X

Photos: Mobile mania at 3GSM

3GSM: From WiMax and UWB chips to flexible screens and biodiesel-powered base stations, this year's World Congress had the lot
By Rupert Goodwins, Contributor
wimax-is-here160207.jpg
1 of 13 Rupert Goodwins/ZDNET

3GSM tends to focus on the more traditional cellular technologies, but this year WiMax has been making quite a buzz. We're finally seeing handsets, data cards and all the other necessary bits and pieces.

Even Vodafone's Arun Sarin is starting to sound worried, warning that members of the GSM Association "need to make sure that LTE [the long-term evolution of 3G] is not still at the standards stage when WiMax is a commercial reality".

We're not sure that UK networks need be too concerned, given 3G is already being rolled out here, but it makes a big change from the dismissive way in which operators described WiMax only months ago.

ultrawideband-chips160207.jpg
2 of 13 Rupert Goodwins/ZDNET

These are Staccato Communication's ultrawideband (UWB) chips. UWB has been around in the States for a while, but is only now being allowed into Europe. The technology essentially uses other people's spectrum, and one UWB radio can interact with multiple protocols. As the name suggests, it also allows oodles of bandwidth.

The first application will be wireless USB, which you can expect to see phased into all sorts of electronic equipment over the coming months and years. UWB will also form the basis for the third generation of Bluetooth, which will hopefully arrive in the middle of 2008.

htc-s710-with-windows-mobil.jpg
3 of 13 Rupert Goodwins/ZDNET

This is HTC's S710 smartphone (previously known as the Vox), with its handy slide-out Qwerty keyboard. It's HTC's first phone to be based on Windows Mobile 6, although its S620 is upgradeable from Windows Mobile 5.0.

Happily, Orange will be bringing out the S710 in Europe in the next couple of months, though we're not quite certain yet when it will hit the UK. Yves Maitre, Orange's vice president of devices, calls it the "Ferrari of the mobile phone". With stereo Bluetooth, 2MP camera, Wi-Fi and Windows Mobile 6's handy integration of Hotmail and Live Messenger, he may have a point — though we'd prefer to see support for HSDPA rather than EDGE.

dave160207.jpg
4 of 13 Rupert Goodwins/ZDNET

Here's a prototype of Seagate's "DAVE" device, next to a mobile phone. Basically a wirelessly enabled external storage unit and streaming toy, it is, as you can see, rather wee. What you're looking at is a 10GB version, but Seagate reckon they can get it up to 60GB, although that final version will end up slightly larger than this one.

What's also missing at the moment is the software. The final version will download a Java applet to whatever device it's paired with — a phone, in-car entertainment unit, portable media player — to allow that device to browse it. Orange will be bringing it out for business customers in the summer, who may be tempted to use DAVE as a way of keeping valuable data off employees' easily stealable mobile phones.

naawigo160207.jpg
5 of 13 Rupert Goodwins/ZDNET

An Italian company called WiNext has been showing off the Naawigo (pronounced "Nav-I-Go"), a mesh networking Wi-Fi device with a variety of applications. What you're looking at is a prototype of the consumer version, which will be available to local authorities looking to roll out municipal Wi-Fi on the cheap, or operators wanting to offer home broadband via HSDPA.

However, a battery-sporting version can also be parachuted en masse into disaster zones where all communications are down. Using a satellite link as backhaul, the units can automatically arrange themselves into a self-healing network. The company also offers open-source software that allows any Wi-Fi-enabled device to do the same thing.

i-mate160207.jpg
6 of 13 Rupert Goodwins/ZDNET

Windows Mobile fans will know iMate as one of HTC's more successful rebadgers. However, the company is keen to move on and is now designing its own phones, still sporting Redmond's finest but now including a whole lot of iMate's own enterprise-oriented device management services, such as remote wiping.

The company is also branching out into digital photo frames and… HDTVs? Well, what you see here is just that, but it's also a "digital media hub", designed to work with a Vista PC and boasting built-in Wi-Fi, cable modem and analogue and digital receivers. You can, naturally, also use it to browse content on your iMate handset.

biodiesel160207.jpg
7 of 13 Rupert Goodwins/ZDNET

Mobile phones are merely important in Europe. They're revolutionary in the developing world. But they need base stations, and base stations are no good without lots of electricity. With many farmers struggling to find a market for their produce, Ericsson is experimenting with a way to solve both problems simultaneously. Its all-in-one biodiesel production plant is easily transportable, and can turn three tons of biomass per day into enough fuel to continuously power up to 40 base stations.

