Source: Geoworks Home PageSTOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, 1996 JAN 26 (NB) -- Although details are firmly under wraps until the Cebit Computer Faire in Germany in March, Newsbytes has discovered that Ericsson is working on a new type of mobile phone that uses a menu and graphic-enabled system to ensure minimal use of the keypad.
Sources have suggested that Ericsson's main rival, Nokia, is working on a similar next generation GUI (graphical user interface) cellphone device, also for introduction at Cebit, and dubbed the Nokia 3100 series, but Ericsson has contracted with Geoworks (NASDAQ: RX), the Alameda, CA software company, for licensing its Geoworks GUI application for use on the next generation mobile.
While Ericsson is saying nothing about its plans, Geoworks has made public its linkup with Ericsson on the project. According to Geoworks, Ericsson has licensed Geoworks' GEOS (Graphical Environment Operating System) operating system for use on Ericsson mobiles scheduled for shipment at the beginning of next year.
"Geoworks and Ericsson share a vision of affordable, high-performance next-generation cellular phones that support anytime, anywhere communications, " explained Anderson Torstensson, executive vice president of Ericsson US, announcing the deal.
According to Torstensson, Ericsson has selected GEOS "for its proven technology, efficient, compact design and flexible user interface that will enable us to introduce a highly differentiated family of smart phones that are easy to use and meet a range of user requirements."
Readers of Newsbytes with long memories will recall that GEOS was a GUI operating system front end seen on DOS machines in the mid to late 1980s. While not as flexible as Windows would later turn out to be, it was unique in that it presented the user with a true graphical interface but running on an 8086/8-based system with just 384 kilobytes of system memory.
Since then, of course, GE0S has been adapted to run on various PDA (personal digital assistants) devices and palmtop, meaning that the GUI is now platform-independent. Geoworks software developers, in conversations with this bureau in recent years, have indicated a preference for the Log Z80 chipset which, while "only" eight bit in nature, is used extensively in a growing number of electronic devices.
Logic suggests that incorporating a Z80 chipset within a cellphone, and then using the processor to drive a "soft" set of menu options using a low power LCD (liquid crystal display) screen, or even a touch sensitive screen as seen on the Apple Computer Newton and Amsterdam PDA systems, would be a low cost method of revolutionizing the humble cellphone.
All this is pure speculation, of course, but Geoworks officials said that their GEOS user interface technology provides "the unique ability for partners to customize the features of their products for optimal ease-of-use and increased product differentiation."
According to Gordon Mayer, Geoworks' CEO, GEOS has now been optimized for use on a smart phone platform. The package is billed as ideal for the purpose of "tracking and organizing a variety of e-mail, fax, voice and paging services."
As reported by Newsbytes, several companies are linking electronic mail services into paging and short message system technology allied with both analog and digital cellular phone systems. Several networks already support ST and inbound e-mail, with several committing to offering e-mail and fax outbound links later this year.
Mayer, meanwhile, claims that, by partnering with Ericsson, Geoworks will be able to work together to "deliver affordable smart phones that will leverage the digital cellular infrastructure to provide extensive value to users worldwide."