Something else
Every handset maker at MWC was paying lip-service to the user experience. All the usual clichés about being customer-centric and focused on providing the best experience possible abounded, but sometimes it takes a start-up to offer something really different.
This seems to be what's on offer from Else Mobile, an Israel-based design house. It has made a smartphone with a 3.5 inch touch screen, a TI OMAP 3430 SoC and all the bells and whistles we've come to expect from a smartphone. Where it's put most of its effort, however, is in the user interface.
Acknowledging that most phone input and navigation is done by the thumb, the UI of the First Else - as the company has pragmatically named its first handset - is all geared towards that digit. So we get a semi-circular menu system designed to get you to where you want in as few gestures as possible.
CTO Eldad Eilam (pictured) gave us a quick demo of the device and it's certainly different. The UI is called sPlay and it's built on the Access Linux platform. Like many other phone platforms, it can grab your stuff from the cloud if you want, but the First Else also automatically promotes contacts up your speed-dial list depending on how frequently you contact them.
This looks like a great attempt at redefining the phone UI to fully accommodate the end user and, when it launches in the middle of this year, deserves to get some buzz. However, it will face similar challenges to other standalone phone players like Palm. With so many influential stakeholders to compete with, Else's biggest challenge will be getting mind share among consumers, operators and retailers.
