A Core Competence Product Evaluation
AT&T Wireless PocketNet Phone and Wireless Data Services
On July 16, I visited a client in Rockville,
Maryland. I arrived a bit early, so I stopped for lunch at a
Chinese restaurant. While waiting for my meal, I checked out
the midday stock market indices: the Dow Industrials were up,
as was the NASDAQ. I decided to read the late breaking business
news and sports headline, read David Letterman's Top-Ten from
the previous night, and dismissed an entirely frivolous horoscope
(how can it be that "tonight: buy satin sheets" applies
universally to all Taureans?). I also checked my email, the weekend
weather forecast for Philadelphia, and the movie listings for
my local theatre.
If this seems totally unremarkable to you, consider that I did not read a newspaper. I could not watch CNN, CNBC, Headline News or any TV programming to gather this information from my table.
I was not seated near a phonejack, connected
to the Internet surfing the Web with my laptop. I didn't even
have a laptop with me.
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The smartphone is an AT&T PocketNet™
phone, a multi-function
handheld device that is a combination wireless phone, two-way-pager,
fax/modem, personal data assistant, and hyperdeck browser. With
a smartphone, I can access public information services, intranet
services, and electronic mail. I can page and be paged, keep
track of my appointments, access news bureau, weather and business
services. |  |
From almost anywhere.
AT&T Wireless and Bell Atlantic/Nynex
Mobile provide
service in my area through their Cellular Digital Packet Data
(CDPD) network, but the service is national. I've used CDPD throughout
Silicon Valley, in Boston, New York, Pittsburgh, and intermittently
along I-95 from South Carolina to Philadelphia during a 13-hour
drive home from Hilton Head Island. AT&T Wireless indicates
that "Coverage may be affected by terrain, weather, elevation,
manmade structures and equipment" on their home page. My
neighbors will attest to this, as they have grown accustomed to
seeing me wander around my neighborhood in search of carrier,
and finally accept that I'm not treasure hunting with a metal
detector. I do recommend you check the AT&T Wireless website
at http://www.attws.com for information regarding service in your
area.
CDPD is a "digital
data over cellular" service. CDPD operates at rates up to
19.2 Kbps by carving out frequencies from the same cellular spectrum
used by analog mobile phone service (AMPS). Through a process
called channel-hopping, CDPD seeks out temporarily unused cellular
frequencies and transmits packetized data across an idle channel
for a short time, then seeks out a different channel. By transmitting
only briefly over any idle channel, collisions between packetized
data transfers and AMPS voice traffic are minimized. CDPD may
not get as much press as PCS, but it's available now, and it works.
CDPD packets carry IP
packets, and the IP packets carry proprietary transport packets
containing Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML), a skinnied
down version of the HyperText Markup Language (HTML), which is
the basis of World Wide Web content representation. Where HTML
presents web pages containing text and graphics, HDML presents
"decks" of ASCII text "cards" suitable for
display on a 2x4" screen. HDML and the supporting Handheld
Device Transport Protocol (HDTP) were developed to allow devices
with limited memory, storage and processing power to operate in
wireless environments, where bandwidth may also be quite limited.
Browser and Messaging Software for Smartphones
The PocketNet phone runs an HDML-based micro-browser and messaging software developed as part of the UP.Link™ communications platform by Unwired Planet.
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The 4-line browser window
on the Pocketnet™ phone serves as a reasonable viewing area
for limited text-based messaging and information retrieval. Typically,
three lines are used for selection menus and textual display,
and the fourth line is used to enable application specific HDML
buttons (the "Softkeys"). Eight Navigation keys (Home,
Clear, Back, Help) complement the Softkeys and traditional numeric
keypad, which is used to enter alphanumeric characters when the
phone is used for data networking. |
Indispensible (with caveats...)
I found the applications available through
AT&T's Wireless Services to be both indispensable and yet
exasperating. Taking to the road with only a phone-sized appliance
to access internet and intranet content services, mail service,
scheduling and contact software is truly convenient, and I can't
imagine doing without my smartphone. But I'd truly like to see
some additional consideration given to streamlining the navigation
from function to function within applications, and I'd love to
see someone step forward to define consistent menu presentation
within and across applications.
Email clients (I tested and used two)
provide excellent insight into how powerful unified messaging
can be, but I could only create new mail from one client interface
(Pocketnet email). To retrieve and process mail from both my pocketnet
email account and my dave@corecom.com account, I had to use a
second client interface (Interchange). Neither had all the features
I find useful, and both need to consider the importance of minimizing
keystrokes and presenting consistent menus. For example, neither
client interface allows you to delete a sequence of mail messages,
and the delete process itself is very chatty (given the need for
conservancy of battery life and bandwidth, having to respond "OK"
to individual "Message deleted successfully" messages
seems inconsistent).
Another exasperating aspect of email
interaces is that the menus for acting upon (processing) received
email are different depending on message length and message header
composition. For example, a really nice feature in the email
client interface is the ability to call the sender of an message
as an action on an email you've received, but whether the server
can extract the sender's telephone number from an email header
dictates the order of the "action" menu items.
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Navigation keys and Softkeys can greatly
facilitate input, but it should come as no surprise that alphanumeric
entry using a 12-character phone-pad is tedious. If you want
to type an "S", for example, you have to hit the numeric
"7" key four times. A simple word like "sun"
requires eight touches to the keyboard ("7-7-7-7" for
"s", "8-8" for "u", and "6-6"
for "n"). Scrolling through long messages on a 3-line
text display can also test one's patience. I try to bear in mind
that I now carry a phone that weighs about 10-12 ounces (with
battery) instead of a laptop perhaps ten times as heavy. I've
weaned myself off my laptop for nearly all my travel. Of course,
if I do find it necessary to carry my laptop, I can use
the phone as a CDPD fax/modem through a serial port. |  |
Wireless services operate in a low bandwidth,
high delay spectrum. CDPD performance varies as you roam in and
out of cellular serving areas. Such things as weather and terrain
can also interfere with service. Packet loss is a real killer.
When cellular service is consistent enough where packet loss
is low, the service is comparable to low-speed analog modem.
But when service is lossy, you will spend most of your battery
life attempting to connect. CDPD networks are still in the "building
out" phase, so be sure to check with AT&T Wireless Services to see
if coverage is available in areas you expect to roam.
Unwired Planet recently announced new versions
of its HDML and HDTP specifications, and new versions of the UP.Browser™
and UP.Link™ messaging software are now shipping on more
compact and powerful smartphones. I look forward to what promises
to be a substantial improvement over what is already a useful
and promising product and service.
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