This one is dedicated to my brother and father (avid guitar players). Apparently, those guys who sit around all day and track patents found one relating to Motorola and a “Guitar Phone.” From the looks of it, Motorola is is patenting a cellphone that displays the layout of a guitar neck on its screen, and allows its keypad to be “plucked” or “strummed” by a user. The sounds of which can be played through the phone’s speaker or directly to the the person being serenaded at the other end of the line.
The phone has the usual four rows of keys, but switching to music mode turns the keys into a set of virtual strings that respond to pressing. Turning a control knob shifts the scale of the selected chord up or down – like a guitar capo – or switches between different types of chord, like major and minor.
Of course, the tunes you create can be recorded and stored to play back later or as a ringtone. Being that it is an electric phone guitar, different type of string instruments from the banjo to the mandolin will be made available which will, I’m sure, create a plethora of “dueling ringtone” jokes amongst users and their friends.
So last night, via the inspiration of Markus Angermeier, I went a little FLICKR crazy and set up a couple new FLICKR groups that may interest you being that they are all somehow mobile technology related.
The first group “The Ubiquitous Camera Phone” is about documenting the ways in which people use their camera phones for ubiquitous purposes such as remembering a parking space or notes on a blackboard. The group was inspired by a recent post I wrote on the subject and has already received positive feedback and some press over at Stuart Mudie’s blog Blethers and Smart Mobs.
Based on the already existing “Cell Talking” group which documents pictures of people talking their cell phones, I created the FLICKR group “Texting” which I describe on the site as Pics of ppl txt messaging or snding SMS’/MMS’ or pics of anything 2 du wit txt messaging.
For the activists in you I created the ”
mobileactive” FLICKR group which will document pictures of people or organizations using mobile phones for social activism. The group is based off of the already existing mobileactive community.
And for my fellow mobilists I created the “mobilists” FLICKR group which will document the wanderings and visual musing of mobile bloggers from around the world.
All groups are open so that anyone can join! Can’t wait 2 see your pics!
p.s. Another group I created, for those that “get it,” is 23 Skidoo, a group meant to visiualy investigate fnord and catalogue fnord the many sinister appearences of the number 23 in conspircy fnord occult and other settings. fnord.
While under the radar of bigger buzz words such as FMC, Mobile TV, and HSDPA, one could definitely pick up some pretty substantial chatter concerning Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and its upcoming inevitable relationship to the mobile industry during this years 3GSM World Gathering. Ever since my first post on what I call the mobile VoIP revolution, I decided watch for signs of it at 3GSM. For me it began at Nokia’s press conference in which they announced the new Nokia 6136 with Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) interoperability while flashing the the words VoIP in big letters on the screen. But it soon became clear that UMA is not what I would consider the ultimate Mobile VoIP solution.
All UMA does, in fact, is provides access to GSM and GPRS mobile services over unlicensed spectrum technologies, including Bluetooth and 802.11(WLAN and WiFi). In other words, it picks up that you can use a WiFi connection and then tunnels your phones connection directly to your carriers WiFi services (which may or may not be a mirroring of your plan… for an extra WiFi access fee, of course). Now, don’t get me wrong… UMA is an amazing technological leap in that it enables service providers to allow roam and provide seamless hand-overs between between cellular networks and unlicensed private and public wireless networks (via the same carrier) thus increasing coverage areas (especially indoors where a lot of carriers still have issues) to anyplace there is WiFi. So if your house is a cell phone dead zone the minute you walk through the door, a WiFi connection and a UMA phone is the ultimate phone for you. You talk on the phone using your WiFi connection, walk out the door while still talking and switch to your actual cell phone network without having to interrupt the call. While on their WiFi, subscribers will also have the advantages of WiFi data speed transfers. Thus also increasing the range of places that an operators 3G (EV-DO or HSDPA) network can be accessed. All hand-over’s are invisible to the subscriber.
