneering spirit to assist us with this endeavor. We need for our subscribers to tell us what features they would like to see or like in their current cellular phones and why. This will allow us to build a foundation for the online survey.
Remember that this is your chance to tell the manufacturers of cellular phones what you want. A rare yet exciting opportunity for all involved. We ask that you take a moment to tell us what you think so that we in turn can help you too. We are one of the few companies that has the resources to get this information out and about. You will be surprised to find out just how much weight your opinion is going to hold with manufacturers. Write us today!
NEW TWIST TO EARTHVISION CELLULAR DIGEST ARTICLES COMING
The new twist coming to our digest is that we are going to try out our journalistic talents. We are going to accomplish this task by setting up phone interviews with real people who use cellular phones and other wireless devices. The topics will vary and we are open to readers' suggestions on what we should approach.Individuals and businesses are welcome to apply for an interview. Give us your full contact information, business name (if applicable), and what topic you would like to discuss. We will conduct one interview per digest issue. This is a good way to get some exposure for your business or personal website too.
The goal is to allow our subscribers to benefit from other users' experiences with a cellular phone, wireless device, or service. If selected, we will forward to you a list of questions that we will ask so that you can prepare for the interview. Even if you don't wish to participate, you may know someone who may want to do an interview.
So who is going to be first?
WAP PHONE SALES PULLING UP WITH TRADITIONAL CELL PHONES
Non wireless phone stores are getting into the wireless action and making a good run at it too. Superstores, department stores, and other types of retail stores are selling WAP phones and cellular phone accessories as part of their product offerings.
This has helped to bring WAP phones sales to nearly equal that of non WAP phones being sold. Why are so many people buying WAP phones is the next obvious question. It certainly isn't because of the limited and boring content offered. People like the features available on WAP phones and they are willing to pay for these phones although they may cost twice as much as a regular cellular phone. (It is probably a good thing that they aren't buying them for the content as you will see in our article later on in this digest.)
There are so many companies trying to get into the wireless industry action that complete saturation is expected within the next two years. Buying wireless products will be as easy as picking up a pack of batteries from nearly any retail unit. Which helps to further the dilemma with the manufacturing of cellular phones.
This is good news and bad news for consumers. With mass production comes lower pricing. When mass production is happening with a shortage of components then it can bring the prices skyrocketing right back up again. Similar to OPEC and oil production. We still have a few more years before we have to worry about that problem though. On the other hand the US can expect to be the hardest hit. With our having one fourth of the world market for wireless devices and our constant demand and hunger for technology, we are going to find ourselves shelling out big bucks just to be connected.
WIRELESS INTERNET DURING FLIGHTS IS BACK ON THE TABLE AGAIN
You might not be able to make cellular phone calls during flights but you can still surf the internet. It won't be what we can do now with sitting in front of our computers and surfing away at our leisure. Rather the service will allow the laptop computer user to pull up email, news and stock quotes, and other types of static information.
The service will use the 850 Mhz band to operate. The downside is that it isn't a continuous connection to the internet. Email and news will be pulled more frequently than the content requested. The service works with a server that is installed on the plane and then sends out a periodic pulse to connect and upload/download the information from ground stations.
Purchasing of this service must be done pre-flight. You will have one of two wireless carriers to choose from right now. Airphone and Ephone. Airphone will be offered by Verizon Wireless and Ephone by AT&T Wireless. AT&T Wireless ephone service will be offered on flights by American and Northwest airlines. Verizon has Continental, Delta, Midwest, TWA, United, and US Airways.
Although it is a very limited service, those of us who are workaholics may find it to be of some use. I still stand firm on my comment that a good book is best during a flight. Email, news, and stock quotes can wait. They aren't going anywhere. Besides that the internet doesn't have that smell of a brand new paperback book.
WAP BROWSING BY CELL PHONE USERS NOW BEING TRACKED
We should have known it was coming. WAP users are now going to be tracked whether they like it or not. The e-commerce sites online want to know where you are coming from and what you are doing while on the internet. You might have been anonymous before but it isn't going to be the case in the very near future.
The company that will be offering the tracking software is NetGenesis whose claim to fame is that they are helping their commercial clients. Notice we said commercial clients and not consumers. They have made it known very clearly that they are selling a software and have no control over what their clients do with the software and data collected.
The software will be offered to ISPs, WAP formatted e-commerce sites, and many others. The software is similar to having cookies placed on your PC when surfing the web. It is said that they discourage sharing of info with third parties. Even if that were in place, it doesn't stop them from telling advertisers that they have X amount of WAP users who visit a specific page and they should place a banner ad with them. One way or another they are going to make money off of WAP surfers.
