Today, cell phones are not merely verbal communications devices. The cell phone industry has also shifted from focusing solely on ordinary communications instruments to becoming massive convergence that combines various kinds of technology in a device.
In their most simple forms, the latest models of cell phones generally have a camera with a larger number of mega pixels. Other cell phones, meanwhile, also serve like iPods that can store thousands of MP3 songs and play back DVD-quality video.
Although various technological features are not what customers demand, their presence in a cell phone has become more and more popular. Consumers tend to appreciate the presence of this technological convergence and this has forced producers to team up on a broader platform with other industries providing various technological features.
This reality can be found in a number of prominent cell phone brands, like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung, etc. The presence of sophisticated cell phones is a necessity in terms of the latest development of information communication technology, and consumers will continue to be lured by various devices that indicate a lifestyle.
Nokia, the leading cell phone maker, has recently established strategic collaboration with three broadband wireless Internet service providers, namely PT Telkom, PT Indosat Mega Media (IM2) and PY Cyberindo Aditama (CBN), and one aggregator content, PT Mobile Lifestyle Indonesia (MLI) in offering free hotspot services.
This collaboration allows all users of Nokia N-series handsets, which have a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) feature, to access high-speed Internet freely in 1,000 hotspots owned by the three operators in over 20 cities in Indonesia. However, to be able to access the Internet free of charge, N-series users must first register at www.cooldesak.com portal built by MLI.
According to Nokia Indonesia general manager Hasan Aula, in offering free Internet access, Nokia is not seeking short-term profit but is focusing on long-term benefits in order to ensure that its handset users can get easy access to Internet services.
“We hope that N-series users, now numbering tens of thousands of people, will continue to increase in number as will the number of Wi-Fi users,” he said.
Undeniably, a cell phone eventually cannot be a stand-alone device. The latest hi-end cell phone, for example, which is also frequently referred to as a smart-phone, is often linked, in terms of its sophistication, with its convergence capacity, such as the connectivity of Bluetooth, InfraRed, Wi-Fi, etc., all now considered essential.
Basically, there are two things that a cell phone must have if it is to be included in the smart-phone category, namely versatility and capacity. The first is the versatility to run various functions. Capacity, meanwhile, is linked with storage capacity (memory).
