Cell-phone pioneer urges caution on 3G
The man who invented the cell phone says the tech world should not get carried away with the prospects of 3G technology.
Martin Cooper, currently CEO of ArrayComm, told the annual Global Mobile Congress in China Wednesday that current technology might not be capable of adequately supporting phones with a myriad of functions, which could turn off consumers.
"The application of 3G is a universal device. One device will be all things for all people. That's a wrong picture. It turns out that when you use a universal device, it doesn't do any one of these things very well," Cooper said in his speech, which was covered by China's Xinhua news agency.
Cooper, who invented the first portable cell phone in 1973, warned that customers might not be satisfied with the video and audio quality of multi-function phones and prefer to purchase separate higher-quality cameras and MP3 players. That situation could result in 3G cell phones fighting losing battles on multiple marketing fronts.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International