As both Carlo from Mobhappy as well as myself pointed out when covering this “breaking” story, MA and WiFi enabled handsets also allow phone manufacturers like Nokia to reach beyond the customer base usually reached only through the mobile carriers. Companies that are already embedded in the internet such as mobile VoIP operators, cable companies and land-line companies can now get a shot at mobile content, without ever having to travel the roads controlled by the carriers. Or as Carlos put it:
There’s little doubt that UMA will be a disruptive force in the mobile telecom industry. It promises to meld the benefits of fixed or PC-based VoIP with those of mobile telephony. But why it’s so compelling for Nokia is that it gives them an opportunity to expand their pool of customers beyond just mobile operators. Sure, they go on about how mobile operators can leverage all their assets and plenty of other buzzphrases, saying UMA lets them boost network coverage and reduce costs as well as introduce new services. But it also gives plenty of companies that want to get into the mobile space a foothold — companies like cable operators, fixed-line companies, even strong Internet brands.
For someone like a cable operator, an MVNO using its own networks for UMA backhaul is a pretty compelling proposition. A fixed operator can offer a similar network, and for a diversified telecoms company, like France Telecom — say with its Wanadoo ISP and Orange mobile network in the UK — it makes even more sense. The telecoms infrastructure market is slowly melding fixed and mobile; for consumers this mix will happen even more quickly. By seizing on UMA, Nokia can expand outside its traditional networks sales area, and grow its carrier customer base.
Shortly after Nokia announced their 6131 Motorola launched its version of a WiFi /UMA handset with the A910. But as a UMA device all this phone promises as well, is the above benefits of tunneling to the carriers through a WLAN WiFi connection. Without a hack, UMA devices do not get any of the benefits that true WiFi has at all.
And Then There Was Skype.
But some of the phones these manufactures make do come with a genuine WLAN connection, and with the phones that can do that (such as the upcoming Nokia N80 as well as several of their E series models) talk of applying authentic 3rd party VoIP services onto the mobile medium began to arise. There was also talk, of course, about using VoIP services over a carriers own data connection. In both these areas the word on the tip of everyones tongue was Skype… and then Skype just said it for them. At their valentines day press conference at 3GSM, Skype announced that they will be working with Hutchison Whampoa’s carrier 3 to test services that will allow Skype to run on all 3 networked phones. Both companies plan to offer the service later this year, even though this is already happening in Sweden where 3 Sweden offers Skype bundled with a 3G data card and flat-rate data plan. No matter,Skypes move toward mobile is clear. As they said during their press conference “Trials will be carried out using enabled mobile phones from leading phone manufacturers.â€
So that’s an example of a VoIP service running over a networks data network. As far as using Skype on a mobile phone over a genuine WiFi connection all that is needed is an operating system that Skype can run on installed into a WiFi phone. This technology already exists for Windows Mobile and thus for any smart phone running the Windows Mobile OS. Today i got to play with a Q-Tek 9100 running Windows Mobile 5.0 that will be shipped with Skype pre-installed. This is old news. The good news was picked up by my buddy Rafe over at AllAboutSymbian.com when he discovered Skype running on a Nokia 6680 phone with the Symbian S60 OS. While not every Nokia S60 phone comes with an open WLAN capability, those that do will be able to run Skype over a WiFi network.
ALSO AT 3GSM
I also got to stop by some booths and companies claiming some interesting mobile VoIP revolution stuff.
CONVERGIN
I got the chance to talk with an Israeli company called Convergin that managed to enable the first cellular/WiFi handoff without service level changes. This Voice Call Continuity (VCC) solution is located in the service layer at the core of the network and thus provides seamless service interaction and continuity between WiFi, Cellular and Wireline handoffs without requiring an operator to make changes in the service level. Other approaches require operators to either modify service logic or apply customized logic in service platforms each time a new SIP/IMS application server is deployed. This is a great alternative to UMA. Until now IMS based solutions suffered from being intrusive for the service layer. Convergin’s core convergence solution allows the operators to benefit from IMS with the service transparency of access solutions such as UMA. “Standardization bodies have now selected a Cellular/WiFi handoff approach, which influences the whole Fixed Mobile Convergence ecosystem,†said Dr. Ayal Itzkovitz, CEO of Convergin. “Convergin has identified and addressed one of the critical points in taking these solutions commercial. By taking a core network approach, we are rapidly moving FMC (Fixed Mobile Convergence) from the trial phases into viable commercial deployments.â€
BRIDGEPORT
Another company claiming a stronghold in the mobile VoIP revolution (and who’s booth makes up the picture above) is the Chicago based BridgePort Networks. Simply put, BridgePort Networks solutions for MobileVoIP provide subscribers the ability to communicate seamlessly between the mobile and broadband networks, using a single number. There services are interesting in that they try to take advantage of the on coming mobile VoIP revolution to cater to both broadband as well as mobile operators and MVNO’s. The Bridgeport Network solution leverages the cost advantages, bandwidth and rich features enabled by migrating voice traffic delivery fully to IP , utilizing the SIP open standard across a single phone number identity.
