When is a phone not a phone any longer?
Steve Litchfield looks at the creeping size increases in modern 'phones' - at what point do they cease to become phones and turn into media 'tablets'?
There have always been large mobile devices, of course. The original Psion Series 5 palmtop, by modern standards, was a huge beast. As were the first few all most generations of Pocket PC. But these were unashamed two handed devices. Either held in two hands and operated with thumbs or by holding in one hand and using a stylus.
Then we had the rise and rise of S60, from about 2004 to about 2008, its classic heyday, with a determinedly one-handed interface, enabling (for the first time) 'smart' operating systems to be used 'on the go', in traditional mobile phone form factors.
2008 and 2009, of course, saw the Apple iPhone and a new way of interacting with a mobile device - your finger. In truth, fingernails and fingers had been used for years, but this was the first time an interface had been optimised for fingertip use. The concept, however, largely revolved around a two-handed model, i.e. hold the iPhone in one hand and tap (or swipe) away with the other.
And with S60 5th Edition also bringing in a finger-friendly approach, on top of a touchscreen, and with Android, Web OS, Blackberry OS and yes, Windows Mobile all now aping this model, we've suddenly got a world where screen real estate is everything - and, worryingly, screen sizes are going through the roof. Or maybe that should be 'through your pocket'?
To give you an idea of the progression involved in this area, take a look at this diagram - which may or may not be accurate, depending on the resolution of the monitor or screen you're reading this article on(!) See below the diagram for the devices using each screen size.
2.1" - e.g. Nokia 6630 (classic Series 60 second edition smartphones)
2.4" - many S60 3rd Edition smartphones, including the older N93 and the newer E71 and E75
2.6" - the archetypal Nokia N95 and the newer N86 8MP, again all resolutely one-handed devices
2.8" - the N95 8GB, the N96 and the (older) E61 and E61i, yup, still one-handed
(plus the new touchscreened 5530, interestingly, though in a different aspect ratio, not shown)
3.2" - the touchscreened Nokia 5800, N97 mini and upcoming X6 - a 'sweet spot'? (see below)
3.5" - the touchscreened Nokia N97 and N900 and Apple iPhone (note that the latter has a slightly different aspect ratio, but the comparison is close)
3.7" - the touchscreened Motorola/Verizon Droid, the Samsung duo of i8910 HD and Omnia II
4.3" - the touchscreened HTC HD2
NB. Yes, the Nokia E90 is omitted from this lineup, as it's something of an oddity in the smartphone family tree. By way of comparison, the button-driven E90 has a 4" extreme wide aspect ratio screen
Comparing the smaller screened phones (say, an N95) with the N97 and then the huge HD2 does rather beg the question that titles this feature: "When is a phone not a phone?"
It's a question that is best analysed by considering what is a phone? The debate started because a number of people were pressing me to admit that the new Nokia N900 was a far better 'smartphone' than the N97. And yes, some of its specs and capabilities are superior, but the problem is that, despite including a GSM/3G antenna, earpiece and microphone, the N900 isn't (by my reckoning) a phone, and so by definition can't really be a smartphone.
You see, the fundamental division between 'phone' and 'mobile computer' comes as a result of looking at how the device is used. I suggest that if a device is used one-handed for more than 50% of the time then it can count as a 'phone'. In other words, a device that can be used while hanging from a tube train strap, while walking along with a bag of shopping, while driving, and so on. The whole point about a smartphone is that it takes this basic definition and adds a super-powerful OS and add-on applications - often with a miniature qwerty keyboard as well. All while keeping the primarily one-handed use and yet allowing the possibility of two-handed use when needed - such as when composing an email or watching a video.
If a device is used two-handed for most of its life then it's not really a phone at all - I'd class it as a 'mobile computer' or 'Mobile Internet Device' (MID). For example, the Nokia N900 is used 98% of the time in landscape, two-handed mode, and only rotated to portrait and one-handed use to make a voice call. Consider also the HTC HD2 - at 4.3", its screen is so huge that you can't hold it in one hand and comfortably operate more than a fraction of its functions. So you end up operating it two-handed and, despite the portrait form factor, it ceases to become a phone per se.
