Samsung BlackJack Takes on Moto Q
The battle lines in mobile connectivity devices are clearly being drawn, with the early leader in the coolness category -- Motorola's sleek, miniature Q, available under an exclusive deal with Verizon Wireless -- now facing a serious threat from a similarly-equipped device from Samsung, being offered through Cingular Wireless.
When you place a new Samsung BlackJack device side-by-side against a Motorola Q, at first, there doesn't appear to be much difference. Both have a QWERTY layout keyboard, of the style popularized by BlackBerry devices (don't think we didn't notice the similarity in names). Both run Windows Mobile 5.0.
Right now, Verizon's Q may have the edge in price - after rebates, a two-year contract will get you the Q phone for $99, versus $199 for the BlackJack.
But where Cingular hopes to show its edge is in its HSDPA high-speed network, which the company's executives this morning touted as two times faster than Verizon's EVDO. That's not the only service Cingular is touting: The BlackJack is offering secure e-mail through Good Technology -- which ironically became a Motorola division just last week -- that many believe to be BlackBerry's most serious competitor in North America.
While Verizon boasts a nationwide network, Cingular and its partners are leveraging the theme music from its parent company -- "All Around the World" -- in spreading the word that BlackJack's roaming service is pan-continental.
As Microsoft's Pieter Knook, senior vice president for mobile and embedded devices, stated to reporters this morning, "As I've personally traveled around the globe, I can attest to my colleagues' statements that this new 3G network of Cingular can be exploited around the world with the roaming arrangements. So this product is truly versatile for someone like me who travels all over the world, including places like Japan and Korea, that were previously difficult to travel to."
The other key play Cingular is making is in multimedia - in the hopes that customers will see the BlackJack as an alternative to a video iPod. To that end, the Cingular Video service will be freshly updated with downloadable content from HBO, including "The Sopranos" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm." In the MP3 department, Cingular appears to have made a series of non-exclusive deals with connections to Napster, Yahoo! Music, and eMusic.
Though no one has used the now-dreaded term "PlaysForSure," Cingular's deals with these providers indicates that BlackJack will support the default Windows DRM scheme provided with Windows Media Player 10, which Cingular does mention.
However, as one reporter noted this morning, Cingular Video's current format of choice is based on RealNetworks technology. Under an exclusive arrangement, Cingular officials said today in the presence of Microsoft, its media player will be able to decode RealNetworks content even without using Rhapsody. MP3s ripped from audio CDs can also be transferred to the BlackJack, though apparently non-protected video content will not be so portable.
Still, these features do give BlackJack a few extra stars in the bullet list of features, that the Q currently lacks. Conceivably, Verizon could solve that problem in a heartbeat, as there has been considerable customer prompting for the carrier to extend its VCAST service from sleeker Motorola models such as the RAZR, to the Q. And there are higher stages of EVDO technology, adoption of which by Verizon may not only be inevitable, but which would put its service on a comparable plane with Cingular's HSDPA.
For this season, however, the question is whether those extra features the BlackJack appears to offer today, are worth the extra hundred bucks.