With operators seeking any advantage to boost mobile data usage, could the key lie in improving the user interface? Fastap is an evolution of the existing keypad technology that its developer, Digit Wireless, says opens up a new world of usability and profitability for mobile devices. Keith Dyer talks to Digit Wireless founder and CTO David Levy, and CEO Mark Connon, about how the re-thinking of a 50 year old technology is unleashing the true power of mobile.
Mobile Europe: Simple questions to start with. What is Fastap and what has it been developed to address?
David Levy: The technology has been developed because the 50 year old 12 button keypad is incompatible with modern wireless data and messaging services. If a company tried to introduce the 12 button keypad today, a design with four or five characters on each key, it would be universally rejected as simply being a bad design. Fastap is a fundamental enhancement to button technology that brings phones to the next level. Fastap allows the outside of mainstream phones to be consistent with the powerful stuff inside.
With Fastap, mainstream 12 button mobile phones can be manufactured with full alphanumeric capability [a button for each letter and number], or with “Press-To-Anything” dedicated buttons for one-touch access to operator value added services or to create better converged devices, such as a Phone/MP3 player with dedicated music controls.
Mark Connon: The 12 button interface is very good for voice applications, for calling people. Fastap can really be viewed as an enhancing technology that renders a device much more useable and friendly for messaging, data and voice services.
Fastap is made up of raised and lowered keys powered by error prevention software. The beauty of Fastap is that it works without the user knowing it. The software algorithms notice if a user accidentally hits the wrong key and corrects that key press automatically. The unique nature of the raised and lowered key design makes each key about the size of a computer laptop key.
Digit Wireless licences the Fastap technology to mobile device manufacturers while working with them to provide whatever support is needed to implement phones on their existing timescales.
David Levy: That combination of raised and lowered keys, with the software algorithms, gives one keypad with two levels of functionality. It’s a very simple and elegant solution.
Mobile Europe: So what are some of the designs and uses that are enabled by using this technology?
David Levy: You can have a full alpha-numeric keypad within a standard phone form factor. Or you can add as many buttons as you want to a more traditional 12 button design to accomplish a wide range of design or market goals, one-touch access to any operator service or applications that reside on the device.
Mark Connon: The huge current challenge facing operators is enabling discovery, access and use of mobile data applications. Reducing the number of clicks to access and use a function is core to the strategy of any operator. Enhancing the ease with which users can first discover, and then use, value-added services strongly impacts the usage and revenue of each service. One touch access is one very strong and powerful solution to that operator need.
Mobile Europe: It seems that there are a number of people trying to address this problem of discovery and ease of use from different angles at the moment — with solutions such as touch screen, interactive voice, scrollwheels and so on.
David Levy: I see a strong parallel between computers and the mobile phone. In every OS there are multiple ways to do everything. Personal preference and setting plays a huge role. If you are in your car then voice recognition may be ideal, but if you are in a meeting it’s horrible. Research continues to show that touch screen or handwriting recognition will never catch on in the mass market.
QWERTY keyboards are a good solution for a segment, a small segment of the market, that segment that wants a data device first. Fastap enables mass market, small, stylish designs and moreover, for complex tasks Fastap is more efficient than QWERTY for the simple reason that Fastap provides complete separation of number and letters, whereas most other QWERTY devices have shared buttons.
Mobile Europe: There’s also movement from certain developers to use the text input method as a key means of navigating around the phone, as an intuitive method for application discovery. Xi Corp’s Qix technology for instance, springs to mind.
Mark Connon: We think logical access in our alphanumeric implementation is a huge opportunity: with dedicated keys for each letter and number, pressing “t” takes you direct to text messaging, or “w” to launch the web, or “p” for picture messaging. Or you could use the buttons for more intuitive speed dialing. Press “B” for Barkley. You don’t have that luxury when you have multiple characters on each key. So Fastap is a very nice complement to Zi’s implementation of Qix, instead of pressing the #2 and getting all the options available under that button [2, a, b, c] you only get what is applicable to the single character on the key you press.
Mobile Europe: So given this opportunity, what evidence do you have that Fastap does indeed add revenues to mobile operators?
David Levy: One of our first customers was LG, which launched the Fastap 6190 last year, with Canadian operator Telus. The 6190 is a full alphanumeric device on a mainstream flip phone, and it did very well for Telus.
From a sales point of view it accounted for between 6-10% of all handset sales on a monthly basis at launch, and it is still being sold, and retained a marked percentage share a year later.
In addition to its impact on sales, Telus has also seen higher data revenues from users with the Fastap phone. Telus’ existing customers show over a 100% increase in monthly data revenues over comparable 12 button phones, and amongst new users they have seen over 75% uplift in monthly data revenues.
I love people asking which applications Fastap will enhance most because the uplift is across the board. A 116% increase in SMS usage; 50% increase in wireless web usage and over a 30% increase in penetration.
Mobile Europe: And how did Telus market the phone? To any particular segment, or as a “messaging” phone, for instance?
