New Alcatel model ready for the market

Zatni Arbi , Columnist, Jakarta
zatni@cbn.net.id

As I wrote in one of my articles a couple of years ago, my first cellular phone was a blue Alcatel that filled my entire palm.

It was such a long time ago, I've forgotten the model number. Three things that I still remember about it was that my wife's cousin gave it to me, that I gave it to my nephew after I bought myself a Siemens S25, and that it was actually a very well-built phone.

I have been using a number of different models and makes of cellular phones since then. Most of them, I have to admit, were demo units that I had to return to the companies, as other IT reporters and reviewers were waiting for their turn to play around with them.

But this time, I do not have to return my new Alcatel One Touch 535, as it was a door prize that I won during its launch.

Cell phone companies are known for their generosity with quiz and door prizes, so there is never a shortage of reporters each time there is a new mobile phone launch.

It was also a bit funny to me, because I do not believe I have the karma to win anything by chance, which is why I rarely put my business card in the drawing bowl. Clearly, on that special day I had an extraordinary luck: I ended up with a new cell phone.

Like those celebrities with multiple cell phones in their pockets, I think I will use the OT535 to communicate only with my wife and daughter.

Competitive market

Alcatel, the French company that has it all -- satellites, submarine cables and terrestrial technologies -- has seriously decided to reenter the Indonesian market with its cell phone products.

With people increasingly treating their cell phones as part of their lifestyle, it would be hard to understand why anyone with a cell phone product would not fight for a share in such an active market.

Here in Indonesia, it is estimated that 14 million people are already using cell phones. With a total population of more than 220 million people, there is still plenty of opportunity.

However, competition is also fierce. Nokia, for example, keeps updating its products and adding new features with the introduction of each model. For those of us who just want a more basic cell phone with a good look and durability, however, the Alcatel OT535 definitely fits the bill.

By the way, like BMW, Alcatel offers three main lines of cell phones. The OT331, which was launched during the same press conference, is a basic one. The OT535 is a more versatile, more handsome and more capable model that actually fits the needs of those who require basic communications capabilities -- voice, SMS and MMS.

Those who want to have a camera already integrated with their cell phones will have to wait until the OT735 hits the shelves.

In fact, the OT535 and OT735 share so much in common -- including their user manuals. That is not a bad thing, as there are so many things that I like about the OT535.

Mainstream features

The screen on the OT535 is still a 4096-color type, but it has good resolution (128x128 pixels) and reading text messages is easy, as the LCD is quite large and only seven lines of text fit on the screen at one time.

In fact, the screen is slightly larger than the Nokia N6800, which is intended for people who SMS a lot. The screen's backlight is bright, which makes reading easier.

I also like the keypad, which is neither too soft nor too hard. The buttons on the keypad are not too close to one another, either, so the chance for typos is reduced.

I would prefer a slight depression on the face of each of the plastic buttons, though, so that our fingers would feel more at home on the keypad.

Knowing that, whenever possible, most people will be using the messaging service rather than making voice calls nowadays, Alcatel has made sure we can send MMS, text messages, voice messages and canned messages easily with this model.

With the canned messages, for example, we can acknowledge a message by sending "Received! Thank You!", chosen from the list. Of course, we can create our own canned messages.

The 88-gram phone comes in three colors -- red, blue and gray -- and the metallic aluminum faceplate gives it a classic look.

A powerful speaker is at the back, and it produces an impressive polyphonic ring tone. It also has a ring tone composer, although you cannot really create a Paganini arrangement on it.

If we load games -- two are already pre-installed -- the screen will change orientation to make it easier for us to play. The menu, which can be accessed easily with the joystick, is very well-structured.

The five-way joystick really demonstrates Alcatel's concept of one touch. However, I would prefer two separate buttons for starting and ending a call. On this cell phone, there is only one button, and it is easy to press it once too many.

Another thing that I like is the responsiveness of the operating system, which is far better than the two Siemens cell phone models that I tested in the past.

The keypad lock would activate itself after a while, which helps prevents embarrassing unintentional calls. The rest are standard features such as an Infrared port, WAP 2.0, EMS, GPRS Class 10, voice dial, voice memo, T9 predictive text entry, an organizer, a currency converter and a calculator. The battery life has also been excellent so far.

This is a sturdy cell phone with no frills. It does not have an FM radio, nor an optional digital camera attachment.

The only thing that worries me is its memory capacity. Even though I have not started loading my phone book, the system told me that I was already using 77 percent of its total memory.

According to the cell phone's specs, however, the directory can hold up to 800 entries with 10 fields each. The memory is dynamically allocated between the database, voice memo and other applications.

For those users who do not regard a camera as a necessary feature on their cell phones and can live without Bluetooth, the Rp 1.5 million, dual band OT535 is a really great choice.