The same argument applies to the new (USA only at the moment) Motorola Droid, and the Samsung Omnia HD/i8910 HD, both with 3.7" screens, and I'd content that the 3.5"-screened N97 and iPhone are both on shaky ground - you have to have a large and flexible thumb for all screen functions to be practical using just one-hand. Should the N97 and iPhone therefore not be classed as 'phones'? They sit in a grey area, straddling the phone-computer border, in my opinion.
Interestingly, the new Nokia 5530, at 2.9" and the Nokia 5800 (etc) at 3.2" work much better and it's easier for a roving thumb to hit any part of the touchscreen in normal operation - we're definitely in 'phone' territory here and, I contend, in a touchscreen 'sweet spot', where you get the benefit of a larger screen than is possible in a traditional button-driven phone and yet with the same potentially one-handed usage model.
Will these realisations have any effect on manufacturers who seem intent on putting in ever-bigger screens into what they're marketing as 'phones'? Will the public (i.e. mass market) want to adapt to two-handed use in the long term? And what will be the shape of phones and smartphones as we move into the second decade of the 21st century? Comments welcome.
Steve Litchfield, All About Symbian, 2 November 2009
Published by Steve Litchfield at 18:03 UTC, November 1st 2009
Categories: Comment, Hardware
Platforms: General, S60 3rd Edition, S60 5th Edition
Feature Discussion
As 3.7" screens go,the most common phone is the i8910 Omnia HD followed the WM-powered Ominia II
3.8" would be the HTC Touch HD
4.1" would be the Toshiba TG01
and left-field would go to the LG BL40 New Chocolate with a 4.01" screen with an 21:9 aspect ratio and a (similar to E90) 800 x 345 revolution
The upcoming Android-powered SE XPERIA X10 is said to have a 4" screen.
Seems that all manufactures will be offer 4"+ screen in the not too distant future...
Additionally, I think the iPod Touch proves your point as well. You see how limited it is without some sort of connection to the Internet. It becomes a self contained device with limited functionality, and is little more than a media player.
In any case, a nice article.
I still disagree though ;) - and for two reasons :
1) When I forget my N900, I say "I left my phone at home" and such like. I've heard others say this too, so clearly users of the device thing it's a phone.
2) When I call my wife at home, she answers 'the phone'...it also requires two hands (for dialing) and it isn't even portable/mobile. Even the cordless ones are awkward to use single-handedly.
It seems to me you're back in the whole 'smartphone' vs 'phone' argument. I was curious at the time - the time prior to you renamed your 'smartphones show' to the 'phones show' - wondering if you were then going to include all those fixed land-line models too; or perhaps you're now claiming they're not phones too.
In any case. I'm not sure what the point is. Why would you want to say that the N900 isn't a phone? I suppose your motives are revealed when you say :
"The debate started because a number of people were pressing me to admit that the new Nokia N900 was a far better 'smartphone' than the N97. [snip] but the problem is that, despite including a GSM/3G antenna, earpiece and microphone, the N900 isn't (by my reckoning) a phone, and so by definition can't really be a smartphone."
Could it be that you just hate to admit to something being better than the N97? Resorting to the "it's not a phone" argument is quite tenuous, IMO. Better to actually say it isn't better for real reasons, like it only works in portrait mode (apart from when making phone calls), you can't use it two handedly (apart from for making phone calls), and you can't send/receive MMSes; and whatnot. How about just assuming it *is* a phone for the time being and comparing each on its merits. You might find that the N97 still wins.
I don't get your point. Does 'phone' now mean 'connection to the internet'?
What happens if you remove the cell radio from an N97? Pretty much the same as removing the cell radio from an iPhone which results in an iPod touch, I'd say.