Mark Connon: Fastap is meant to be a mass market solution and Telus marketed it alongside their 12 button, mid-tier camera phones, as a messaging device but not in its own category — as a 12 button phone that is messaging capable.
Mobile Europe: Is there any relevance in the fact that Telus’ holding company is one of your investors.
Mark Connon: Telus Mobility’s parent Corporation is an investor of ours, but in fact they became so after we had worked with the Telus Mobility group, leading to their interest to invest. The company’s major investors include Qualcomm and Venrock Associates.
Mobile Europe: Given these results, how much of a priority do you think the actual UI and ease of use of the device is becoming for operators and, by extension, their handset suppliers?
Mark Connon: I see each operator creating a major focus on simplicity — simplicity of usage and simplicity of applications. Let’s take an application like mass market consumer email, which operators, especially in Europe, are very keen on. Well, just entering my email address on a normal keypad takes 72 taps, and only 26 taps on a Fastap phone. The existing keypad is clearly a barrier to use. An intuitive solution will drive adoption.
David Levy: The industry has been very proactive with other issues such as display sizes and resolution. Network speed and quality of coverage is significantly better than it has been. The physical side of the user interface is climbing right up to the top of the ladder in its need to be addressed.
Mark Connon: There’s a high level of SMS usage in Europe, and operators want to move into IM and email. I think that transition has not been as smooth as many people might have hoped. One obstacle is the UI.
With 3G services, the question facing operators is how to get the phones to function more easily. Fastap helps here too. For example, with mobile video, Fastap can enable a phone with dedicated control keys (Play/Pause, Stop, Channel, Program Guide keys etc). With Fastap you no longer need to jump between applications… you could text message and operate your Video/MP3 player at the same time.
David Levy: Another example of simplification — look at T-Mobile’s Web’n’Walk. Web’n’Walk has ten or so different features, any one of which is potentially a high revenue earner. Fastap enables a user to instantly access any of those services with a single press like their price comparison service. If you make it intuitive to use then people will use it a lot more, and that drives up revenues for the operators.
Mobile Europe: It seems a compelling value proposition to mobile operators. Is there as important a conversation to be had with the OEMs and the ODMs?
Mark Connon: We certainly need to do both. We speak to the operators in The Americas and Europe to educate them to the market-proven operator benefits.
At the same time we speak to pretty much all of the OEMs and ODMs about how Fastap empowers them to design easier to use phones that generate higher revenue for their customers.
We have answered the two critical questions that exist with any new technology, will people buy it? and do they use it? The answer for Fastap is a strong “yes” for both.
Mobile Europe: And how do the OEMs and ODMs view the capacity for differentiation that this technology can give them? Do you face a desire for exclusivity?
David Levy: Everyone prefers exclusivity on a new technology, but Fastap provides a large capacity for differentiation. As an enabling technology Fastap can look different from phone to phone. This allows every manufacturer to maintain their own style through a distinct design approach. We’re in active discussions with ODMs and OEMs and I’m very confident you’ll see broad adoption across multiple manufacturers.
Mobile Europe: You are of course asking manufacturers to reconsider something which they naturally think of as their domain and a key differentiator — the actual look and UI of the phone itself.
Mark Connon: : There is only one thing in the mobile device that is 50 years old. Everything else has made huge advances. The keypad is the squeaking wheel and it is beginning to squeak very loudly.
Mobile Europe: So is there a large impact on the cost of build to eliminate that squeak? After all, the other key driver for operators at present is reducing cost to its minimum at all points in the value chain?
David Levy: Fastap is clearly the lowest cost solution for an alphanumeric keypad on a mainstream phone. When you look at the costs associated with other implementations, typically they involve expensive hinge solutions, or multiple keypads, and two sets of backlighting. Fastap uses one PCB, one set of backlighting and, in the most cost-effective way, are able to bring a completely different functionality to the 12 button phone.
Mobile Europe: Do you think you can take the basic technology concept into other areas?
David Levy: It’s definitely a button technology that can be deployed in other applications. There’s GPS locators, which is screaming for some smarter interface. Remote controls are littered with buttons, and have grown to be quite large.
With the advent of IPTV Fastap in a combination alphanumeric and access-control implementation will provide a better way to interact with your television.
Mobile Europe: Finally, what we’re talking about is not just a keypad, but something that goes to the heart of the core challenges facing the industry at present.
David Levy: After half a century without change the keypad is clearly the weakest link in the mobile data value chain. Fastap is an evolutionary step that brings the keypad up-to-date. Improving the keypad is a small change that will have a huge impact for the industry.
“We are pleased to see that the VoLGA Forum has continued to add valuable new capabilities to the specifications,” said Karl-Heinz Nenner, chairman of the VoLGA Forum. “Voice continues to be a critical service for next-generation mobile networks. The additional features make VoLGA a very complete solution.”
The VoLGA Forum has 19 member companies, including Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Deutsche Telekom, Ditech Networks, GENBAND, HTC, Huawei, Kineto Wireless, LG Electronics, Mavenir, Motorola, Samsung, Sonus, SPA, Tecore Networks, Ulticom, Vitendo, WiChorus and ZTE.
