Motorola's Motofone F3: Mobile Communications for the Masses

Authors:
Alice Chu and Jonathon Lee





Technology Summary:
The Motorola MOTOFONE F3 has been designed to meet the demand for cost-effective phones targeted at first-time users. It is viewed as a device that will reach out to the rural masses of developing countries for an affordable price.



The Need for an Affordable, Functional Cell-phone:
The world we live in today is one that lacks parity. Countries around the globe are separated by astronomical rifts in standards of living. Western societies have been setting the pace for decades, and now, more than ever, the rest of the globe is making great strides to catch up. Third World nations which are currently under-developed have been making significant progress, and one of the most critical tools in the development of their societies is the mobile phone. The level of effectiveness of these phones depends on a few key attributes: low cost, durability, and simplicity. The Motorola MotoFone is of a new breed of mobile phones designed with these attributes in mind, specifically targeted at first-time users in developing countries and assisting the development of the societies in which it is utilized.

One country in particular which has seen a positive impact from mobile technology is India. It is a vast land defined by many contrasts. It is a land where rich history meets thriving modernity. Where elegant high-rises meet humble shacks. And unfortunately, where wealth meets poverty. With a population of 1.2 billion within its borders, India is the second most populous country in the world. These people are spread out among affluent cities like Mumbai, one of the world’s top ten centers of commerce, as well as some of the largest slums in the world, such as Dharavi. A significant portion of the population, totaling 27.5%, earns less than $0.40 a day. On top of this, the distribution of wealth also plays an important factor. The top 10% of income groups earn 33% of the total income. Thus, India needs for mobile phones to keep costs minimal in order to reach out to the masses.

Taj Mahal .......................................................Slums bordering Mumbai

The second key attribute that the mobile phone must possess is durability, a need which is dictated by the geographical conditions of the country. India is a federal republic which is comprised of twenty-eight states and seven Union territories. Major cities of India include Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai. The combined population of these cities is approximately 49.1 million, which accounts for a less than 5% of the country’s total population. This staggering figure indicates that the majority of the population is located in the villages, countryside, and slums. The conditions in these areas require a phone to be designed as more rugged, rather than flashy, in order to withstand the outdoor elements. Although these locations sometimes lack paved roads and running water, the most important component which is occasionally missing is a readily available and reliable source of electricity. A 2006 census showed that the level of electrification in villages is only at 74%, while a 2001 census revealed a meager electrification level of 44% among rural households. However, even villagers believe some of the government figures on electrification are inflated. Despite having electrical lines installed, most villages only have sporadic access to electricity during a few hours a day. These blackouts even occur in some cities. Therefore, an ideal mobile phone for this region would be durable enough to survive the wear and tear of use in the villages, and capable of extended usage so as to keep dependence on electricity for charging batteries at a minimum.


The last characteristic which is required for the success of the mobile phone is simplicity in its functionality. Even though India is the second fastest growing large economy in the world, its literacy rate among adults and youth are shocking at 61% and 73%. A neighboring country to the north, China, boasts literacy rates among adults and youth that are a robust 91% and 99%, respectively. Clearly, India’s anemic level of literacy is extremely disturbing for a country with such high aspirations for the future. And having such a large portion of the population handicapped with an inability to read and/or write may be a severe hindrance to the development of its society as a whole. To further complicate matters, the number of dialects spoken in India is as high as 1,652. As a result of this unique combination of illiteracy and diversity of spoken language, India needs a mobile phone that is developed with special attention to simplicity.



The Unique Features and Technology of the F3 MotoFone:
As technology evolves globally, features in new generations of mobile phones become increasingly excessive. However, societies in developing countries, such as India, have a greater need for phones that shift attention back to the basics. Motorola saw the potential for product development within this niche, and designed the MotoFone specifically to address the needs of the Third World. Motorola’s F3 MotoFone is a compact GSM cell-phone made in Chennai, South India, designed to appeal to emerging markets with its sleek exterior, long battery life, and affordable cost at only 1500 INR, which is approximately $35. This cell-phone contains only the bare minimal features and accessories needed by its target group of customers. The voice automated cell-phone manual is available in the most popular native Indian languages of the region in which the cell-phone is sold, as well as English. Service locations are available throughout the country, for convenience and the package even includes a one-year warranty!