I have to agree with davidmaxwaterma though - trying to narrow the definition of "phone" quickly reveals your own preferences.
What is a phone? Anything that makes phone calls.
What sort of phone calls? Mobile, or fixed line, or VoIP.
This will include desktop computers, so you could narrow it down to mobile phones, i.e. those that include GSM/CDMA connectivity. But this still includes mobile-enabled netbooks.
You could also include non-cellular enabled devices such as the iPod Touch. It has wifi, but include a mic and Skype, and it's now a (limited) phone.
In short, what constitues a "phone" is now a moving target, and quite hard to define. An increasing number of devices will be given mobile connectivity, but may not allow person-to-person speech. Is it a phone if the device can make calls, but it's not a person making them?
"the Nokia N900 - a high-performance mobile computer with a powerful processor, large internal storage, and sharp touch-screen display. "
However, if you use your Nokia N900 to make telephone calls whilst out and about, then you are using it as a mobile telephone.
The more I think about this, the less I care. It really doesn't matter.
Having said that, you're likely to see (and already see) a number of crossover devices eg. with slide out keyboards / ebooks / UMPCs and looking at these, the n97 has been a bit of a dud compared to it's sibling the n97 mini. Given a choice between n97, n900 or n97 mini i'd be willing to bet nobody would choose the n97.
In my humble opinion the smartphone has been on borrowed time since January 2007.
[I]"I appreciate that the vast majority of Nokia's fortunes are collected from the mid-tear smartphone market, but honestly this is of little interest to me. The smartphone (regardless of manufacturer) was only ever a stepping stone, a place to rest up while I waited for a powerful computer that would fit in my pocket.
This is one of reasons why I've champion the iPhone over the last couple of years. The iPhone, even the original version, was always more about pocket computing than smart phoning."[/I]
[url]http://web.me.com/jamesburland/Nokia_Creative/Blog/Entries/2008/12/4_Comment%3A_Pocket_Computer.html[/url]
[url]http://web.me.com/jamesburland/Nokia_Creative/Blog/Entries/2009/8/28_N900__Captain_Maemo!.html[/url]
[url]http://web.me.com/jamesburland/Nokia_Creative/Blog/Entries/2008/7/1_Comment%3A_Is_Everything_Converging_on_The_Pocket_Computer.html[/url]
[url]http://web.me.com/jamesburland/Nokia_Creative/Blog/Entries/2008/6/19_Comment%3A_Can_Nokia_really_make_the_jump_from_Smartphone_to_Pocket_Computer_.html[/url]
[/quote]
Fair enough, but *why*?
[quote]
Best example would be use of BT headset with a two handed device, don't think anyone would call it a phone.
[/quote]
As someone who uses a BT headset (actually two, though not at the same time) with N900, I'm not sure I get your point. I am sure I'm missing something though...
[quote]
Having said that, you're likely to see (and already see) a number of crossover devices eg. with slide out keyboards / ebooks / UMPCs and looking at these, the n97 has been a bit of a dud compared to it's sibling the n97 mini. Given a choice between n97, n900 or n97 mini i'd be willing to bet nobody would choose the n97.[/quote]
I'm not sure. I had a quick try of an N97 the other day and found it quite nice actually - I feel like it's had a bad rap. I wonder what the new firmware will do for this.
When it doesn't make/receive phone calls!
Seriously, they are all 'phones', but the 'phone' evolutionary tree has been forking all over the place in recent years. Only one branch of which are still just 'phones'. Mobile devices that make/receive calls and the occasional text.
All other branches of this tree have grown in different directions. Some more business-centric, some media-centric, others in other directions. For instance, phones that been developed as (almost) strictly SatNav devices. Most of these branches sprouted off due to different user demands. Now that we KNOW phones can do more than we expected 5-6 years ago, we all want them to do different things.
