Inventive new prototypes Stretch Mobile Phones' Bounds at CTIA

First, a move toward clamshell designs echoes users' demand for them. Both Siemens AG and Nokia Corp. proudly rolled out their first clamshell units. Why clamshell? Because as phones get smaller and lighter, a fold-out unit is easier to hold and more closely matches where our ears and mouths are on our heads.

We're also moving beyond simple, small photo phones.A number of phones were viewed with more than CIF- or VGA-size CCDs, with some well over a megapixel. But more than still images, video will begin to take center stage later this year.

More smartphones, beefy devices that combine PDA with phone, made their debuts, running on Symbian, Palm and Microsoft's SmartPhone for Windows OS. Creativity and volume, though, goes to Symbian for its phones.Not to be seen was a single new Microsoft-based phone and only one new Palm devicewas spotted.

The sweet spot of the market, though, appears to be intelligent phones, running J2ME or Brew, that are capable of downloading small games and other applications. Trip Hawkins, CEO of new mobile content company Digital Chocolate predicted that within two or three years , there will be two billion application-ready phones in the world. These devices won't be smart phones but will be able to download and run applications.

For example it's a phone in the shape of a pen. Actually, it really is a pen. Inside this prototype is a laser that tracks movement and a handwriting recognition engine. Want to call home? Write the number on a piece of paper using the pen, or presumably just spell out home. The phone recognizes numbers as written. You talk on the phone by holding it to your head vertically, but it'll also include Bluetooth, so you can use a separate headset.

This prototype shows how a virtual keyboard can be added to a phone. On the upper part of the unit, a red light beams a virtual keyboard onto a table. At the bottom of the phone, a laser sweeps along the surface, looking for a finger to break the plane. With the built-in camera and laser and with the proper calibration, it's pretty easy to type in words and commands.

The Siemens SX1 which you can purchase now on the Web for $499, along with all of Siemens' phones, only runs on the GSM network. It does e-mail, browses the Web and connects to your PC to swap addresses and phone numbers.

The CF62, is Siemens' first flip phone. It's got a cool feature for alerting you when a call comes in: A series of white lights running around the outside of the unit blink when someone's calling. Users can program their own blinking sequences to indicate certain calls or just for fun.

The CF62 also has a unique antenna design. Instead of protruding straight up, it wraps around the top, like a handle. The phone is due out in the third quarter. It's an attractive, small phone. No camera, but it's sure to be a hip attention-grabber when it ships.

The CX66, on the other hand, includes both still and video imaging. It's also small but includes 11 megabytes of shared memory and a VGA camera. It supports MMS and a Java-based, 3D gaming engine that looked pretty cool. I saw it actually rotate tiny vehicles in 3D.

It also will be available in the third quarter of 2004. Although Siemens would not release pricing information, expect both of these phones to fall in the middle of the market – between $200 and $300. As GSM phones, they will likely be available for T-Mobile, Cingular or AT&T Wireless.

The new i505, due out in the third quarter, runs on the GSM network. It's thinner and lighter than Samsung's previous smartphones or, as the company calls them, Mobile Intelligent Terminals (MITs). The device includes a nifty pivoting screen—Samsung's first—that lets you use the i505 as a standard clamshell phone or as a flat Palm. The screen twists like a Tablet PC and lets the Palm screen lie flat on top of the phone keyboard. The unit runs version 5.2 of the Palm OS and includes a camera and a media player. Although a carrier hasn't been announced, the word "T-Mobile" was emblazoned across the top of the unit's home screen.

Samsung is also experimenting with different enclosures. The bottom of the D415 slides down to increase the length of the phone when making a call. It's a neat design, and it feels solid.

The d415 should be available in the next month or two and includes 64-ton polyphonic ringers—whatever that means. A GSM phone as well, it includes a still and video camera with a 262k color screen.

But if you really want to do video with your phone, consider Samsung's new a690. Also available in the second quarter, Samsung claims that it's the lightest phone with built-in video and photo imaging. It has color displays both on top and inside and allows for video and photo e-mail.

gWhen you're taking a video, a super-bright, white LED comes on, illuminating the subject of your video—assuming they aren't all the way across the room. LEDs are perfect for this type of application, as they're bright, rarely burn out and use little battery. This could be the video phone to beat in the market later this year.

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB presented one of the most disappointing booths at CTIA from a new product perspective. Although it offered a few, mostly noninteresting handsets, the only really captivating device was the $800 P900.

For some reason, most of the booth was taken over with fun, games and AIBO. Perhaps Sony's robotic dog will be getting his own cell phone soon?

The company was showing off one interesting addition to the phone line-up. This gaming add-on turns a Sony Ericsson phone into a poor man's GameBoy. I guess it's the company's 2004 answer to the delayed PSP.