Prototyping – Early functionality product
Prototypes are used to demonstrate, test, and verify concept technology at an early stage.
This calls for overdimensioned but not fully optimized hardware. Prototyping facilitates the testing and analysis of different implementations at an early stage. Flexible designs make it possible to add and modify hardware according to needs. Obviously, this is not possible in commercial product development cycles.
Although ideal for proof-of-concept applications, prototype terminals are typically too expensive for high-volume production and cannot be optimized for other features, such as low power consumption and small size. For this reason, they cannot be turned into a commercial market solution even when they excel at demonstrating functionality.
Ericsson’s prototype projects typically lie 12 to 18 months ahead of commercial roll-out of handset platforms and infrastructure products.
After having used a prototype to prove a concept, the next step is to transfer functionality to real products via Ericsson’s mobile phone platform offerings.
The use of prototypes also helps developers to identify and resolve potential problems, which significantly shortens the development time of commercial platforms. The idea is to elaborate the solution with a prototype, make tests, and integrate the proven concept into an Ericsson infrastructure implementation.
After the basic solution has been predeveloped in a prototype environment, the new functionality is designed into an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) and development boards. One can thus bring a compact, cost-effective platform solution to market by moving the functionality from a software solution on overdimensioned hardware to a slim ASIC implementation.
Hedvig
A prototype that never made to the market because the project was cancelled due to increasing costs. The design brief was “Produce a ‘wow’ phone”.
The estimated number of existing units is between 80 and 100 whereof the majority of them is probably defective. Damaged paintwork is common, since the front housing is first of all fully chromed and therefore painted, the paintwork is quite fragile.
The developers chose a modern but too fragile voltage controller IC. It doesn’t resist the high power consumption of the power amplifier and will die sooner or later if the phone is used for making calls. For not risking one of the few working Hedvigs, they should only be used for test purposes.
R520 Valentina
A number of built unit of UMTS prototype based on the R520m is so far unknown. Mostly units comes with a test software, the T29 antenna on top of the Valentina is obviously normal. All units on pictures so far are fitted with this kind of antenna.
R320 GPRS
February 3, 2000 — In an industry first, Ericsson demonstrates a live end-to-end live GPRS network, complete with WAP applications over GPRS and a first prototype GPRS phone.
The Ericsson GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) phone used for the demonstrations at the GSM World Congress in Cannes, is the first fully working prototype in the industry to be shown in a live end-to-end GPRS network.
The GPRS phone used for the demonstrations is a fully working prototype, its exterior design being based on the Ericsson R320 GSM WAP-phone. Inside the prototype phone, there is breakthrough technology, which handles both GPRS and GSM. Ericsson will launch pre-commercial GPRS phones toward the end of this year and expects commercial volumes during first quarter 2001. Commercial products will not look like the prototype and will incorporate a range of sophisticated technologies, which together with GPRS will enable a broad spectrum of both communication and information functionalities.
Ericsson is demonstrating WAP over GPRS using its MC218 WAP-compatible terminal, which is connected to the GPRS prototype phone. The applications are running on a portable PC. The PC is connected to the Ericsson GPRS prototype phone via an infrared connection. The live end-to-end GPRS network includes radio network and infrastructure, user interfaces, billing systems and network management.
Two of the applications on show are Microsoft Chat and a Lotto System. Chat allows participants using a GPRS mobile phone to converse using text, or cartoon characters representing themselves. Lotto enables users to select lottery numbers using a graphical interface on the Ericsson GPRS prototype phone, and submit them to a Lotto server. Other applications being demonstrated over the live Ericsson GPRS network include Web browsing, e-mail and FTP file transfer.
T36 Misted Yellow
June 5, 2000 — Ericsson unveiled the first Bluetooth™ mobile phone T36 at CommunicAsia in Singapore. The built-in Bluetooth chip in the T36 makes wireless connectivity possible between the phone and other mobile devices.
The T36 features WAP offering access to the Mobile Internet, and supports High Speed Data (HSCSD), making it capable of sending and receiving large amounts of data over the Internet at high speed. It is also the first triple band (GSM 900/1800/1900) phone from Ericsson.
In October 2000, Ericsson announced that they will continue to develop Ericsson T36. But it will replaced with a new model T39, because the phone doesn’t support GPRS features.
The yellow T36 also quite well-known from press photos. However, most existing units come in classic blue, a color which became famous through the later T39.
The T36 differs visually from the T39 in a black keypad, a white Ericsson print above the display window and an antenna whose cap’s shape and color matches the one from a T28. All components are 98% the same like on later T39, it is almost final T39 but without GPRS.
GS88 Penelope
The 1994 IBM Simon is widely regarded as the world’s first ‘smartphone’, but the term didn’t appear until 1997 when Ericsson promoted the term ‘smartphone’ in its marketing campaign for the GS88 Penelope, a device that combine mobile computing, text and voice applications.
The Ericsson GS88 was developed in Kista (Sweden) during 1997 and manufactured in approx. 200 copies, most of them scrapped.
The GS88 never reached the final release, analysis showed that the market was not mature. It must have been close to it, there is a British collection comes boxed with owners manual, CD-Rom, and additional accessories.
T68 Sharkfin
The sharkfin design seems to be an early prototype version. Unlike the later release it comes with a solid magnesia back frame. There is not even one part of the final T68 which can be used to repair a T68 sharkfin.
R520 SyncML
At CeBIT 2001, Ericsson showed a complete SyncML solution, including the synchronization engine and clients. A red R520 prototype used to test the SyncML (Synchronization Markup Language) implementation.
Ericsson has been involved in the development and standardization of SyncML from the very beginning. Ericsson was the first mobile phone vendor to demonstrate SyncML over the wireless application protocol (WAP)—initially, at the SyncML Supporter Summit in June 2000, and later, at the SyncML Supporter Summit in Dublin, as well as at the launch of SyncML 1.0 in London.
In March 2001, Ericsson became the first mobile phone manufacturer to gain SyncML certification, for two GPRS phones, the R520 and T39. Ericsson’s synchronization engine, Usync, has also been certified.
SyncML is an open synchronization standard that will make it possible to remotely synchronize regardless of network, server or device. Device manufacturers do not need to worry about supporting a multitude of synchronization schemes in their devices and applications developers can be sure that their customers can benefit from the application regardless of device and network used.
The SyncML initiative is sponsored by Ericsson, IBM, Lotus, Matsushita, Motorola, Nokia, Palm, Inc. Psion, Starfish Software and supported by over 600 key wireless companies. Companies interested in deploying SyncML-compliant products and services in 2001 and beyond are encouraged to join the initiative.
(ericsson.com/e-zones.net/esato.com/mobilmania.cz)
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