Review: BBC Click
This week’s BBC Click was, not surprisingly, focused on Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. As the biggest mobile conference the world has to offer this is where handset manufacturers, network carriers and even software companies set our their stall both present and future.
Of course the Windows Phone made a big splash and, although the device itself didn’t really feature in the programme there was a good, albeit brief, interview with Steve Ballmer. Whatever you think about Steve I’m always left in awe of his ability to handle questions across the broadest of spectrums. Today’s it’s mobile devices in Barcelona, tomorrow cloud computing in Arizona and Friday we hit Broadway with your thoughts on the global financial crisis. Got that Steve?
In other news there was Flash coming to a phone near you with the release of 10.1 – not the iPhone mind, as clam-like a platform as you’re ever likely to find. Then there’s the new Firefox mobile browser with tabbed browsing, session sync with your desktop and a selection of plug-ins. There was also a demo of Opera on a giant iPhone though I daresay they’ll have it working on normal-sized iPhones very soon.
As far as phones were concerned there was of course the Windows Phone 7 Series, more people / relationship centric with real-time updates and Zune-like capabilities for media. I’m tied to the iPod for my in-car integration but I love the sound of the Windows Phone as a multi-purpose device. Given Click told me it would sync with iTunes I can have one of each and still get depressed being forced to manage my music via my least favourite piece of software. Actually I must investigate iTunes alternatives someday but trying to convince my wife to change is likely to be an insurmountable obstacle. She embraces any change on our home PC about as much as polar bears look forward to global warming.
There were also new devices from HTC – the Desire and Legend – and a very interesting looking UI designed to be operated with one hand which got about 3s of coverage. It was from Israel and called something like Else. Elsie maybe? Elf? Who knows. There were intelligent keyboards that change layout and function depending on context (I struggle enough as it is without having to deal with that added layer of complexity), a phone with integral solar-panel from Puma and an iPhone credit card reader. Good luck with that.
One thing that stood out was a phone for the over-50s. Having seen how much the “older generation” can struggle with small keys and small screens, a decent phone targeting that demographic and just being able to “make calls” will be welcomed with open arms I’m sure. And there was the iPhone scanner which Kate seemed very excited about. Excited out of all proportion with its capabilities I would say. I’m sorry but I just don’t get it. For one I can never recall a need to “scan something using my phone” and for another, if I really did, I’d just take a photo of it and turn it into a suitable format later. Clearly I’m missing something.
The serious theme of the show though was the growth in mobile data traffic. The charts showing the comparison between the rate of voice traffic growth (none) and data (lots) over the past few years was illuminating. At what point will our networks be overwhelmed? When will we need 4G to cope? Why do we still pay so much for voice calls? Are we all going to have to live next to a mast? These and other questions were tackled by Kevin Russell, CEO of network operator 3 who gave a refreshingly frank interview.
Me, I’m off to scan some documents with my phone. Photocopying is so passe…