User-Friendly Design:



The MotoFone contains many features that contribute to the cell-phone’s user-friendly design. The keypad is among the most durable found in cell-phones and has a safeguard from dust particles and even water spillage, made possible by having a completely flush surface, with no crooks and crevices for dirt to even get into! Numbers on the screen display are large enough to see from three feet away, which is great for seniors with worsening eyesight problems. The cell-phone has a powerful “loud” setting, perfect for conversation clarity in noisy environments. The MotoFone has a simple icon based menu that allows user to carry out the basic tasks, including writing/reading messages, making phone calls, select ring tones, set an alarm and set date/time. Optional voice assisted instructions in a local language are included for every task. The audible menu, along with the raised ridges on every button makes this cell-phone easy for even blind people to use. People with prepaid/pay-as-you-go plans can stay in control of charges on the cell-phone very easily with the “show balance after each call” option (Mouthshut.com).

Reception:



The strength of reception can be seen on the upper left side of the cellphone, as shown in the image above. The signal strength of the cell-phone is optimized through the use of two internal antennae, creating great voice clarity. The cell-phone just chooses the antenna with the better signal. One user praises the reception of the F3 MotoFone in a review: “At my farm, 5 km from tower and through various tall trees (coconut) gave 3 points continuously” (Mouthshut.com). In another interview from a first-hand user named Constantinos, of the MotoFone in India, the user reinforces the quality of reception of the cell-phone, "As far as reception goes, I only have one word: outstanding. I’ve been using this phone for 2 weeks, and I still have not seen the reception indicator fall below the full 5 lines (and no, reception is not generally this good in my area). In line with this, the excellent speakerphone is a feature I did not expect. Voice clarity on this device is up to par with any phone I’ve ever tried, including land lines. I have no problems understanding anything anyone says to me on this phone" (NickBaum.com). In developing countries, signal strength is a very important factor to which cell-phone users want to buy because reception towers are not plentiful in those regions.

Revolutionary E-Ink Display:



Motorola’s F3 MotoFone contains a very innovative screen panel technology specially designed to accommodate the needs of third world countries. The MotoFone’s ClearVision Display uses Electrophoretic Display (EPD) technology to minimize energy consumption and creates a sort of high contrast digital ink, allowing people to see the display clearly even in direct sunlight, much like ink on a piece of paper. This is why this technology is also commonly called Electronic Paper Display. Also similar to paper is the thin and light form of the panel, however, the advantage it has over paper is the ability to update the content on the screen. The technology that powers the EPD screen does not even require a constant power supply.

Constantinos comments on the innovative, power-saving screen: "The screen is definitely the most innovative power saving feature of the device. I already knew that the E-ink technology used for the screen requires no power to keep the screen on, but it’s a different feeling when you take out the battery without turning the phone off, and the screen keeps displaying the last characters on it! (Yes, it does reset without any trace when you turn it back on). The contrast is excellent and the characters are clearly visible in any light condition from any angle (unless there’s complete darkness)" (NickBaum.com) This type of screen has an advantage over panels with Thin Film Transistor (TFT) or Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) technologies because it saves space, weight and battery-life (Mobiledia.com).



This technology is made possible through the original use of electronic ink, ink that holds a charge, making it updatable through electronics. Electronic ink is a reflective technology, requiring no front light or backlight, or power to display the image. Electronic ink is viewable under almost any kind of lighting condition, most innovatively, direct sunlight (EInk.com). Electronic ink is a fusion of chemistry, physics, and electronics, creating this revolutionary material. This material contains millions of tiny microcapsules, each with about the diameter of a human hair. Each microcapsule contains two types of particles: positively charged white ones and negatively charged black ones floating in a clear fluid as seen in the image below. When a negative electric field is applied, the white particles rise to the top, becoming visible to the user. At the same time that this is happening, the black particles are being pulled to the bottom of the microcapsules by an opposite electric field. When this process is reversed, the black particles rise to the top, making the surface of the material appear dark at certain spots. The ink is printed onto a sheet of plastic film and connected to a layer of circuitry, forming a pattern of pixels that is controlled by a display driver. These microcapsules can be used with almost any surface, allowing even glass, plastic, fabric and paper to become a display (EInk.com).