FUTURISTIC PHONE DESIGN COMPETITION IS HEATING UP
Manufacturers are vying with one another to come up with the next futuristic phone. What do consumers want in a phone is the burning question. There are some unexpected players getting into the competition too. Audiovox, NEC, and Mitsubishi are looking to get into the action and boost their market-share. We can expect that clamshell phones such as the Star Tac and Samsung 3500 will become as common as peanut butter.
Mitsubishi is coming out with the G360 GSM phone which is going to be an interesting device. That should hit the market in October of this year. Nokia has toyed with the idea of creating the wrist held cellular phone and NEC has played with the idea of a voice activated headset.
Audiovox is moving towards developing two types of a PDA cellular phone hybrid. One of them will actually have a keyboard and the other one will not. Neopoint is coming out with the NP 2000 handset which will be even smaller than previous models.
The best part is that manufacturers are willing to design to customer demand provided it will boost their market share. Major leaps have been made in the design of cellular phones. The next few years are going to be very interesting indeed for cellular phone users.
TEAM SPORT EMBLEMS AND NOKIA FACEPLATES
We have been getting numerous requests for Nokia faceplates with either college or pro sports team emblems. We would like to carry them but we won't anytime soon for many reasons.
There is an issue with Nokia having a strangle hold on the authorization of using faceplates with any team's emblem on their phones. You also need to have a license from each and every team to put their emblems on cellular phone faceplates. A very expensive endeavor for just about any company who is willing to shell out the licensing fees not only to the sports team but to Nokia as well.
Take Nebraska as an example. This is a fairly small state when it comes to population. Because they only have a college football team as the only form of entertainment, these people are absolute fanatics about their college football team. We aren't talking just the male species either. This is the entire state of the Nebraska born natives. You will find dozens of retail stores that are devoted entirely to the football team emblem. You can even buy a telephone cord for your phone that is red with white lettering that is repeatedly imprinted with "Huskers" all down the cord.
Due to the popularity of this team, the university can ask a premium for a license to the emblem of the sports team. That is only one team and a college team at that. The cost to the consumer would be nearly 3 times that of a standard and mainstream faceplate. We focus more on the mainstream and faceplates with a sports emblem is more of a niche market. If we ever decide to begin offering custom faceplates of this type, we will keep you posted.
NEW WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY COMING TO EARTHVISION CELLULAR?
Hopefully we will be helping to bring a little of that European technology over the US. Nothing is final yet but we are seriously considering it. We have mentioned in past newsletters about video over wireless. Our goal is to get involved in this industry while it is still in it's infancy.
A European company that we have been in contact with has had great success in this endeavor and is now bringing it into the US. It was fairly impressive to see how they have applied this application to various forms of use. Our friends at CRB books should find this to be of great interest as will many of you. The point here is that technology is more advanced that we would have thought because we never hear about it.
We are going to change that. Our next newsletter will tell all about what is coming to the US market. The applications are more for commercial use but will benefit the public a great deal with the number of ways this technology can be applied. We are very excited by the potential that this service will have here in America. For the sake of clarity we should state that it is more of an application of wireless technology.
WIRELESS SUBSCRIBER NUMBERS TO HIT 1.7 BILLION!
A current revision to the number of cellular phone subscribers worldwide is now 611 million rather than the previous 400 million we have stated in the past. Cellular phone use is growing at 23% per year which means that by 2005 there will be 1.7 billion wireless subscribers. China having the largest world population is expected to surpass the US in the number of wireless subscribers in four years time.
The increase in subscribers will be due in part to the 3G wireless services expected to be coming in the near future. To define 3G in layman terms. 3G = Third Generation. The different generations are labeled by the evolutionary phases of wireless technology. 3G technology will be the streaming video and other multimedia services. 2G (second generation) could be described as digital wireless service. We should also see the use of a single cellular phone on a global basis around the time that 3G hits the market.
Of course, it will be Asia and Europe who will see the earliest deployment of 3G with North America bringing up the rear. Be prepared to retire your older model cellular phones within a few years after the new technologies are implemented. It is very likely that they won't be compatible on the new infrastructure network that will be built to accommodate 3G technology. That means we will have to retire our faithful Motorola DynaTac 8000X brick phone. The original personal cellular phone from Big Brother's 1984 era. The one we have is in perfect cosmetic/working condition and even has the temporary patent pending stamp. After 16 years and the battery still holds a charge!
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