This branch, the one Steve's discussing, is the one where people wanted larger screens built onto heavy duty, multi-use devices. I blame the Iphone for this. Apple produced a big TOUCHABLE screen that had a QWERTY keyboard and the ability to *gasp* watch movies, in a reasonable resolution (and frame rate!). Since then, this new branch of the tree has just shot up.
Now there are a mulititude of large screen touch phones. And some are getting larger than others.
Are they all getting too big? No, i don't think so. With the increasing number of features and options being shoehorned into most 'modern' mobile phones it's only logical that they increase in size. Especially being one of the most common features being touchscreen. People want the real estate to be able to work on their screen. How many of you are still using 15" monitors (by choice)? Another feature is media and games. People want a bigger screen to watch movies and play games. A lot of phones (the good ones anyway!) now have hardware graphics accelerators, just for this purpose. And of course we're all now accustomed to surfing almost full size, flash enabled web pages.
But this is only one branch on the family tree. For those that don't want/need a large (huge) screen there are plenty of other options.
As far as one handed use, perhaps i have large hands, but i can use my Samsung one handed (one thumbed?) for almost anything. If i switched to a T9 display instead of QWERTY, i'd don't think i'd ever need to use two hands.
Is it a pain to have to use a phone two handed? Not for me, but i made a concious decision to accept that, if i wanted a phone as big as the one i have, with a QWERTY, that i may have to use it two handed.
Does the phone 'feel big'? No, not really (to me). But then i'm coming from an E90 and i have a TP2 here at work. When the Samsung is in my pocket i have to keep checking it's there!
Victorinox make a Swiss Army Knife that has one blade, a can opener, and a screwdriver. They also make the 'Champ', which has EVERYTHING!. The Champ is 4 or 5 times the size of the basic model, even though it also has the same basic features that you require in a pocket knife. I've had a large, heavy, often two hand required, Champ on my belt for 18 years.
Finally, look on the bright side. If Apple hadn't created their version of a large screen tablet form factor, we might all be walking around with HTC Advantages! :o
The N900 is described as a sort of computer-platform which CAN make calls, in the same way that a laptop can be used to make calls (ie. Skype). By making this distinction, even if the general public don't buy into it, Nokia can theoretically avoid complaints that it is too big to be a phone, or is too hard to use as a phone, by stating that it is not actually a phone. It's a subtle distinction, but a clever one nevertheless....
My personal rule of thumb, is anything larger than the iphone is just too damned big!
Are they all getting too big? No, i don't think so.
[/quote]
Yes they are. It's an unfortunate trend and it won't last.
[quote=UKJeeper;445145]
How many of you are still using 15" monitors (by choice)?
[/quote]
I don't carry a monitor around with me all the time. However, 15.6 inch is a very popular laptop format.
[quote=UKJeeper;445145]
Finally, look on the bright side. If Apple hadn't created their version of a large screen tablet form factor, we might all be walking around with HTC Advantages! :o[/quote]
Don't you mean Archos created that kind of portable media player, long before Apple copied it ?
My personal rule of thumb, is anything larger than the iphone is just too damned big![/quote]
I find the iPhone oversize and cumbersome. Too uncomfortable for permanent carrying.
On their previous range of products Apple created the Nano version and it was very popular. Why?
The nerds that feel they need the earth in their pocket will put up with carrying a jacket-sagging housebrick around, but normal human beings will always prefer small, neat and comfortable.
We'll see.
[quote=Unregistered;445156]I don't carry a monitor around with me all the time. However, 15.6 inch is a very popular laptop format. [/quote]
The point is that some people prefer to have a larger screen.
[quote=Unregistered;445156]Don't you mean Archos created that kind of portable media player, long before Apple copied it ?[/quote]
Finally, look on the bright side. If Apple hadn't created their version of a large screen tablet MOBILE PHONE form factor, we might all be walking around with HTC Advantages!
Better? We were after all, discussing the increase in size of a branch of mobile phones. BTW, haven't Archos devices also been increasing in size and ability recently? Seven and nine inch screen's instead of just five inch? Certainly adds credance to the claim people want larger screens (which means bigger devices).
