The phone of the future is coming, and its proprietary!

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 25 January 2007 06:40

Opinion and Analysis

A 'Future Phone' that integrates the traditional office phone, home phone and mobile phone into one personal phone with one single phone number will be released at and upcoming conference in May 2007, but the story is not that simple...

I got a press release today announcing that "A revolutionary future mobile phone system for the year 2010 to 2020 will be released at the upcoming 8th Annual World Wireless Congress (WWC) in Stanford Park Hotel near Stanford University."

It went on to say: "This new innovative mobile phone based on the so-called Open Wireless Architecture (OWA) technology, is a true convergence of wireline, wireless and mobile communications. According to statement of the congress committee, this Future Phone will integrate the traditional office phone, home phone and mobile phone into one Personal phone with one single phone number which is a truly revolutionary approach for the entirely fixed and wireless convergence...Furthermore, this Future Phone, jointly developed by over twenty companies in Silicon Valley and worldwide, fully supports the existing and future telecommunications infrastructure including wireline networks, wireless access networks and mobile cellular networks."

And the release quoted Professor Willie LU, chair of WWC'2007, saying: "The future mobile phone will be first, a computer, then an Open Wireless Architecture (OWA) terminal." Well he should know, because OWA is his baby!

AT first reading this seemed like a major industry initiative devoted to mobile communications using an industry conference to unveil its latest developments. So, intrigued I did some digging and found that the conference, the company that organises it, the OWA and the converged phone are all the creation of Willie Lu.

Not only is he the chair of WWC'207 but he is chairman and chief architect of the owner of the WWC Events, The Delson Group, which also owns the OWA initiative. Described on its web site  as "A Delson Group proprietary R&D project funded by "Mission 2020" R&D Plan."