Based on technology used by Swedish farmers, it uses smart chemistry to catalyse the conversion process — and kick-start an entire local economy.

bonephone160207.jpg
8 of 13 Rupert Goodwins/ZDNET

You can't conduct a mobile phone conversation if you can't hear what's going on. But you don't always need working ears to hear. Beethoven famously composed his finest work by biting a wooden rod held against the piano and using bone conduction to pick up the music. The Sound Leaf headset from NTT DoMoCo uses the same principle to relay conversation through the skull. It won't solve every hearing problem, but it could give thousands of people a chance to communicate better.

olpc160207.jpg
9 of 13 Rupert Goodwins/ZDNET

They're multiplying. 3GSM saw six of the first test production run of Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child on display, and while they're far from finished they're evidence that full production isn't far away. Only 800 or so have been made to date, but the next run should make upwards of 7,000, with full production due in August. The ones we saw were slower than the final versions, but ran word processing and full motion video without a hitch. They also survived a repeated drop several times onto the floor from a couple of feet, a good attribute for a device that'll have to survive a long way from the nearest repair shop.

readius1-160207.jpg
10 of 13 Rupert Goodwins/ZDNET

One of the stars of the show, the Readius is a pocket ebook with a flexible screen that wraps around the case when the device isn't in use. The electronic ink technology needs no power to maintain a static display, and is every bit as readable as an ordinary page in a book. With production due to start in a couple of months, we'll have to wait and see how reliable it is in practice, but the makers say that prototypes have survived three-quarters of a million flexings. This first picture shows how the screen looks when displaying book text...

readius2160207.jpg
11 of 13 Rupert Goodwins/ZDNET

...and this second photo shows how the Readius looks end-on with the screen unfurled.

breathalyser160207.jpg
12 of 13 Rupert Goodwins/ZDNET

Mobile phones are getting sneaky. This prototype combination device from NTT DoMoCo will not only check that you are who you say you are by videophone, but will then confirm that you're fit for work by measuring how much booze is on your breath. It may not be smart enough to stop you making daft phone calls at two in the morning, but it can stop unfit drivers and pilots from putting themselves and their passengers at risk.

motophone160207.jpg
13 of 13 Rupert Goodwins/ZDNET

One of the most stylish and intelligent handsets at the show, the Motophone was originally designed for the developing world. Trouble is, its combination of 400-hour battery life, pared-down functionality, electronic ink screen and austere lines has made it a must-have among those in the know. Although every last one is going to India at the moment, many European operators are talking to Motorola about offering it closer to home.

Related Galleries

Holiday wallpaper for your phone: Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's, and winter scenes
Holiday lights in Central Park background

Related Galleries

Holiday wallpaper for your phone: Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's, and winter scenes

21 Photos
Winter backgrounds for your next virtual meeting
Wooden lodge in pine forest with heavy snow reflection on Lake O'hara at Yoho national park

Related Galleries

Winter backgrounds for your next virtual meeting

21 Photos
Holiday backgrounds for Zoom: Christmas cheer, New Year's Eve, Hanukkah and winter scenes
3D Rendering Christmas interior

Related Galleries

Holiday backgrounds for Zoom: Christmas cheer, New Year's Eve, Hanukkah and winter scenes

21 Photos
Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6: Electric vehicle extravaganza
img-8825

Related Galleries

Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6: Electric vehicle extravaganza

26 Photos
A weekend with Google's Chrome OS Flex
img-9792-2

Related Galleries

A weekend with Google's Chrome OS Flex

22 Photos
Cybersecurity flaws, customer experiences, smartphone losses, and more: ZDNet's research roundup
shutterstock-1024665187.jpg

Related Galleries

Cybersecurity flaws, customer experiences, smartphone losses, and more: ZDNet's research roundup

8 Photos
Inside a fake $20 '16TB external M.2 SSD'
Full of promises!

Related Galleries

Inside a fake $20 '16TB external M.2 SSD'

8 Photos