Every week, some operator is launching some supposedly game-changing device—a smartphone with new hardware bells or application whistles that will move mobile data services light years forward. I’m usually skeptical about such claims, but this week we might actually see the real things with two much anticipated device launches. Motorola’s Atrix 4G smartphone debuts on the AT&T high-speed packet access plus (HSPA+) network today and the same vendor’s Xoom tablet will appear on Verizon Wireless’ 3G network next week.
You’ve probably read plenty about the Atrix already, but just to summarize, it represents the first attempt to build a device that bridges — through hardware docks — the various computing gadgets in the market. Rather than trying to squeeze laptop functionality into a handset or create a synchronization bridge between fully fledged smartphones, tablets and PCs (a strategy HP is adopting), Motorola is using the Atrix as the heart of device ecosystem. It acts as the CPU for a laptop or as the media hub for a home entertainment system. Rather than just blow up the smartphone screen on whatever peripheral its docked to, the Atrix sports an optimized user interface and applications for each form factor.
The concept is incredibly appealing. The question is the execution. Reviews of the Atrix at CES and afterwards have all been generous, but Moto’s closed peripheral ecosystem might hamper its ultimate adoption. For what is essentially a dumb hardware client, the Atrix laptop dock is pricey, selling for $500. The multimedia dock that allows you to hook up your own keyboard, mouse and HD display will run you $190. Meanwhile, AT&T is selling the Atrix smartphone itself—which actually contains the Nvidia dual-core Tegra 2 processor, memory and Webtop software to run these peripherals–for $200 with subsidy (though reports are coming in that the Atrix can be gotten for far cheaper). Perhaps Moto is taking the razor approach to its new multi-device platform: sell the razor chassis for cheap and then rake in money on the razor blades–$500, though, is an awfully expensive razor blade.
The Xoom isn’t as unique as the Atrix platform. Dozens of devices bearing the new Android tablet-optimized Honeycomb OS were announced in January at CES and last week at Mobile World Congress, but Moto’s will be the first to arrive and it will be the only with long-term evolution (LTE) connectivity—eventually. LTE will come to the Xoom as an upgrade to the radio module, which VZW and Motorola will offer at some future date. But given the combination of a powerful computing device with a powerful low-latency mobile broadband connection, the Xoom could be the platform off of which a whole new batch of powerful mobile data services will be built. Think HD video conferencing and real-time multiplayer first-person shooter gaming.
What’s more, Honeycomb could prove to be the OS we’ve been waiting for to fully define the tablet category. The Apple iPad is a beautiful creation and endlessly functional device, but it’s hard not to get the impression at times that you’re playing with a gigantic iPhone. Google, however, seems to have put in the leg work into making Honeycomb a distinct OS optimized for the tablet’s unique form factor. We’ve heard about the virtual and holographic user interface. We’ve seen demos on video editing and sketch pad like drawing capabilities. What we really haven’t seen yet is a commercial Honeycomb device. At $600 with contract and $800 unsubsidized, not many people are likely to get their hands on one anytime soon.
Though Atrix and Xoom will be this week’s show stealers, VZW announced another interesting device that looks almost to be a throwback to the 90s. It’s introducing a new two-way pager. That’s right, you read correctly. Drug dealers moved to cellphones long ago [Editor: Apparently Kevin didn't watch The Wire, whose "entrepreneurs" were using smartphones with multimedia messaging well before their time], but paging never died out completely. It’s still used in the health care industry and other emergency services industry as a mission critical platform for reaching doctors and first responders. Those paging networks have become a bit outdated to say the least, so Verizon is relocating paging onto its IP data networks. Called the ZipIt Enterprise Critical Messaging Solution, the pager is backed by a cloud-based messaging platform, which can confirm whether a message was received and even whether it’s been read.
Verizon Wireless this week also announced that it is extending its V Cast Music store to its Android devices. The service has functioned primarily on VZW’s feature phones, but VZW is taking advantage of a lack of dedicated music service for the Android platform to extend its own carrier-branded service to smartphones. Customers can get their music from anywhere, side-loading from a PC or from the cloud, but without a dedicated music store button like the iPhones iTunes icon, Android phones present a good opportunity for operators to insert their services front and center.