Rex & Jim:
I already sent e-mail to IDB on-line and referenced them to the CFA url and SanDisk url.
I indicated my disappointment that their staff would obviously fail to research the issue and indicated that a publication of their caliber should not take representations from any company at face value.
Lets see if they respond or publish an addtional article.
By the way, this is the text of an article in the current online IBD about digital cameras (although it doesn't mention Sandisk):
"e Smart-Phone Fantasy: Great Looks -
Brains, Too
Date: 12/10/97
Author: Reinhardt Krause
Makers of smart phones are taking a special IQ test.
They'll score as geniuses if consumers crave the snazzy features being
added to cellular phones. But vendors could also flunk by pushing klutzy
data services, industry analysts say.
Cellular phone vendors have studied up on consumer tastes for years. But
they've never zeroed-in on the right features - or ''killer application'' -that
would spur smart phone sales.
''Lots of (wireless data) vendors have overestimated what people wanted to
pay for, and devices weren't sufficiently ergonomic,'' said Alan Reiter,
editor of the Wireless Internet and Mobile Computing newsletter in Chevy
Chase, Md.
A new wave of smart phones, though, may be catching on. They're
equipped with organizers, e-mail, limited Internet browsing capability and
other bells and whistles.
Market research firm Dataquest Inc. of San Jose, Calif., says shipments of
smart phones will climb to 3.7 million in 2001, up from 14,800 in '97.
Pricing will be a key factor, says Clint McClellan, a Dataquest analyst.
''The smart phone we see today will evolve into the normal cellular phone,''
he said. ''More functionality is slowly dropping into (lower) price-points.''
The current standard-bearer of smart phones is the Nokia Corp. 9000
Communicator. It's a cell phone with electronic organizer, pager, e-mail, fax
and limited Internet browsing features.
The phone flips open to reveal a 4.7-inch-by-1.5-inch screen and tiny
keyboard.
Nokia introduced its smart phone in Europe last year at a hefty $2,000
price. Still, the Finland-based company says it sold more than 100,000 in
'96.
This fall, wireless carriers in the U.S. began marketing the phone. Its price
ranges from $500 to $1,000, depending on service agreement bundles.
Rivals credit Nokia with a gutsy move - given the struggles of other vendors
to launch space-age phones.
''We're watching the Nokia 9000. It's a brave product,'' said Josh Kiem,
director of marketing at Motorola Inc.'s cellular subscriber sector in
Libertyville, Ill.
Motorola is developing smart phones due out in early '98. The phones will
be introduced initially in Europe, which has the most advanced wireless
network for data services.
Also getting ready is Northern Telecom Ltd. of Brampton, Ontario,
Canada. It plans to roll out its Orbitor smart phone next year. It will use
Mountain View, Calif.-based Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Java software.
Consumer electronics giants from Asia also are dialing up the smart phone
market. In Japan, Toshiba Corp. has introduced its Genio pocket
communicator. Like Nokia's smart phone, the Genio uses Alameda,
Calif.-based Geoworks' operating system.
Sharp Corp. is building a new smart phone for France's Alcatel . Designed
around Sharp's Zaurus electronic organizer, the phone will operate over
Europe's wireless network.
In the U.S., Samsung Group and Mitsubishi Corp. recently rolled out new
smart phones. The phones, priced at $299, are being sold to subscribers of
AT&T Corp.'s PocketNet cellular data service.
AT&T is offering the PocketNet service, which includes e-mail, for a flat
monthly fee of $29.95. Voice calls are billed separately.
Still, smart phone vendors face problems in making the devices user
friendly, analysts say.
The PocketNet phones can easily access e-mail. But composing messages
is far more difficult. The problem lies in standard 12-key phone touch pads.
To represent the letter ''B,'' for example, users must tap the No. 2 key three
times.
To make it easier to send messages, some phone vendors are licensing
technology from Seattle, Wash.-based Tegic Communications Inc. Its
software improves the text-input capabilities of devices that lack full
keyboards.
Even more challenging is surfing the Internet via smart phones.
Enter micro-browsers. PocketNet phones from Samsung and Mitsubishi
include micro-browser software from Unwired Planet Inc. of Redwood
Shores, Calif.
Unwired Planet's software is designed to present Internet data in a format
adapted for small screens.
Micro-browsers require much less memory than desktop browsers. Still,
micro-browser-based smart phones must access Internet sites over slow
cellular data links.
(C) Copyright 1997 Investors Business Daily, Inc. "
By the way, I understand that in the new James Bond movie, the smart phone has second billing only to Pierce Brosnan. LOL. But seriously, the Ericson ads on TV and the product placement in the movie can only do the smart phone market good (and hopefully the MMC market).
Mike G. |