Surely you cannot be 100% serious. The N97 has been a disaster almost from word go. A short recap if you will:
1. The pre v20 software. Can you say with a straight face that this software was ready for public consumption? Many within Nokia knew that this software was at best beta but they released it anyway.
2. GPS issues. Still not completely resolved.
3. The infamous protective lens issue that Nokia finally was forced to acknowledge.
4. No support for the Mac community until version 20. Once again, Nokia insiders knew that the firmware was so screwed up that 3rd party developers nor even Nokia could develop iSync plugins.
5. Various keylock issues.
6. Out of memory issues.
7. Installation of applications that cannot be removed.
8. Memory mapping of applications that forced installation on the already limited c://
9. Ovi Maps issues.
10. Ovi store issues.
With all of this being said, I do not want to start an argument about the N97 but you have to admit, even since the upgrade, there is not really much hope for this device. Hopefully the N97 Mini and N900 can redeem Nokia.
A car doesn't become a mobile computer with the addition of CPU engine management, GPS, etc. Neither does a phone. It just has additional functionality. It's also certainly still a car whether you drive it with one hand or two!
And what about hands-free? How does that feature in the phone definitions?
Pedantically, a phone no longer was a phone as soon as SMS was added! Clearly it was though. The first mobiles required 2 hands to pick the thing up - it was still a phone.
I think people are over-analysing things, and getting confused by definitions and making up their own in the process.
Just call it a "mobile" and be done with it.
My first Tele-Phone consisted of Two empty baked beans Cans , connected through a hole in the bottom with a simple rope . Could hear my friend very well talking .
In this definition anything enabling to hear a sound "real time" from a normally unhearable distant is a Tele-Phone .
Strictly : Phone = Sound = anything producing a sound is a phone !
Also my car with carkit is a Tele-Phone , no matter , how many buttons , sizes of screen , (un) handy , (un) smart , multitasking or whatever : I am be able to talk to my friend , who is at distant .
I think there is some confusion , since there are so many types of devices , that can actually do the same : distant calling .
BTW : N900 is a Tele-Phone !
:) Regards jApi NL
The point is that some people prefer to have a larger screen.
[/quote]
Well if you feel the need to state the obvious. Many prefer a more portable device.
[quote=UKJeeper;445163]
Finally, look on the bright side. If Apple hadn't created their version of a large screen tablet MOBILE PHONE form factor, we might all be walking around with HTC Advantages!
[/quote]
So Apple added phone fuctionality to the iPod touch. I don't think we would all be using HTC advantages, just as we are not all using piePhones.
[quote=UKJeeper;445163]
Better? We were after all, discussing the increase in size of a branch of mobile phones.
[/quote]
It wasn't me that brought up 15 inch monitors.
[quote=UKJeeper;445163]
BTW, haven't Archos devices also been increasing in size and ability recently? Seven and nine inch screen's instead of just five inch? Certainly adds credance to the claim people want larger screens (which means bigger devices).[/quote]
And millions are carrying seven and nine inch devices in their pockets? These are niche.
On their previous range of products Apple created the Nano version and it was very popular. Why?
The nerds that feel they need the earth in their pocket will put up with carrying a jacket-sagging housebrick around, but normal human beings will always prefer small, neat and comfortable.[/quote]
In my hands the iPhone is pretty smallish I can certainly operate it one handed.
I could probably operate a larger device than that such as the Droid/Milestone or the Infinity.
Yes, yes, issue 194 of OldsMobile is out today, comes with free shotgun!! 8-)
Darn it but you guys understand me well!
If you go out to buy a phone and it happens to have a lot of other stuff built in, like a symbian S60 opperating system, then it IS a phone.
If you go out to buy a Pda because of all the stuff that's is built into it, which includes bits to allow you to make and receive calls; then it's a Pda.
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