What makes mobile users choose the devices they do? A big question in anyone`s mind. Things like size, look and feel, colour and brand? Surely that couldn`t be the only criteria - could it? What about cost, functionality, weight and screen/display?
After a long thought process we established that there are mainly three important selection criteria: screen layout, keyboard layout and battery life; all the others are really just distracters.
Considering these three criteria in isolation...
Screen layout
So many mobile devices have wonderfully clear, high-resolution displays but they are just so small! Others have nice large screens which are easy to read and boast equally good resolution but the handset is so big!
This is a dimension of a handheld device the average user cannot influence; manufacturers such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson and HP align their screen sizes and designs to influences that we cannot alter. We simply don`t have the wide variety of choice we would have for example when selecting a laptop computer.
Keyboard layout
Qwerty or the dreaded 12-button/three-letter keypad?
Can you see yourself attempting to review and edit a 180+ page document on the tiny screen and three pad keyboard used on for example, the Nokia 6600, which we believe is a fantastic mobile phone.
Equally frustrating is being forced to use a stylus and the tap-screen keyboard for the same task.
Battery life (between charges)
Who hasn`t had a PDA go completely flat only to discover that not only can you not use the device for some time, but, as soon as it is re-charged, you discover to your horror that everything is gone! Application information, data and settings disappear into that place where no one or nothing can get it back for you.
Who hasn`t had their cellphone die just at that critical time; that time the all important, much-awaited call is due. The call you have been waiting all month for.
Who hasn`t landed in a foreign city, travelled to the hotel only to discover you have left your power supply on your desk in "Joeys"? Add to this the oddities of international power supply and the headache begins.
Many of the car-kits and accessories are Bluetooth-driven and an added and under-estimated burden on the battery.
Are there solutions to these "challenges"?
As a provider of mobile services and mobile application development, DeARX got to thinking what we could do to improve the user experience in any of these three critical selection criteria.
As far as the screen ergonomics are concerned, our lot is to live with what is available and to make the best of the restrictions imposed on us.
Help is at hand for the keyboard preference; there are already a number of "accessory-type" keyboards available that allow the user to use a laptop-size keyboard across Bluetooth, etc, to make the typing exercise a little painless. But this would still require the user to carry ANOTHER piece of equipment in his pocket or briefcase. There is even a holographic keyboard coming into the South African marketplace.
The only area of influence where we can play an active role and where we could make a difference is in the area of battery life. DeARX started to look for a "solution in your pocket" for the challenges we face when a battery dies on you; and we found it in Charge2Go!
Charge2Go is the solution for constant wireless mobility. This is a reusable battery charger that charges the most known available cellphone and PDA brands in SA. From Nokia, Ericsson, Samsung and Motorola devices to other handheld devices such as PDAs, BlackBerry and much more.
The device uses one AA battery (included in the packaging) to provide up to three extra hours of talk time. About the size of a lipstick, the Charge2Go has an aluminium case in blue, red, silver or black. Customers can choose a colour as well as a connector compatible with their cellphone and recently the manufacturers broke into PDA (mini-USB) and digital camera charging.
Pop in an AA battery and connect the device to your phone. A red light emitting diode will flash to indicate your phone is charging. A chip inside the Charge2Go converts a 1.5-volt alkaline battery into a 3.7-volt, 380-milli-ampere current for the phone.
Charge2Go is a viable, affordable and valuable solution to what, on the surface, looked like a problem beyond our control and influence.
Get hold of DeARX Services on (011) 781 922 or e-mail pmarx@dearx.co.za for more information.
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