The Failure to Meet Expectations:
Despite Motorola’s ingenuity resulting from two years of research on life in rural Indian villages, the company still faces an uphill battle against archrival Nokia, the market leader. After failing to take India seriously in the 1990s by not producing phones designed for Indian lifestyle, Nokia developed a near monopoly on the market. In fact, according to Chicago Business News: “Today, Indians call cell phones their ‘Nokias,’ much like Americans refer to tissue as ‘Kleenex.’” Over a decade later, Motorola developed new Indian headquarters near Delhi and a new $100-million handset plant, and began to recruit a new team of individuals to take charge of the new expansion efforts. The development of the MotoFone was seen as a key component in the Motorola renaissance in India. CEO Edward Zander commented on its mixed progress: “Some of our managers went off saying, 'We're going to conquer the world with this.’ But we've had some challenges on pricing in India." Perhaps Nokia’s dominance of the market may be the culprit for the MotoFone’s lukewarm start.

The struggles in Motorola's mobile phone division has not been isolated in India. The company recently issued a statement saying it might sell or spin out its mobile phone business. The Motofone was designed to possibly save the company by targeting emerging markets. Motorola was hit by a $1.2 bn loss in 2007, and only had 12% market share by the end of last year. It's only recent success has come from the RAZR, and that wasn't nearly enough to keep up with rival Nokia, who sold 133.5m handsets to Motorola's 40.9m in the fourth quarter of 2007. At this point, even Samsung has leapfrogged Motorola into the second spot, selling 46.4m phones. Recent news has suggested the possibility of Motorola's handset division being bought out by RIM and Samsung.



Recommendations for Future Design:
“Motorola's Motofone, designed with emerging markets in mind, is thinner than its popular Razr, gets up to 400 hours of standby on a single battery charge, and has a screen specially designed for text messaging that works using reflected light, with no need for an internal lamp. Oh, and it will retail for just $30.” –Jeremy Kahn (The Boston Globe)
Sans the nitty-gritty details of how the MotoFone actually performs, Motorola’s cell-phone for the third world sounds like a dream come true when summed up the in by Jeremy Kahn. In reality, the MotoFone stands pretty average among cell-phones for developing countries, needing a couple of necessary rectifications before becoming outstanding.

Missing Basic Functionalities:
Focusing on the basic needs of poverty-ridden people in third world countries, we have read through many user reviews of the F3 MotoFone and have come up with a few recommendations we deem necessary for future MotoFone models. Some essential functionalities were found missing from the F3 MotoFone. For one, there is no calculator provided. Considering that even the lowest model of any cell-phone has a calculator function, this puts the MotoFone at a disadvantage. The clock display has no AM/PM notification, so people will have to either judge that for themselves, or choose the 24 hr clock setting. Also a downside, since the phone uses memory from a simcard, only one number can be stored per contact and message storage is limited to just the simcard since there is no expandable memory slot (Mouthshut.com).

User-UNfriendly Text Messaging:



The ease of sending messages on the F3 MotoFone is among one of the biggest complaints made by users. The phone has no dictionary available, which makes for slow text messaging. The phone doesn’t support SMS fowarding, which is not a very big issue, but increases user-friendliness of text messaging. The characters used in messaging are in digital clock format, hindering readability. Because only the top row of the screen is used for text messaging, the number of letters visible on the screen at once is a big annoyance for many users, as can be seen by this user’s comment on a review of the cell-phone: “Just as I mentioned, it's not possible to see the whole contact name at one go, the same applies to the messages as well. You can read just one word at a time and if the word is more than 7 characters, you'll be scrolling” (Mouthshut.com). Messages are read left to right on multiple screens, instead of the usual top to bottom, which takes getting used to. Also, there is no 'back' button, so if you had wanted to erase/edit something earlier in your message, you would have to delete everything up until that point!!

