表面上是功能手机？其实那叫蓝牙拨号器

手机市场拥有一种奇怪的能力，可以把旧产品改造成像新的一样，所谓的“蓝牙拨号器(Bluetooth dialer)”就是一个例子。 据说最近在中国市场上开始流行一种设计简洁的手机，外观很像以前诺基亚(Nokia)的长条形状产品。以技术角度来看，那其实不是手机而是一种叫做“蓝牙拨号器”的产品，能让用户透过它与包包里笨重的平板电脑或 phablet 链接，拨出电话或是接电话。 你可能会想，这实在是个无聊的产品，而且在技术上也没什么创新，对吧？但当笔者在月初的国际消费性电子展(CES 2014)采访联发科(MediaTek)总经理、谈到这种蓝牙拨号器产品时，却被吸引住了，而且忍不住脱口问：“你的意思是功能型手机又回来了吗？”

这就是蓝牙拨号器
Source：米果科技- Shenzhen Migoal Technologyu0iesmc

蓝牙拨号器本身没有搭载调制解调器，只有它并不能打电话；但搭配平板电脑或是phablet来使用，该产品基本上就是一支功能型手机(无论是外观与使用方式)。 根据笔者收集到的资料，已经有一些创意十足的中国厂商开始为蓝牙拨号器添加更多功能；而我敢确定将会看到一个很搞笑的结果：原本设计精简的蓝牙拨号器恐怕将面临功能过剩，变得更有智能甚至更“胖”。 仔细想想，蓝牙拨号器这种东西其实与市场上新崛起的智能手表没什么不同，只是看你想把它缠在手腕上还是放进衬衫口袋里；毕竟这两种产品的基本功能就是接电话、打电话、显示短信或是电子邮件讯息，所以智能手表用的芯片被拿来用在蓝牙拨号器里也不难想象。 联发科在CES 期间发表的Aster系列“多合一”系统芯片(SoC)，就准备进军新一代蓝牙拨号器以及智能手表产品。该产品尺寸5.4mm x 6mm，采用ARM7核心，支持蓝牙4.0 /低功耗，内建电源管理单元与内存(4MB闪存与4MB SRAM)，号称是适合可穿戴式电子装置应用“整合度最高、尺寸最小”的SoC。

联发科在CES展示采用Aster单芯片的智能手表
u0iesmc

上图是联发科展示的一款内建Aster单芯片之智能手表原型，而该芯片也可以应用在其他各种可穿戴式电子装置，以及蓝牙拨号器。 由于Aster也提供完整的Application Framework开发平台与联发科Run-time Environment支持，让使用者能安装并升级各种应用程序，因此可穿戴式装置也能轻松执行应用程序。联发科的一位工程师就展示了智能手表能远程遥控智能手机拍照的功能。 笔者在美国还不曾听过蓝牙拨号器这种产品获得任何注意，而显然拿着大尺寸的phablet讲电话这件事，对美国人来说还是不太能接受；在此同时，中国市场不但以惊人速度接受了phablet这个新产物，甚至创造出对蓝牙拨号器的需求。 所以，这是否意味着“减肥”的功能型手机将卷土重来呢？你的看法如何？你使用过蓝牙拨号器这种产品吗？欢迎讨论！ 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 编译：Judith Cheng 参考英文原文：Feature Phones Are Back?，by Junko Yoshida

相关阅读：
• 便携产品创新风暴汇聚鹏城
• 华为海思挑战高通联发科是自不量力？
• MTK发布全球首款真八核4G LTE智能手机单芯片MT6595u0iesmc

{pagination} Feature Phones Are Back? Junko Yoshida, Chief International Correspondent MADISON, Wis. — The mobile market has a strange way of refreshing old products and making them new. A case in point is the so-called Bluetooth dialer. A sleek handset – strangely resembling Nokia's erstwhile candy bar phone but much skinner – is reportedly getting traction in China. Technically, this isn't a phone. Called a Bluetooth dialer, it helps a user to dial up or receive a call without whipping out a bulky tablet or phablet from his/her bag. You think maybe this is a ho-hum product? Technically speaking, there’s nothing new here, right? Bluetooth dialer for mobile phones (source: Shenzhen Migoal Technology Co.,Ltd.) But when MediaTek's president talked about Bluetooth dialers during a one-on-one interview with EE Times at this month's International CES, I confess that I was intrigued. So, I blurted out my question: "You mean feature phones are back?" Bluetooth dialers don't come with a modem. With just this device, you can't actually dial anybody. And yet, combined with a phablet or tablet, the Bluetooth dialer assumes all the elements (look and feel, convenience) of a feature phone. From what I gather, some innovative Chinese OEMs are beginning to add more features to Bluetooth dialers. I'm sure they don’t see the irony: a stripped-down Bluetooth dialer is suffering from feature creep, getting smarter and getting fatter. But think about it. Bluetooth dialers aren't much different from many of the smart watches that are emerging. The only difference is whether you wear it on your wrist or keep it in your shirt pocket. Otherwise, such basic functions as answering a call, dialing numbers, and displaying e-mail notifications are already there both in smart watches and Bluetooth dialers. It's not hard to imagine smart-watch SoCs soon being embedded inside a Bluetooth dialer, or vice versa. MediaTek's new "all-in-one" SoC dubbed Aster, introduced at the CES, could in fact become the driver for both next-generation Bluetooth dialers and smart watches. Housed in a 5.4mm x 6mm package, Aster is integrated with ARM7 ESJ, Bluetooth 4.0/Bluetooth Low Energy, power management unit and memory (4Mbytes of flash and 4Mbytes of SRAM). MediaTek is pitching it as the "smallest SoC" with "highest integration" for wearables. MediaTek shows off a smart watch based on the company's Aster wearable SoC at the CES. A prototype demonstrated by MediaTek came in the shape of a smart watch (shown above). But the chip can be an engine for any wearable device -- or for Bluetooth dialers. Because Aster provides also a comprehensive Application Framework, MediaTek Run-time Environment, which allows users to install and upgrade apps, it's a snap to run apps on wearable devices, according to MediaTek. One MediaTek representative, demonstrating its smart watch prototype, noted that the smart watch can also remotely trigger a smartphone (or phablet) to take pictures. I haven't seen or heard of any uptick for Bluetooth dialers in the United States. But one thing is clear. While we are still debating over here in the United States the usability issue of hand-held phablets, the Chinese market is moving at warp speed to create not only the phablet market but also demand for Bluetooth dialers, which could end up in the resurgence of… well, slimmed down feature phones. Call it back-to-the-futurism.