The Keyless Cell phone
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Given the resources and efforts working to make the mobile web a reality, progress is disappointingly slow. A study by InfoGin carried out among students at five UK universities has concluded something we’ve known all long: the mobile web is not working. Two-thirds of the 1,000 students surveyed said the mobile web was such a poor experience they gave up trying.
Whether new mobile devices can reverse these results remains to be seen. Can the Apple iPhone or the Google gPhone when they arrive give better user experiences? The all-new Microsoft oPhone seems most unlikely to attract a mass market and survive, one would have thought.
Despite the strong drive exhibited by the manufacturers and by the service providers on the mobile web, it may be time to stand back and re-examine the strategy. Product-driven strategies can produce mind-boggling technology, but is this what customers want. A customer-centric mindset may suggest different approaches.
The first step in this strategy review is to see where present technology for the mobile web fails to satisfy customers’ needs if they are using a cellular phone. Here are just a few difficulties:
- The screen is too small to give a good user experience.
- The cost of downloading content can be prohibitive.
- Batteries have only very limited time between recharging when used in these intensive applications, and
- Navigating by using a miniature keyboard is challenging.
Many of the mobile Web commentators are comfortable with the complex tasks required by the mobile web. However does this reflect what most people really want?
Standing well back, perhaps most cellular phone clients really require something very much simpler. 
Since those tiny keys are so difficult to manipulate, perhaps we should try to eliminate those too. The possible solution doesn’t seem to be patented in the US so here is the idea for anyone who wishes to run with it.
The picture on the left shows the idea. It’s a cellular phone, hinged as usual, but without keys. The base has the microphone and the flip lid has a speaker. It would work entirely by voice recognition technology. Receiving a call is just like always: flip the lid open and talk. To make a call, you would open the phone and say “Call Mum”. The voice recognition software would also allow the use of commands just as is now achieved by using keys.
This ultra-simple phone should provide the cellular telephone service that most people are looking for. It may not meet the needs of the most expert mobile web explorers but they are in a distinct minority and there is a wide diversity of devices to keep them happy. All in all this keyless cell phone should be a winner in all respects.
Footnote: It should be noted that Telespree Communications of San Francisco, California has a US patent for a “portable cellular phone system having remote voice recognition“. Perhaps anyone wishing to run with this idea should contact them to avoid any conflicts.
Tags: Mobile, cell phone, cellular phone
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May 16th, 2007 at 6:03 am
Hi Barry,
I guess this is analogous to Bluetooth headsets where you initiate a call via voice command - one option similar to your idea would be to have the headset contain the hardware, OS etc as well. That way you wouldn’t have a handset at all, just a headset to be worn over the ear, or as microchips shrink further, on the collar, as a button etc. And as you say, all operations would be voice-driven. You could even access information from the Web, e.g. “report: driving directions to Trafalgar Square” would initiate a request to a pre-configured map provider. The map provider would respond with an audio or IVR response of the driving directions.
Cheers
Kevin
May 16th, 2007 at 7:33 am
Good points, Kevin. I think the sky’s the limit and depends only on the ingenuity of the service provider. The important aspect would be to keep it simple so that you don’t need to read a manual of instructions.
That means a Help feature should be there too. So you open the phone and say ‘Help: How do I get to Trafalgar Square”. The initial word Help would access a particular section of the Intelligent Voice Response (IVR) system that covers the likely kinds of help needed. I’m assuming that the Microsoft TellMe Networks acquisition can lead to such possibilities.
May 18th, 2007 at 6:13 am
[...] Barry Welford presents The Keyless Cell phone posted at StayGoLinks, saying, “Given the difficulties in accessing the Mobile Web via a cell phone, perhaps it’s time to switch to a keyless cellular phone.” [...]
May 20th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
[...] Barry Welford presents The Keyless Cell phone posted at StayGoLinks, saying, “Given the difficulties in accessing the Mobile Web via a cell phone, perhaps it’s time to switch to a keyless cellular phone.” [...]
May 21st, 2007 at 6:27 am
[...] Barry Welford presents The Keyless Cell phone posted at StayGoLinks, saying, “Given the difficulties in accessing the Mobile Web via a cell phone, perhaps it’s time to switch to a keyless cellular phone.” [...]
May 21st, 2007 at 1:39 pm
I agree that not everyone needs access to the Internet on a mobile device. However, something like 80-90% of people DO need to have access to SMS, and a device like this definitely doesn’t cut it for them. (And no, voice-activated SMS is definitely not the answer)
May 21st, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Interesting point, Dean. So let’s add back a small screen, but still leave out the keys. Why would voice-activated SMS definitely not be the answer? Given that people go with short-hand expressions for SMS, why couldn’t some speech technology software handle that?
December 20th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
[...] Barry Welford presents The Keyless Cell phone [...]
December 22nd, 2007 at 12:46 am
This will indeed attract a huge interest to mobile users but hoping that this newest cell phone technology will retain it’s simplicity so users won;t get intimidated. It should be a simple user-friendly phone:)
January 5th, 2008 at 11:59 am
[...] Related: The Keyless Cell phone [...]
May 12th, 2008 at 11:11 am
[...] Related: The Keyless Cell phone [...]
May 31st, 2008 at 10:56 pm
So let’s add back a small screen, but still leave out the keys. Why would voice-activated SMS definitely not be the answer? Given that people go with short-hand expressions for SMS, why couldn’t some speech technology software handle that?
June 25th, 2008 at 12:42 am
Yes, that is true. The mobile web is typically slow and hard to navigate. Most sites of interest and value have pixel sizes suited to 800 or 1024 px + and what can be easily worked from a laptop is annoyingly fiddly from a finger nail pushin’ mobile device. The iPhone 3G will slightly improve things for mobile surfers and shoppers. For banking and stocks I’ll stick to my trusty desktop. GPD.
August 2nd, 2008 at 10:39 pm
I have found that installing opera mobile has made virtually every web application work for me even ones with the new captcha codes work with the opera browser on my 8830
Thanks for the post!
August 14th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Since we are on the topic of keyless cell phone, i totally love my new iPhone 3G. I remember the time I’ve lost waiting for web pages to load on the previous iPhone, or standing on street corners waiting for maps to load. But with the new 3G iPhone, connection is 4.8 times faster than the old EDGE connection.
September 1st, 2008 at 1:40 pm
It should be a simple user-friendly phone, but with the new 3G iPhone, connection is 4.8 times faster than the old EDGE connection.