The long and the short of it is that this will allow subscribers to make and receive calls regardless of whether they are connected to the mobile network or the IP (VoIP network). Your telephone number becomes your “single identity” for all calls. The technology behind the Bridgeport Networks all both mobile as well as IP providers to leverage their previous investments in their own technology while still providing a path to IMS.
OVERALL
Well, I learned a lot of things about the mobile voIP convergence while at 3GSM and will definitely be keeping an eye on the companies, people and concepts I picked up there as I report more on the mobile VoIP revolution.
I am back from a little blogging break to report that this weeks Carnival of the Mobilists is over at Gotomobile.com. So go to gotomobile and check it out! (sorry, really wanted to make that pun intended).
No, but seriously. Lots of good stuff there, most of which are some top notch reflections on 3GSM and of course MOpocket is mentioned regarding its article on MobiTV
From the Carnival:
Justin from Mopocket met with MobiTV and gained insight into their current and future offerings. As one of the exciting consumer offerings, MobiTV is the major mobile television service in the Americas and building traction in the EU. He brings up the topic of truly interactive viewing. As a media ex-patriot who has been playing ‘hit and miss’ with interactive TV — waiting for broadband for more years than I care to mention — this concept is especially interesting. Justin states, “With more relevant Mobile TV commercials, MobiTV is aiming to take full advantage of their unicast technology by making these commercials “clickable†for the ultimate interactive Mobile TV commerce solution.†The question is, will they click?
I am also looking forward to reading the non-3GSM related stuff as it will be that important pull back into into the everyday reality of what it is us mobile bloggers are supposed to be doing.
While at the 3GSM in Barcelona I had the pleasure of talking with MobiTV (the major mobile television solution here in the U.S) about some of the things they are up to in the extremely hyped up world of mobile television.
For one thing, they announced support for several delivery network standards including DVB-H, DMB, MBMS, BCMCS, TDtv (with IPWireless), WiMax, and WiFi. MobiTV will now be able to integrate these new network technologies with its commercially-deployed services operating over cellular networks on three continents via GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, CDMA 1XRTT, and 1X EVDO.
This unified network solution for unicast, multicast and broadcast media delivery promises integrated support for leading network standards and thus offers mobile operators the ability to provide flexible capacity management and a seamless experience for mobile television subscribers.
The big pre-3gsm example was MobiTV’s announcement that they will be working with IPWireless to enable operators to migrate subscribers in high-usage areas to IPWireless’ new TDtv technology. TDtv allows mobile operators to broadcast TV content over their existing 3G wireless spectrum using multicast technology, instead of the more commonly used unicast technology. Multicast technology allows one copy of a TV show or song to be distributed over the network to multiple recipients at once, thus improving reception when a large cluster of people are trying to view a show in one area. MobiTV currently uses a unicast approach which means that the same piece of content has to be retransmitted over the network every time a different user wants to view it.
But MobiTV’s unicast option also has its advantages. While multicasting technologies such as DVB-H and DTtv are extremely valuable for network capacity management and delivering a better viewing experience to the subscriber, it is essentially a one way delivery solution with substantial limitations. Being simply a broadcasting mechanism, multicasting services do not facilitate the interactivity or return path functionality that currently lays dormant in MobiTV’s unicast system. Such a system, while a poor broadcasting tool, allows the future integration of services such as commerce, voting, interactive advertising and other two way communications between the broadcaster and subscriber.
So while multicasting provides better video content, unicast solutions are also necessary to supply interactive services that allow personalized content and integrated solutions in the areas of commerce and advertising. What MobiTV’s announcement means, therefore, is that they will be creating technology solutions to allow these two types of networks to work together. As CEO and Chairman of MobiTV Phiilip Alvelda put it “Our unified network delivery solution combines the advantages of both approaches without compromise, offering easy paths to upgrade and integrate new technologies as they emerge,
This is a smart move on MobiTV’s part, whose current reliability on unicast technology has caused viewing problems during popular viewing times or shows. Integrating multicasting technologies into their broadcasting platform will no doubt create a better end product and increase subscriber satisfaction and use. A more reliable mobile television platform using multicast therefore allows MobiTV to take full advantage of its unicast interactive solutions.
