Cell phones that go beyond the ordinary

Gary Krakow Columnist • E-mail

BARCELONA, Spain — Yesterday, I reported on the advent of cellular phone TV and other advancements announced here at the 3GSM World Congress. But all of these new technologies depend on a series of ever-improving cellular networks.

A case in point is the new HSDPA high-speed data standard and what that means for the future of portable audio and video.

Samsung Electronics has launched a new HSDPA handset, SGH-Z560 for use in Europe. It’s not very interesting in its own right, but when you realize that this phone can connect to a cellular network and send/receive data reaching speeds up to 3.6 Mbps you have to be impressed.

OK, maybe your eyes glaze over at numbers and speed claims.  I’ll tell you what it means in real terms. Samsung was demonstrating video streamed over a high-speed HSDPA network, using a Z560 phone as a modem for a laptop computer connected to a good-sized flat-screen TV monitor.

The demonstration was absolutely amazing. The quality of the video on the large screen was pretty fantastic. As wireless technologies improve so will multimedia services which depend on wireless networks for delivery.

The Z560 will be available in Europe in the second half of 2006. No word on when the phone or the supporting services will be ready in North America.

Cell phone for the home
Another interesting announcement came from the people at CSI Wireless who have designed fixed wireless GSM and TDMA phones for the U.S. and world markets. Fixed wireless means that these are cell phones in the shape of desk phones.

CSI unveiled two levels of fixed wireless devices: the Series 405 which are entry-level devices (just phones) and the Series 415 which offer phone services, a speakerphone, Internet access and e-mail via a computer connection.

No professional installation is required — just a connection to AC electric power — and an account with a cellular provider. This design could be a boon for people who live in rural areas too far away from a phone company for wired telephone lines, for those who feel they get a better deal from cell phone providers and for those people who just want to rid themselves of their old-fashioned, wired phone lines.

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