Disappointing Battery Life:
Motorola boasts that the F3 MotoFone’s long-lasting Li-Ion 750 mAh battery can last about 8 hours of talk-time and 300 hours of standby time. However, in addition to taking an hour to charge, the battery also does not seem to last as long as it claims: “I have recharged the phone 3 times in last 10 days (and have completed the ‘full charge-full discharge’ cycle each time). On top of that the phone doesn’t warn you that its gonna die. Each time it so happened that I checked the phone (already low on battery) and found it switched off” (Mouthshut.com). Another user review reiterates the same concerns: “Under normal usage, the phone lasted me 3 days with talk periods of around 20 minutes. Considering the use of the electronic paper, the phone should have done way better than this” (Techtree.com). Assuming that these reviews were written when the cell-phone was still relatively new means that reviews written a few years later will surely indicate that the battery-life is even shorter due to normal usage. Long battery-life is among the most important features of a cell-phone to people in third world countries because electricity is not always available to them and can be very costly to their daily budget. A phone that truly has a 300 hour standby time would be indispensable to developing countries.

Low-Class Black/White Screen:



The biggest design mistake of the MotoFone F3 cell-phone is the fact that it offers a screen, but has none of the typical functionalities that are expected of a cell-phone with a screen. Not only does the screen offer only black and white images, it is very visually displeasing. The screen can only functionally show the user the time and the cell-phone number that someone is calling. The text-messaging functionality is so sub-par that it might as well not have been included. In an article on GearLog.com regarding Spice Mobile's phone for the blind, it introduces a simple, voice-only cell-phone with a braille keypad and no screen. The designers stands up for their decision to remove the cellphone screen altogether because, "Removing the display helps the People's Phone avoid the fate of the MOTOFONE F3, a black-and-white-display phone produced by Motorola that didn't sell as well as expected in India. A display raises expectations of text messaging and multimedia, where removing the display (and pricing the phone at $10) makes it clear this is just a voice device" (GearLog.com)

The new-found Electrophoretic Display also has a few flaws. The e-ink has a slight residual effect. This can be seen when unlocking the keypad, the buttons and screen will still glow afterwards for a few minutes, even if the battery is removed. Because the screen panel is made up of a monochrome-only solution, the electrophoretic display is very difficult to read in low lighting conditions, due to lack of internal lights (Mouthshut.com). Considering that this is a revolutionary technology, flaws are to be expected. Since the release of the MotoFone F3 in 2006, E-Ink has worked hard to improve upon the innovative technology: "E Ink has fielded its second generation of EPD. The new displays have improved reflectivity by about 25 percent, speed by about 50 percent and gray scaling by 100 percent over the previous generation. The company has prototyped (but not fielded) various color displays and has demonstrated multicolor EPDs using color filters." (EETAsia.com). With further development of Electrophoretic Display technology, we are certain it will live up to all of its expectations. The low power consumption of the screen, using EPD is sure to be a technology implemented in all future cell-phones to lengthen battery-life.

Nokia: Motorola's Biggest Competitor:
The current most popular cell-phone sold in third world countries is the Nokia 1100 model, with over 200 million cell-phones sold worldwide. Below is a comparison of the two models. The MotoFone already has the advantage of having a lower price, more stylish look and longer talk-time. But with these few recommendations listed above, future models of the F3 MotoFone can very possibly over-take the Nokia 1100 as the cell-phone of third world countries.

	Motorola F3 MotoFone	Nokia 1100
Price	$35	$55
Battery Type	Lithium-Ion 750 mAh	Lithium-Ion
Battery-Life	Up to approx 500 minutes talk-time Up to approx 300 hours standby	270 minutes talk-time 400 hours standby
Weight	68 grams	86 grams
Functionalities	Making calls, SMS text messages, alarm clock, voice automated instructions, alarm clock, speakerphone, extra large character font size, ClearVision display, voice prompts in local languages, dual antenna	Making calls, SMS text messages, alarm clock, stopwatch, calculator, 6 profiles, 50 capacity contacts storage, 2 games, call conferencing, predictive text input, picture message, animated screensaver, built-in flashlight, 50-message capacity
Ringtones	Polyphonic ringtones	Monophonic ringtones
Casing	Dustproof, water proof	Dustproof, sides are non-slip for humid weather

Research Links:
Third World First
MouthShut MotoFone F3 Reviews
f3 Negative Review
Motorola Motofone F3 Main Page
Motorola Introduces Motofone Entry-Level Phone
NickBaum MotoFone Review
GearLog Spice Mobile Phone
EETAsia Enabling E-Paper Displays
GearDiary MotoFone F3 Review
India Poverty/Subdivisions
India Electricity
India Literacy
Motorola vs. Nokia in India
Motorola mobile phonespin off