Some of the stuff that MobiTV has in mind for what they are calling MobiTV 2.0 are pretty interesting. For one thing, they will start treating themselves more like a local television network and start delivering television commercials more appropriate for the type of person who is likely to be watching TV on their mobile phone. Right now they are just feeding through the network feed from the major television networks which shows “out of mobileTV target” adds like boring car commercials etc etc.
With more relevant Mobile TV commercials, MobiTV is aiming to take full advantage of their unicast technology by making these commercials “clickable” for the ultimate interactive Mobile TV commerce solution. So, for example, while watching a program on MobiTV I see a brief commercial for Levi Jeans. While the commercial is playing, I click the commercial which brings up options that allow me to to purchase Levi accessories or jeans over the phone, download wallpaper or perhaps look at different style jeans on virtual models and safe the style I like as mobile phone wall paper (damn thats a good idea!). Anyways, MobiTV always talking about doing something similar via their numerous music video stations allowing a user to click the Brittany Spears music video to download the ring-tone version of that song and or sign op for other services etc etc…
According to the MobiTV rep at 3GSM we should start seeing such a service in play within the next year.
No word yet on whether or not this will interrupt the broadcast or be able to function while the video is still streaming. The combination of multicast and unicast should provide a seamless interaction.
Talking further with one of the representatives at MobiTV’s booth at 3GSM, we also discussed further about how such an interactive system could and will be used to create on demand and even PVR reader like functions, all of which he said MobiTV was already working on. Turning ones cell phone into a personal PVR for storing and recording Mobile TV content would be a huge deal and something that only MobiTV’s unicast system makes possible but would not function well at all without muticast, yet another important example of why such a convergence is so important.
Users can subscribe to MobiTV simply by downloading the application onto their supported phone and paying the $9.99 a month fee. I was also told that MobiTV is currently entering a trial mode with cable operators to get the monthly fee added to your cable bill.
Sprint subscribers should know that MobiTV is the content provider for Sprint TV so all they need do is subscribe to that. Verizon customers, who have their Vcast, can only use MobiTV if they have a Treo650.
When I first heard of Klonies I thought to myself…”Oh my God not another asian like avatar program” and wondered why such a substantial company like Comverse would be promoting it so heavily. Then I met fellow mobilists Xen Dolev and her colleague Tal Dagan at the Comverse booth at 3GSM and quickly figured out that if anyone was going to deliver a on the fly user defined multimedia command line interface for really cool customizable avatars on a phone, and do it correctly, its going to be a company like Comverse.
So, what are Klonies? Simply put they are avatars that allow real personalization to identify users when they call or SMS someone else. Target towards 13-18 year olds, the Avatar that I create, which can either be a boy, girl or monster, will appear on any other person’s phone I call or SMS (the reason why they have “monster avatars” is because they found that some boys are a little “uncomfortable” dressing up an actual person).
The Avatars can be created and or updated via an online account or directly from your mobile phone for real time changes in self-expression. So if I am going out to play basketball, I can quickly put my avatar into a jersey and a pair of shorts and place him or her on the courts all from my mobile.
Klonies can also be used as my alter identity on the web, when I chat with friends over instant messaging or on my blog or web page.
Now, the avatar business is nothing new. Its huge in Korea where almost every 15 year old, both boys and girls, have avatars, 40 percent of which change it at least once a day. In the United States and around the world custom avatars are extremely popular on Instant messaging services like AOL AIM. Comverse wants to bring that phenomena to the mobile phone.
And they have a really tight application to do so. The interface allows one to easily dress, change and customize ones avatar via a plethora of personalized items and themes. Theme topics include everything from sports, lifestyles and music/celeberties with enough options to make no two avatars alike. The avatars look really good and have brief entertaining moments of animation.
What I was also really impressed by was Comverses business strategy for the whole thing. “Originally we wanted to charge for a good deal of our original content,” Tal told me. “But then we realized that we did not want to be fooling our customers like that. All of our avatar options are just as high quality as the other so there is no real reason to pay for one over the other.” So Comverse did the next best thing: branding.
Say, like in the example of above, I am going out to play a game of basketball so I change my avatar to the appropriate background and dress. But I am also a huge New York Knicks fan and think that it would be really cool to have my avatar represent who I am even more by sporting a New York Knick’s Jersey. Comverse is making this possible. Tal showed a plethora of branding options to chose from, from the New york Knicks, to the Yankees to the Rangers (yes I picked NY teams for example’s on purpose). And not just sports, but movie, music and other entertainment logo’s and paraphernalia will be made available as well.
What makes avatars so special, as well as a powerful branding solution, in my mind, is that they allow a user to create a moment of of self expression on another person’s phone. Unlike the mobile phone wall paper, the mobile avatar allows one to define a signature of self expression on another person’s phone every time you call or SMS. No one has to be around to hear your self-expressing ring-tone or call you to hear your self-expressing ring-back. A little bit of you appears on the phone of every call ypu make. With the ability for “self-expression” being one of the driving forces behind ringtone and ringback sales, Avatars are only the next logical step provided they they can up the self expression ante, and that Comverse has done so well.
Turning a phone call into a moment of self expression, with something as fun and cute as Klonies, is probably the only legitimate way I can think of of creating push content for a mobile phone. Of course, you will always have the option to turn your avatar rendering off, but with little guys and girls so cute, fun and (excuse the photoshop speak) well rendered who would want to.
On an aside note, I think that Comverse should also use the same model to allow other types of self-expression beyond just avatars (perhaps then capturing a whole new age group with the same technology)
So, its finally the last day of 3GSM and I am done making all the rounds and conducting all my interviews and meetings. For now I have only had the time to blog the important press releases and some thoughts. I have no way of expressing the enormity of the conference and its time consuming nature… plus the plethora of after parties you get invited to mixed with the fact that the place in which I am staying does not have WiFi created a not so easy blogability situation.
But dont worry. I have had interesting conversations and have interesting things to talk about and I am sure they will be unraveling today and over the course of the weekend and into the following week.
Skype announced at the 3GSM that it will be testing out Skype functionality on a mobile network with Hutchison Whampoa’s carrier 3. Details still fuzzy. I was not there but I promise I will get on it cause, well… you know how I feel about the VoIP revolution… but don’tt worry Carlos, I am not ready to call out the death of carriers on this one
Sweden offers Skype bundled with a 3G data card and flat-rate data plan. It certainly sounds like they’re using mobile phones, though: “Trials will be carried out using enabled mobile phones from leading phone manufacturers.â€
Last night the 3GSM announced the winners of their various industry categorized awards. Here is the rundown.
Nokia’s CEO received the GSMA chairman’s award in recognition of his leadership skills in creating a world leading mobile communications company.
Mobile Entertainment Awards
Best Made for Mobile Game: I-play for a fun little game called Skipping Stone.
Best Made for Mobile Music Service: Hi3G Access AB for their work on 3 Music
Best Made for Mobile Video Service: Tapuz People for Blog TV. But CinemaElectric’s portable Hollywood Streaming Video & Download service also got high mention.
Best Ma for Mobile Sports Infotainment: Alcatel for their Live Sailing service.
Mobile Application Awards
Best Mobile Enterprise Product or Service: iPass for their iPass Corporate Access
Best Mobile Messaging Service went to the already famous Shozu application from Cognima.
Handsets and Devices Awards
The best GSM Handset or Device went to Nokia’s 8800.
No surprise here, the Best 3GSM Handset or Device went to Motorola for their RAZR V3X. But after talking with the guys over at PhoneScoop I am getting a little obsessed with the Nokia E70
Marketing and Promotion Awards
The best broadcast commercial went to Vodaphones “Stop the Clock” campaign.
Best Radio Access Oroduct or Service: MBO Wireless Inc’s Adapta-Cell SuperCapacity base station (BTS) using Adaptive Array Software.
Best Network Quality Initiative: TMN with Tektronix for their Customer Centric Service Quality Management (CCSQM) project using Tektronix;s Unified Assurance. Also mentioned was Ditech Communications for their Quad Voice Processor QVP platform with Voice Quality Assurance -VQA- Release 5 Software.
The best service delivery platform went to Motricity’s Fuel Mobile Content Delivery Platform 4.0)
Best Billing and Customer Care Solution: IDEA Cellular Ltd’s Bill Flash - A USSD-based application). Also mentioned was T-Mobile’s (UK) U-Fix.
