GSM Videophone

Objective

In the late 90's Cambridge Consultants worked with Orange, the UK's leading GSM network, to develop the world's first GSM mobile videophone.

Approach

Cambridge Consultants undertook the overall technical design responsibility for the project, which was used in early customer trials when the phones came onto the market.

The Orange videophone was a palm-held device providing full video and audio communication capabilities, as well as combining the functionality of a complete PDA, with email access and Internet browsing. It was the forerunner of smart (PDA) handsets that use GPRS, EDGE, and 3G technology today.

Result

Cambridge Consultants brought technical leadership and consultancy to the development of the Orange product, and worked with Orange and other organisations to implement Orange's vision of a wirefree future.

Orange's device led a new wave of mobile products in which a range of voice, data and visual functions converge into one product. As with many of Cambridge Consultants' other projects, the key to designing a product of this nature is in understanding human nature and how we interact with technology.

Benefit

The Orange project tapped one of Cambridge Consultants' core areas of expertise: turning ideas into concept products and then subsequent development into manufacturable designs. Cambridge Consultants works on product design and development techniques for companies of all sizes, providing new ideas, new technologies, extra resource and faster turnaround.