Carrier: Cingular
Manufacturer: Samsung
Platform/OS: Windows Mobile 5

We can’t help the fact that mobile handsets are often presented in retail environments with dummy mockups and fake printed screens. But, we can help the dialogue with critiques that focus on the whole user experience and not merely a features list and the form factor.

The Blackjack is a conversation starter. It’s small, it’s good looking. People ask about it and I’m forced to explain my love/hate relationship with it.

For the good, the bad, the ugly, odd and puzzling keep reading after the bump. Continue Reading »

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Fiona Carswell, a graduate of the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University, has the answer to your text message doldrums.

“CELL STICKIES: For people who go to great lengths to see what they want to see, Cell Stickies is a small booklet of translucent sheets with comforting messages printed on them. Not satisfied with the text message you received? Peel off a Cell Sticky and slap it on your cellphone screen, showing you the message you really wanted to see.”

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This is a real text message from Cingular. (I’m sure my phone is in their database from last season when my daughters voted for Ms. McPhee.)

But, I couldn’t believe this jumble of text. I have no doubt 16 year olds could probably understand it… but I question whether that still makes it smart marketing. Does bad language and incoherent punctuation add street cred? Do they do it because they believe users won’t scroll?

The haphazard punctuation — sometimes a comma, sometimes a period, sometimes nothing — is the icing on the cupcake. Why push the boundaries of language this far into the downright ludicrous? Are they trying to cut character count to save on data transfers? I don’t get it.

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