Its a Phone First

I'm still recovering from my mid-February trip to Barcelona for the 3GSM conference. I am recovering not from travel, but from an overload of impressions and announcements and what it all means for Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine.

The name of the conference, 3GSM is telling. GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) is the most popular mobile phone standard, used by 2 billion people across 212 countries and territories. Because the standard is worldwide, I was able to use my U.S. Cingular Samsung BlackJack and my U.S. phone number on a Barcelona network. The 3 in 3GSM stands for 3rd-generationfast, broadband, digital connection for mobile phones.

Highlights from 3GSM

Here are my Windows Mobile take-away's from the show:

• Windows Mobile 6 was announced: Our lead story demonstrates how the new release makes Windows Mobile Smartphones more useable—critical for broad adoption.
• Avalanche of new devices: As previewed in this issue, I saw a number of great new innovative gadgets from companies like HTC, i-mate, Samsung, Motorola, HP, Paragon Wireless, and Giga-byte. For the first time in years, I am really looking forward to trying a number of them.
• The Pocket PC is no more: Starting with Windows Mobile 6, Microsoft will no longer refer to Windows Mobile devices as Pocket PCs. Pretty much everything is a smartphone (small s). Pocket PCs without a phone are PDAs running Windows Mobile 6 Classic software. As if to reinforce this news, Dell recently announced the discontinuation of its Axim, and HP introduced its first non-touchscreen iPAQ smartphone.
• Other hot topics: The show included mobile TV, mobile advertising (everyone wants to be the next Google), and mobile Web 2.0 communities (like blogging and equivalents to MySpace).
• Over 55,000 attendees and 1300 displays meant excitement: A lot of money is being invested in a smartphone market that will grow at an accelerating pace over the next few years.

From mobile computing to mobile communicating

From the start, our publications have been about mobile computing. When I started Thaddeus Computing 22 years ago, we wrote about the first DOS laptop from HP. Since then we have published magazines about DOS palmtops, Windows CE handhelds, and Pocket PCs. That is, we have written about the power and potential of having a computer available anywhere, anytime.

However, the PDA market has always been a niche market. On the other hand, mobile phones have become almost as ubiquitous throughout the world as radio and TV. Now with advances in technology and the availability of digital broadband networks, more and more people will be using smarter and smarter phones.

There is a subtle but definite paradigm shift taking place in the mobile marketplace. Mobile devices have evolved beyond being just computers—they are communicators. That is, mobile devices have evolved from being thinking aids to communication aids. The human experience is about relationship, and now technology can assist.

What does that mean for Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine and its readers?

Yes, of course, we will continue to show you how to harness the power of Windows Mobile with third-party software and accessory reviews, how-tos, user profiles, and Enterprise solutions. However, we will increase our focus on mobile communicator-related topics. Our team recently held a brainstorming meeting. Here are some of the ideas we came up with: