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Communications gadget forgoes voice

By Tricia Duryee
Seattle Times technology reporter

AT&T WIRELESS Ogo, being introduced today, is billed as a hip, affordable mobile messaging device for the masses, particularly teens and young adults.

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Finally, a technological solution for adolescent boys whose voices are changing.

Starting today, they can silently send e-mail and text messages with a gadget aimed at younger audiences: the AT&T Wireless Ogo.

In developing the communications device, AT&T Wireless followed teens to understand their habits.

"The boys joked that they'd never call a girl because their voice might crack," said Stacia Pache, senior director of product marketing, who headed the project. "They are much more comfortable with instant messaging."

That helped lead to Ogo, which will be used for e-mail and instant messaging only — a rare combination of features in a day when wireless companies typically bundle data services with voice.

Currently, 62 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 27 send instant messages, according to a survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Of those, 46 percent say they IM more frequently than e-mail.

Unlike a BlackBerry, the popular personal digital assistant/wireless phone developed by Research in Motion, the Ogo is not geared toward the corporate user. It does not sync to PCs or download corporate e-mail or attachments.

Instead, AT&T Wireless, which developed Ogo at its Redmond headquarters, is targeting the device to people aged 14 to 30.

"For those folks who are extremely IM-centric — and it is the core way they communicate — [the Ogo] may be worthwhile, especially for those who are not IMing on the cellphone because it is too difficult of an experience," said Alex Slawsby, who covers mobile devices as an analyst with IDC in Framingham, Mass.

Mobile IM is taking off. By the end of the year, IDC estimates that 8.6 million users will send messages from a mobile device.
 
AT&T Wireless started developing the product a year ago with a three-person team. The idea was to create a low-cost messaging device that would target the youth market.

Pache said the idea was to refrain from adding a lot of new features and keep the device simple and cheap.

For $99 (after a $30 mail-in rebate), the consumer can take it home, pull it out of the box, charge the unit and sign up for service, all without customer-service help.

Ogo users will have access to each or all of the major instant-messaging providers: America Online, MSN and Yahoo!. Access to one costs $17.99 a month. Access to each additional provider will be $3 more.

The black-and-silver Ogo is about the size of a deck of cards. The clamshell design opens to reveal a screen and minikeyboard.

It also can be used for text messaging and for e-mail from a handful of other Internet service providers. The device is assigned a phone number and uses AT&T Wireless' cellular network.

Pache said one of features she's most proud of is the "Ogo" button. It brings up a list of everything that's currently active — all new e-mail and all live chats. It eliminates the need for the user to jump from one screen to the next. Bellevue-based T-Mobile USA is targeting a similar, though slightly older demographic with its Sidekick II, which does have voice capabilities, Slawsby said. Sidekick II, priced at $299, went on sale last week.

Slawsby wonders how consumers will accept Ogo, since many users will have to also carry a cellphone and pay two bills.

"It's the multiple-device question that we are so often dealing with," he said. "Folks want to be burdened by the fewest possible."

Pache said she's not concerned with that. In a year or so, she expects accessories that will accommodate voice or attachments such as cameras.

Teens "don't mind carrying around multiple devices," Pache added. There are different uses for each device."

Tricia Duryee: 206-464-3283 or tduryee@seattletimes.com