Source: Nando TimesNokia Plans Cellular Telephone with E-mail, Internet Link
By Jon Auerbach, The Boston Globe Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business NewsMar. 9--Nokia Group, the Finnish telecommunications giant, will announce a "smart" cellular telephone next week that can send and receive e-mail and access the Internet, according to a senior company executive.
The digital telephone, which will weigh about a pound and be about the size of a pack of cards, should set the pace for what is expected to be a fierce battle for market share in the competitive wireless industry. Ericsson Inc., Nokia's main European rival, has said it will roll out a smart phone early next year.
"It's an attention grabber because it will become the most portable Internet access device you can have," commented Richard Zwetchkenbaum, an analyst with International Data Corp. of Framingham.
Nokia is expected to unveil the smart phone Wednesday at the CeBIT electronics trade show in Hannover, Germany, the executive said. Because it is designed to work with a digital network, the phone will be available only in Europe.
But digital systems are now beginning to be installed in the United States, and Nokia is expected to say it hopes to hit the American market sometime in the next few years.
On the outside, the smart phone should look much like a conventional cellular phone. But it will fold open, revealing a miniature keyboard and a small screen that can show about seven lines of text.
Similarly, users can access the Internet and the World Wide Web, although the screen is not expected to support graphics. Instead, the smart phone will tell an Internet server to transfer only text.
The operating system for the unit was produced by Geoworks, an Alameda, Calif.-based electronics company that produces software for many hand-held diaries. Geoworks is also building the operating system for the Ericsson smart phone.
Nokia declined to discuss the smart phone, which is expected to cost more than $1,000. Wireless companies believe smart phones will be especially attractive to the business community because it will offer them greater mobility without having to use a bulky laptop computer.
"It's the ultimate toy for the person who can afford it," said Zwetchkenbaum.