Dear Sony Ericsson,
Though we've known each other for some time, this is the first time that I've written. For the most part, our relationship has been a good one. Back when AT&T was still AT&T Wireless, the Sony Ericsson T68i was one of the very first phones I ever owned (it's so old that I can't even find the CNET review). At the time, I was the envy of my friends since I had a nifty new feature called Bluetooth. What's more, I was the very first person that I knew to have multimedia messaging.
Sony Ericsson T68
(Credit: Sony Ericsson)Though I had to ditch the T68i by the time that I arrived at CNET almost exactly six years ago (happy anniversary to me!), I continued to use your phones periodically as my personal device. And in my official role at CNET, I've reviewed no fewer than 33 of your handsets. On the whole I've enjoyed what I've seen. You've given us brilliant displays, your Walkman and Cyber-shot phones can offer fantastic multimedia quality, and you regularly introduce conversation piece models like the Xperia X1.
But after reviewing T-Mobile's recent Sony Ericsson Equinox, I no longer can overlook one of my frequent complaints. And no, I'm not referring to your unfortunate tendency to over-design your keyboards and controls at the expense of usability. Instead, I'm talking about Sony's proprietary ports and memory cards.
Now I know that you've pledged to adopt the Micro-USB charger standard, but the rest of the cell phone world is rapidly leaving you behind. Even Samsung, a company that put a different charger port on almost every phone, has largely moved in that direction already. In comparison, you're beginning to look dated and frankly, a little stubborn. So please, drop that pesky proprietary port without further delay.
On the upside, I was pleased to hear last summer that you'll be dropping the Memory Stick Micro format in favor of microSD cards. With the exception of the X1, you've stuck firmly to the costly Memory Stick Micro cards until just recently (the Equinox requires them). I'm pleased, however, that newer models like the Yari, the Satio, the Aino, the Jalou, and the Xperia X10 all use microSD. Not only will that save your customers money, but also they'll be able to transfer data onto their phones from other devices.
The W995's lovely 3.5mm headset jack.
(Credit: Kent German/CNET)Lastly, I have to ask that you stop using your proprietary headset connection and adopt a standard 3.5mm jack. I know you're capable of doing this, but I need to see more effort. One of the best features on the W995 was its 3.5mm jack. I was very pleased that I could use my own headset while listening to tunes without having to fumble with the awkward adapter. Even better, I could use more than one peripheral at a time.
You already offer great phones, but these changes will make them even better. Plus, you'll be showing your customers that you want to offer them the most choice possible. That's a small price to pay for a lot of user goodwill.
Regards,
Kent German
P.S. I'd also like to see more of your phones come to U.S. carriers--I fear that we'll never see the Google Android-powered X10--but I'll save that for another column.
Apple and other big phone makers have struck a deal with the European Commission to start selling phones with universal cell phone chargers starting next year.
Side by side view of a micro-USB connector and a regular USB connector.
(Credit: Wikimedia Commons)Under the agreement, manufacturers would start using micro-USB connections for phone chargers used for smartphones. Apple joins other big cell phone makers including LG, Motorola, Nokia, Research In Motion, Samsung and Sony Ericsson in agreeing to the new standard. Chipset makers, such as NEC, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments have also agreed to the deal.
In February the GSMA, a trade association for mobile carriers using GSM technology, said it had brokered a deal with handset makers to get the micro-USB technology into cell phone chargers by 2012. And the CTIA, the U.S. wireless trade association, backed the standard in April of this year.
The initiative has many advantages. For one it makes it much easier for consumers who no longer have to worry about losing their one and only cell phone charger. It also cuts down on waste since people can reuse their cell phone chargers when they get a new phone. Even though some cell phone manufacturers were reluctant to give up their proprietary cell phone chargers for fear that it would make it easier for customers to switch to new phones from competitors, eventually standardizing on one technology will help these manufacturers reduce costs.
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(Credit:
Motorola)
Geardiary.com has a interesting post up about how more devices, especially cell phones, are using Micro-USB instead of Mini-USB, and how it's partially a ploy to get you to buy more overpriced charging adapters.
It's a good conspiracy theory that's hard to argue with, but it also seems clear that the shift to Micro-USB is about saving space in building the device.
Last week, CNET's Marguerite Reardon reported that the GSMA trade association had brokered a deal with the leading cell phone manufacturers to standardize on Micro-USB. Conspicuously missing from the list was Apple, maker of the iPhone, but the idea is that by the year 2012 (seems like a long way off, doesn't it?), virtually all cell phones--and hopefully all Bluetooth headsets--will have the same connector.
That would make life a lot easier for anybody who's ever left a charger at home and hopes to find someone with a matching charger (or go buy an overpriced one at the store).
I--and many others--hope the standardization extends to a lot of other gadgets. The Kindle 2 has shifted to Micro-USB for charging and data transfers, and it should be a no-brainer for next-gen MP3 players, digital cameras, and camcorders, plus portable game consoles (the Nintendo DS uses a weird proprietary hybrid USB charger), to make the shift.
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