Bellsouth, IBM unveil personal communicator phone | Mobile Phone News | Find Article...
`
`Page 1 of 3
`
`Business Services Industry
`
`0 Comments
`Bellsouth, IBM unveil personal
`communicator phone
`Mobile Phone News, Nov 8, 1993
`
`ORLANDO, FLA.--"Mobile Communications Made Simple," marks the slogan for BellSouth's
`new Simon personal communicator that was unveiled here last week at the Wirless World
`conference. Designed by IBM, Simon looks and acts like a cellular phone but offers much
`more than voice communications. In fact, users can employ Simon as a wireless machine, a
`pager, an electronic mail device, a calendar, an appointment schedular, an address book, a
`calculator and a pen-based sketchpad--all at the suggested retail price of $899.
`
`According to BellSouth Cellular Corp.'s product development manager Rich Guidotti, Simon
`represents the first real personal communicator because it was designed to be a cellular
`phone--a communications device--first, and a computer second. Other industry members
`attending the conference commented on the uniqueness of the BellSouth/IBM approach,
`saying it was the first time a company had placed a computer in a cellular phone, rather than
`placing a cellular phone in a computer.
`
`...BellSouth Continues To Work on Various Data Projects
`
`IBM and BellSouth jointly began developing the product last year after IBM displayed a
`prototype of its personal comunicator at the Comdex show, which sparked BellSouth
`executives' interest. The two companies based the final product on extensive market
`research.
`
`BellSouth's personal communicator activities do not stop with IBM; the company currently
`is working with Apple to integrate cellular into the Newton device.
`
`BellSouth's work with Apple is not affected by the new Simon, Guidotti said. Referring to the
`Newton as an electronic organizer and the Simon as a personal communicator, Guidotti
`added: "No one product fits everyone's needs."
`
`IBM plans to be busy developing products during the next few months; the company "still
`plans to enter the PDA [personal digital assistant] market in 1994," said Al Testani, IBM's
`general manager of Peripheral Products. The wireless computing market will involve a
`"spectrum of devices," he said, calling Simon a "voice-intensive device."
`
`"There will also be data-intensive devices; we plan to enter that [market] later," he said.
`
`...Simon's Features
`
`http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3457/is_n43_v11/ai_14297997/
`
`7/25/2009
`
`AT&T - Exhibit 1011
`
`

`

`Bellsouth, IBM unveil personal communicator phone | Mobile Phone News | Find Article...
`
`Page 2 of 3
`
`Weighing in at a little more than a pound, the new personal communicator boasts a liquid
`crystal display (LCD) that offers a telephone keypad as well as a computer keypad. When
`used as a cellular phone, Simon offers standard cellular features, including a built in 9-1-1
`emergency call button, last-number redial, last-10 numbers redial, address book auto-dial
`and roaming preference.
`
`When using Simon as a personal communicator, customers can access the device's graphical
`user interface (GUI), which uses icons and on-line help screens to make the device more user
`-friendly. The phone has limited storage capabilities, which can be increased through a
`personal computer memory card international association (PCMCIA) slot.
`
`In addition, the PCMCIA slot allows customers to add a paging card in order to receive
`electronic messages or value-added information services on a nationwide, regional or local
`basis, through MobileComm, BellSouth's paging company. Other slot features include: an
`organizer feature and a calendar, which can be updated automatically from a remote
`computer using the PCMCIA slot.
`
`Even without the optional PCMCIA slot, Simon can send and receive E-mail through any
`Lotus cc:Mail post office that supports remote dial-in. When Simon is equipped with a
`PCMCIA add-on, messages can be received through most public E-mail systems.
`
`...IBM Employs Different Technologies for Simon's Features
`
`Using the standard Simon, customers can create faxesf and memos by using pen-touch
`screens or by writing directly on the screen, using a stylus. When customers send faxes, their
`handwriting will be reflected exaclty--not digitized to look like a printed word-using a
`technology called pen annotation.
`
`Offering fax capabilities via users' own handwriting will relieve the frustration of dealing
`with the current imperfect handwriting recognition technology.
`
`"You don't have to learn how to rewrite to use this product," Guidotti said. However,
`BellSouth is not ruling out the possibility of using handwriting-recognition technology in
`future generations of Simon, he continued.
`
`For those applications where typing is necessary, such as E-mail, the phone's LCD screen
`displays a complete computer keyboard. For users who prefer larger letters, Simon offers a
`patented IBM technology called predictive keyboard.
`
`With this technology, only a portion of the keyboard is displayed on the LCD screen. After a
`user selects a letter, the computer predicts the next letters the user most likely will choose
`and displays those on the screen.
`
`The phone currently is based on an AMPS standard, but as cellular digital packet data
`(CDPD) networks come on line, IBM and BellSouth most likely will develop a CDPD phone,
`said IBM's Testani.
`
`IBM granted BellSouth exclusive U.S. distribution rights to Simon. Pending FCC approval,
`BellSouth plans to introduce Simon in Orlando, Daytona Beach, Jacksonville and
`Melbourne, Fla., in December. A phased rollout will move Simon into other BellSouth
`markets by March 1994, with a nationwide distribution targeted by April.
`
`http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3457/is_n43_v11/ai_14297997/
`
`7/25/2009
`
`

`

`Bellsouth, IBM unveil personal communicator phone | Mobile Phone News | Find Article...
`
`Page 3 of 3
`
`COPYRIGHT 1993 Access Intelligence, LLC
`COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
`
`
`http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3457/is_n43_v11/ai_14297997/
`
`7/25/2009
`
`