Operators should seize the 3G UI interface opportunity

7 Nov 2001 at 11:13 GMT Jos Schuurmans

“If I were an operator, right now I would be very aggressively working on deals with mobile device manufacturers to develop my own mobile terminal user interface (UI),” CEO Jari Mielonen of Finnish software house Digia Oy told us on Wednesday in the corridors of the Wireless Developer Conference 2001 in Helsinki.

“Most of the European operators have envied NTT DoCoMo, the major Japanese operator, for its power to rule over the branding of terminals using its network,” he said. “Now is the technology disruptive point that enables operators to do the same outside Japan.”

“With the Symbian platform for third-generation mobile services, operators have for the first time in history the possibility to fully adapt the user interface with their own branding and service offering,” he argued. “The mobile software platform will in the future no longer be a proprietary environment, but an open environment for different parties to work on.”

Symbian redefined its strategy in September, now concentrating on the platform’s kernel while leaving UI design open to end user application developers. “I think that was a logical step,” Mielonen commented, “since each stakeholder has their own ideas of adding stickiness to end users.”

As a result, next to tailored branding, also personalization of the UI will be lifted to a higher level. “We want devices that look like us. You want a device that has the features that you like most, and is customized to your own needs. Now you can already change the color of the box, but in the future you can also change the look and feel of the application shell. In that sense, personalization moves from onto the device, to into the device,” Mielonen asserted.

“Think for example of changing screen savers, background colors, and prioritization of applications. Operator networks might prioritize data traffic for certain users at times or in places where availability of bandwidth is limited. There are likely to be limits to how many 3G users can be active at the same time.”