Source: alanweinkrantz.typepad.com

If you are an experienced mobile phone user, the ins and outs of wireless
devices are second nature.  Sometimes I get a bit caught up in thinking that everyone needs an iPhone or BlackBerry - you know us first movers, or early adapters.

But there is another market to consider. 

For first-time phone owners, simplicity and ease-of-use are more important than ever. AT&T and Pantech Wireless Inc. today announced the Pantech Breeze™ from AT&T. Available in all company-owned stores and online beginning May 27, the Pantech Breeze is an ideal device for a wide range of users, from novice or first-time mobile phone owners to customers looking to simplify the overall user experience.

At its core, the Pantech Breeze is an uncomplicated mobile phone, specifically designed for people needing an easy way to stay in touch with friends, caregivers and loved ones. (Think older parents, grandparents, or someone who just needs a very basic cell phone.  From its clean and uncluttered design to its simplified menus, oversized display with large keypad and quick-call keys, the Pantech Breeze includes a host of convenient features in a comfortable, modern design.

The Pantech Breeze is the direct result of AT&T and Pantech’s collaboration to build a device on the principles of Universal Design — the practice of designing products and applications that are usable by the most customers possible. AT&T recently published the company’s approach to Universal Design to encourage application developers and handset manufacturers to consider the needs of seniors or customers who have disabilities when creating products and services.

3Screens News Summary:

The Pantech Breeze takes into account many of the design principles set forth in AT&T’s approach to Universal Design:

• 1-2-3 Quick-Call Keys — Three preprogrammable quick-call buttons are located below the screen — users can easily select one of the three quick-call contacts and press the send button to start a call.

• Simplified Menu — Navigating the phone’s features is trouble-free with the simplified "breeze menu," which prioritizes the features that customers want to access most.

• Large Font — Menu screens on the Pantech Breeze use a highly visible large font. Additionally, the font of SMS messages is enlarged and the date and time of messages sent is at the beginning rather than at the end of a message.

• Easy-to-Use Buttons — The oversized buttons on the device respond with a tactile click when pressed, and the amount of time the keys remain illuminated after use is extended.

• Clear and Loud Speakerphone — A large, dedicated button starts and stops speakerphone use.

• Camera — A dedicated hard key for the camera brings up camera options "take a picture" and "photo album" to give users easy access to useable camera functions.

• Audible Keys — An option to have audio accompany numeric keystrokes makes it easy to know which buttons have been pressed, resulting in mistake-free dialing for those with limited sight.

In addition to these key design features, the Pantech Breeze is a powerful phone. The product is a GSM quad-band world device, able to make voice calls in more than 200 countries and access data and send messages in more than 145. The Pantech Breeze features a talk time of up to three hours and up to 10 hours of standby time. Full messaging, camera and video capabilities, Bluetooth® compatibility and tools such as an alarm clock, notepad, calendar and calculator are included.

Availability and Pricing
The Pantech Breeze will be available May 27 at select AT&T company-owned stores and online at www.wireless.att.com. The Pantech Breeze is $39.99 after a two-year service agreement and a $30 mail-in rebate or $124.99 after a $30 mail-in rebate for customers who prefer to use AT&T’s Pick Your Plan or Pay As You Go GoPhone® prepaid plans.

Source: andyabramson.blogs.com

It looks like the barrier to entry for Mobile VoIP keeps getting lower and lower, as SipGate, a European player in the game has struck a deal with Pirelli to be able to sell their dual mode phone for under 60 Euros.

At the same time, the patent protection firms seem to be going into the Mobile VoIP business.

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

Cell Phone and Brain cancer study has come up again. I think I can blame it on my cell phone next time I do something stupid! I just gave up Smoking! Wham.
In his paper, "Mobile Phones and Brain Tumors — A Public Health Concern," Vini G. Khurana, a staff specialist neurosurgeon at the Canberra Hospital and associate professor of neurosurgery with Australian National University Medical School, summarizes a 14-month study in which he reviewed previous reports on the effects of mobile phone usage in medical and scientific publications as well as the popular press.

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

Walt Disney Co. said Thursday that it would stop its Disney Mobile phone service at the end of the year and also end sales immediately, the second time in a year that the huge conglomerate has orchestrated a quick closing of a cellphone operation. Earlier it shutdown Mobile ESPN another niche offering. illustrates the challenges of competing with national wireless carriers that own their networks.
Disney, like many other so-called mobile virtual network operators, leased network capacity from one of the major carriers — Sprint Nextel Corp., in Disney’s case.
More the reason those upcoming spectrum’s be open and sold with requirements set out by FCC. No wonder Verizon does not like it.

The service had been targeted at the communications needs of families and children, offering features designed to enable parents to know where their children are and help youths learn to use cellphones responsibly, and of course to make money with it’s popular brand.
The phones were equipped to display the location of a user’s handset on a map, limit when and how the phone was used and set limits on expenditures.

The company said it became clear it would have to invest far more in the product to boost sales than could be justified. Exclusive deals cut between large retailers and mobile carriers made it too hard for Disney to get its product in front of customers, the company said.

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

Allan Leinwand of GigaOM fame has an interesting post about more interesting idea. He wants to bring internet to your home phone, your wireless handset as you roam around your home.
Imagine checking price of medium pizza in your neighborhood and placing an order without having to touch that big old yellow pages. Well that is a part of his idea. You can read the full length article at the link given below.
I only worry about mixing up my mobile phone and wireless home phone. If the technology provides Allan’s solution, both phones will be similar in appearance and will be doing similar work. I might switch the phones and have the home phone in my pocket when I go out.
Ok here is my idea, give me another Dual Phone, not the kind we know as dual phone so far. I want a mobile phone, that turns in to a wireless extension to my home phone when I come home!

Links;
Allan’s article on GigaOM
Dual phone with yahoo inside