I can assure you that the next award did not go to Cingular. The best Roaming Product or Service went to Vodafone for their Vodafone Passport voice roaming pricing architecture which is part of their Vodafone Travel Promise’ proposition. Also mentioned, however, was Lucent Technologies VitalSuite AAA and VPN Firewall Brick-Enabling Seamless Fixed/Mobile Roaming for Innovative BT Fusion.
The Government of Pakistan was also presented with the Government Leadership Award for its exceptional work in developing mobile communications in the country.
Motorola owns 3GSM Barcelona. To anyone who is over here at the 3GSM conference this is abundantly clear. Their billboards are all over the city, on sides of buildings (sometimes directly facing each other like on the Passig de Gracia, and the one pictured above which faces the entrance to the 3GSM event), buss stops and busses, cabs etc. Wherever you went you where reminded the Moto:The Next Big Thing. They had their invitee party last night at one of Barcelona’s hottest night clubs, the Pacha, and sports one of the sexier booths I have seen at the conference which, incidentally, doesn’t even say “Motorola” but is only recognized by the companies Bat-Wing logo (very Artists Formally Known As Prince Like). The company even had its board meeting in the city to coincide with 3GSM.
The Company certainly put a lot of money into the event. And they have every reason to do so. Ever since Motorola phones have become “cooler” the company has seen great gains in sales and profitability. The RAZR V3X won the award for the Best 3GSM Handset and the company also took the events opportunity to further market their recently released SLVR l7 and PEBL phones.
Motorola, however, really did not have that much to say on the announcement side. A lot of they talked about had already been announced at CTIA or later. They did reveal a new handset that includes an FM radio called the RDIO. But in terms of more new cell phone news the message seems to be everywhere… RAZR RAZR RAZR… or as Carlos over at Mobhappy puts it (who I have to rely on since I was only there for the last quater of the press conference), the basic message was that they’re planning to ride the RAZR horse as far as it takes them. RAZR-based designs of every style will be the rule for the foreseeable future. But as Carlos also points out this is of some concern since as one Motorola exec noted, everybody’s copying them making the RAZR and SLVR not so distinctive anymore. Motorola did mention a new design platform called SCPL (scalpel) but did not make it clear as to any near releases or announcements on the subject.
Motorola also announced the UMTS version of its heralded Q device family. They said that the first Q is expected to ship with CDMA/EVDO capabilities later this quarter with the newly unveiled version expected to be available for operator trials in late Q4 2006. They where a little vague on the details however.
Motorola also talked about (and demonstrated throughout 3GSM) their upcoming M-Wallet technology which is an easy-to-use mobile interface that gives any consumer quick access to the financial world in order to do things like paying bills on time, transferring money to a friend in the same or different country, or making a purchase at a retail store virtually anywhere, anytime, in a secure and convenient way. THere whole schtick is that with their M-Wallet Solution, you no longer need tcarry a credit or debit card in your wallet [read here for more].
They also talked a lot about Motorola’s involvement in emerging markets which in all fairness they really tried to hype up… but its not everyones thing. As a mobileactivists, however, I did find it interesting to learn more about their role in the Emerging Market Handset Initiative and how, from what a Motorola Senior Officer told me, their low cost Power of Communications Servers can greatly benefit emerging mobile infrastructures in developing countries.
Motorola also officially announced its version of a UMA enabled device with its launch of the A910 Wi-Fi handset integrated with BT’s Fusion service. But, just as people soon figured with Nokia’s earlier similar announcement, UMA is not really the ultimate WiFi VoIP solution some of us are excited about.
Beyond that that it was really a lot of the same old same old (with a lot of focus on the coolness of Moto’s styling style), at least for us that eat breath and sleep the mobile medium. What they did not make apparent, what what the “next big thing” slogan they have all over the place really is. But I guess that is ok when you look as cool as a RAZR.
This one is dedicated to my brother and father (avid guitar players). Apparently, those guys who sit around all day and track patents found one relating to Motorola and a “Guitar Phone.” From the looks of it, Motorola is is patenting a cellphone that displays the layout of a guitar neck on its screen, and allows its keypad to be “plucked” or “strummed” by a user. The sounds of which can be played through the phone’s speaker or directly to the the person being serenaded at the other end of the line.
