Ringing in style, fun and innovation

I. Christianto Contributor Jakarta

Composing unique, attractive and catchy as well as odd and embarrassing ring tones on cellular phones has become a fun thing to do nowadays for people whose lives depend on the wireless communication gadget.

There is a full list of choices, such as top-forty songs, national anthems, traditional folk songs, classical chants, remixed children jingles, which can be downloaded or installed on the mobile handsets.

The rings of the mobile phones are sometime particularly disturbing especially when you are still in the middle of a meeting. In this situation, communicating through SMS can be much more effective.

Installing an icon, logo or picture has also become another fun use of cell phones. Cell phone users are now able to put their photos on the screen and send them to others. Soon, they will also be able to install, download and exchange video via the handsets.

The competition in the mobile phone market has become so fierce nowadays. In order to win the buyers' hearts, manufactures are not only selling smart or technology laden handsets but also fun and stylish ones.

Major mobile phone manufacturers including Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Siemens regularly introduce new products with innovative designs and features. They target all segments, comprising the high, medium and low-end users.

The number of cellular phone users has been steadily increasing annually. Industry analysts believe the global market will surge by some 10 percent this year with some 430 million mobile handsets being sold around the world, driven by increased availability of phones with GPRS, Bluetooth, color screens and Multimedia Messaging Service and other internet-based functions.

The number of users in Indonesia has also surged significantly. The Association of Indonesian Cellular Operators (ATSI) revealed that at the end of last year the industry served a total of 6.57 million cell phone users, almost double the 3.67 million users the previous year.

Worldwide mobile phone sales totaled 98.7 million units in the second quarter of 2002, a 0.8 percent increase from the same period last year, according to market research company Dataquest.

Gartner Dataquest analysts said there are signs that the mobile phone industry has reached a point of stability and is positioned for stronger growth. It said the top three mobile handset makers, by ranking, is unchanged: Nokia, Motorola and Samsung.

Analysts in Indonesia predict up to 2 million new handsets will be sold annually. They say leading brands in Indonesia include Nokia, Siemens, Samsung, Ericsson and Motorola.

As more people want to access the Internet via their cell phones, mobile phone makers are also preparing web-enabled handsets. They are trying to conquer the biggest obstacles including slow speeds, small screens and tiny keyboards.

Cellular phones are increasingly resembling palm-sized must have tools, with functions such as data synchronization with PC applications. Mobile communications devices are set to bring much more than a telephony experience. Using them will rather be geared to multimedia communications.

In accordance with the development of the third generation (3G) technology projected for application in the very near future, cellular phone producers are preparing terminals with high-speed access capabilities up to 384kbps, enabling high-end applications such as voice, data and image transferring, but also video conferencing via a cellular phone.

The world's leading cellular maker, Nokia of Finland, unveiled earlier this month, its most hi-tech mobile, the Nokia 3650. It will be Nokia's second MMS photo messaging phone after the 7650. Nokia 3650's key feature is that its integrated camera can record moving as well as still images. These can be sent by the user as MMS messages to MMS- compatible phones. Video and images can be stored on the phone.

The 3650 features Java for downloading applications and has an XHTML web browser. Other features include Bluetooth compatibility and triband capability so it works across most of the world for the international traveler, who will be able to access a "wide range of business applications, including e-mail, calendar, reminder and agenda. The phone, which weighs 130g and has a battery life of four hours' talk time or eight days' standby, will go on sale next year.

Last week, Nokia also launched the 3610, a phone with a refreshingly new look and design and enhanced local language features. Created primarily for the youth market, the Nokia 3610 sports a trendy interplay of colors, pop art cover motifs and has WAP push support.

Consumer trends show a significant growth in the youth market in Asia over the last two years, indicating also a higher demand for shorter product cycles for youths who are more trend- conscious and keen to have the latest and newest devices," he added.

Also last week, Nokia introduced the 3530 which promises to add color and bring fun and excitement to the mass consumer market. It offers high quality color display, MMS and Java technology in a mobile phone designed for the youth and young at heart who enjoy fun and richer ways of staying connected. With a new design and exciting color covers, the Nokia 3530 also supports polyphonic ringing tones (MIDI), downloadable applications as well as attractive wallpapers to personalize your cell phone.

Hasan Aula, the general manager of Nokia Mobile Phones Indonesia, said the company was targeting all segments in the country, including the top, middle and lower markets.

Idris Effendi of PT Samsung Electronics Indonesia said the SGH-N620 is Samsung's most-wanted latest product.

"This model is the first phone in the world with 16-poly ring tones. In terms of poly ring tones, N-620 is the best among all poly ring tones phone available in the market now. Meanwhile, the SGH- T100 True I is the first phone in the world with 4096 TFT LCD," he said, adding that poly ring tone downloading has become a new trend in Indonesia.

He said competition was very tough now. Samsung, however, would continue to maintain its position in the Indonesia market and our market share keeps increasing, he added.

The way people communicate has taken a very revolutionary step. The hand-held communications device now combines a phone, camera, Web browsing, instant messaging and other features in a package more like a video game than a phone.