A handset with a sensor screen is no big deal, not any more. Such devices have long ago occupied business segment and will soon be available for less US $200
Sensor pioneers
The first pocket computers with sensor screens appeared in the mid-1900s. At the time, Palm and Psion were the most well known manufacturers of pocket PCs. However, the true contact of sensor screens with the world of handsets happened in 2000 when the Swedish company Ericsson introduced the landmark R380 handset with a built-in pocket computer. The solution was a breakthrough, but the exorbitant price hampered its popularity. The important thing, however, is that the product served as a basis for a whole family of Symbian communicators by Sony Ericsson and the concept of Swedish engineers pushed the development of phones in a new direction.
Êîììåíòàðèé
The Palm and other manufacturers of pocket computers with the Microsoft OS – Pocket PC, later renamed into Windows Mobile, entered into the fray. The winner was a small Thai company HTC with the first generation of devices with large sensor screens that a year later appeared under the trademarks Qtek and i-Mate. All sensor screens at the time were used cheap and reliable resistance type technology. A resistance screen is covered with a thin transparent film, which locks the electric contact at the touch point when pressed. The most convenient way to lock the contact is by using a stylus pen that resembles a big nail.
Touch phone for the people
Quality jumped to quantity in 2005. The Sony Ericsson P910 and Qtek S100 escaped the close circle of technical gadget freaks and became highly popular among managers, lawyers and other educated and wealthy people. These sophisticated communicators were loaded functions unnecessary for the average user and sold for an exorbitant price. Engineers began thinking about equipping simple and affordable phones with sensor screens.
Double whammy
LG dealt the first blow. The Korean company sought a technological catch that would make it a full-fledged player on the handset market. Capacitance sensor control was the thing. You need not press the screen as with resistance sensors. It suffices to lightly touch the screen to get the desired effect.
Having experimented with separate sensor buttons, LG engineers set the task of developing a phone with a full-screen capacitance sensor designed for finger control without a stylus. The Prada Phone by LG, which fashionistas in the whole world literally swept off the store shelves, despite the price tag of US $1,000.
At that time, work on developing the Apple iPhone in California that would complete the world’s sensor revolution was drawing to an end. Presented to the public on January 9, 2007, the iPhone divided the world into those for whom it was simple, understandable and convenient and those for whom it turned out to be not enough functional.
Before developing their model, Apple analyzed which of the phone’s functions are greatest in demand and abandoned the rest. The wager on sensible simplicity made the device the most popular handset in the world.
After iPhone
Traditional manufacturers set out to catch up with Apple, banking on the functional superiority. The first generation of iPhone killers failed miserably. Nobody needed expensive, sophisticated and not clumsy devices. The lowering of the prices turned out to be more fruitful. The second product from Apple – iPhone 3G – sold in many countries at US $800-1,000. The crisis demanded cheaper solutions, so Nokia in late 2008 came up with the Nokia 5800 in Europe for EUR 349, which became a bestseller. LG set a task of designing a sensor phone below US $250. The result was the LG KP500 - in tacky plastic CASE and with a resistance screen – but thin and convenient and with all the basic functions.
Today, Samsung S5230 is replacing the LG KP500. It is planed to become the first phone to sell below US $200. One should not expect that phones with large sensor screens will soon drop in price to replace traditional models but if you need a handset just for making calls, considering a sensor model, for their’s is the future.
Printable version
