CTIA issued a press release last week announcing the E-Tech Award
finalists here:

http://www.ctiawireless.com/media/news_details.cfm?newsID=243

There are two other ways for the Saygus VPHONE to win not only the MOBILE
CE “Best Phone/Smartphone”, which is decided by a CTIA selected committee,
but also to win Best Online Pick and Best in Show! The deadline to vote
for the Saygus VPHONE as Best Online Pick is Monday, March 22nd at 5PM…
probably Pacific Time, but you might want to vote by 5PM Eastern Time just
in case. To vote the Saygus VPHONE for Best Online Pick go to:

www.ctiashow.com/awards

Source: Droid Ninja

Source: Droid Ninja

It’s the first mobile phone in the U.S. market that allows low-bandwith, 2-way video calls. A “Best of Innovations” winner, 3G is not required. At the moment, this videoconferencing only works in the United States, though the company is working on certification worldwide.

“We have designed our own proprietary video calling software that’s optimized so you can get three to four hours of video calling capability on extremely low bandwidths,” says Chad Sayers, founder and CEO of Saygus.

Video conferencing is still a novelty in smartphones. It can guzzle bandwidth and carriers have been hesitant to support the applications. Saygus says its video calling software can change that. It won’t bog down the network and can run 18-22 frames a second on Edge network and up to 30 frames a second on 3G. Saygus estimates that 5GB of bandwidth can support 10,000 minutes of video conferencing on the phone.

Saygus also hopes to partner with Skype to bring Skype video calling to the phone.

Read More on Wired

[source: EETimes]

Saygus sees the phone as a way to show off their video-calling software, which can transmit 352×288 video at 24-30 frames per second over a 48-kilobit stream, Sayers said. It’s efficient enough that video calling will cost much less than it does on AT&T, where prices start at 25 cents per minute. Saygus has been working on their software for a dozen years, but never found a buyer, so they decided to strike out on their own and make the ultimate video phone.

Video calling isn’t the VPhone’s only new trick. The phone will act as a Wi-Fi access point like Novatel’s MiFi, connecting up to eight PCs to the Internet at one time. Those PC users better watch out, though, as the VPhone’s service plans are likely to have the same 5GB per month data limit that you see on all Verizon plans. That’s enough for tons of video calling, considering Saygus’ extremely efficient compression, but tethering may strain your plan’s limits.

The phones will obviously call each other, but Riker said they’re also working on making them compatible with SIP/H.263 video-calling systems and desktop PC applications. They’d like to work with Skype, he said, but Skype has to allow them. International calling to foreign networks like 3, which already support video chat on mobile phones, is further out on the horizon.

Using ODI makes the VPhone’s path to market a bit weird. ODI devices don’t use Verizon’s stock service plans. Instead, Saygus wants to make deals with big-box retailers, who will offer their own service plans that use Verizon’s network and mirror Verizon’s own prices. They’re still working out who would provide product and tech support for these plans, Riker said.

The phone may also appear on other carriers in the future, Sayers said.

Under the Hood

The VPhone was built for Saygus by a nameless Chinese device manufacturer, and it feels like it. It’s chunky at 4.6 by 2.3 by 0.8 inches (HWD) and inelegant, but packed with features. The phone is thicker, but lighter than the Motorola Droid, and entirely wrapped in cheap-feeling black plastic. The 800×480 screen is sharp, and the keyboard is nicely well-spaced and much clickier than the flat, limp Motorola Droid keyboard.

The phone was a very early unit, so I couldn’t say much about performance or test the video-calling capabilities. But I got a general sense that this was a highly capable, although somewhat bulbous phone.

The VPhone runs Android 1.6, though Riker said they’re going to try to put 2.0 in there if the timing is right. They’ve tweaked 1.6 with some open-source extensions that seems to be borrowed from HTC, altering the home screen style and allowing for unlimited, expandable home screens. They’re still negotiating with Google about getting the Google apps onto the phone. Multi-touch support will come with the Android 2.0 upgrade, Riker said.

Under the hood, there’s a 624 Mhz Marvell PXA312 processor. We’ve seen that before on Verizon’s Samsung Omnia, but it has never appeared in an Android phone. That’s roughly equivalent to an ARM11 processor, so it may not be as fast as a Motorola Droid’s Cortex-A8 processor.

The phone has a 5-megapixel camera on the back and a VGA camera on the front. Both cameras can record 640×480 video at 30 frames per second. Bluetooth, GPS, and an FM radio are also on board, according to the phone’s spec sheet. The phone will get 3-4 hours of video calling and 6-7 hours of talk time on its chunky 1500 mAh battery, Sayers said.

I’ve seen a lot of small, new cell-phone companies say they’re going to crack the U.S. market, and they rarely do. Heck, even Nokia has trouble finding room in our closed, clubby, carrier-run world. Sayers said they have a former LG sales manager, Ash Darwish, helping them negotiate the rapids and shoals. That puts them ahead of companies such as Logic Wireless and Zer01, which don’t have mobile insiders playing major roles.

It’s unclear how much the VPhone will cost. Verizon has previously said they won’t subsidize ODI phones, but Sayers said they’re working on figuring out some sort of subsidy arrangement whether it’s through Verizon or their retailers. The VPhone is slated to come out early next year.

[Source: PC Mag]

2010 International CES
NEW YORK & SALT LAKE CITY–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Saygus, Inc. (http://Saygus.com) unveiled the Saygus VPhone™—an Android equipped smartphone with America’s first nationwide two-way video calling capability—at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Innovations 2010 Design and Engineering Awards in New York Nov. 10. The VPhone won the prestigious “Best of Innovations” in the “Wireless Handsets” category against top smartphone makers.

Expected to be available as a CDMA device through Verizon’s Open Development Initiative (ODI), the Saygus VPhone is the latest Android phone for consumers and businesses alike. It has two cameras – a 5 MP main camera with auto focus and flash and a VGA forward-facing camera for video calling – and provides a host of other features including WiFi, USB and Bluetooth tethering allowing up to eight devices (i.e., laptops, MIDs) to connect as an access point, USB host and client capability, slide-out keyboard with a large keypad and raised keys for fast and easy typing, larger battery to provide up to four hours of video calling and seven hours of talk time, and screen resolution twice that of the iPhone.

Using the major cellular networks in the U.S., Saygus has achieved two-way cellular video calls at 24 to 30 frames per second (fps) in excellent resolution with its proprietary low bandwidth video calling technology. The company has tested its technology on other devices and other cellular networks implementing video calling at 2.5G EDGE data rates. Saygus plans on providing quality video calling to other devices and networks, making video calling available to cell phone users around the globe.

VPhone features:

• Video Calling. Saygus VPhone includes Saygus’ proprietary video calling technology for the world’s first low bandwidth two-way cellular video calling.
• Tethering. WiFi, Bluetooth and USB tethering for up to eight devices.
• 1500 mAh Battery. Supports up to four hours of video calling and seven hours of talk time.
• QWERTY Slide-Out Keyboard. Large keyboard area with raised keys for ease of use.
• Multi-Touch Screen. High-resolution 3.5-inch 800 x 480 capacitive multi-touch capable screen.
• 624Mhz Marvell PXA310 processor.
• Dual Cameras. 5 MP main camera with auto focus and flash and VGA forward-facing camera for two-way video calling.
• CDMA EVDO Rev A.
• USB Charging. Host and client capability.

“The Saygus VPhone is the first two-way cellular video calling phone in the U.S. and the only full-featured Android phone available with two-way video calling,” said Chad Sayers, CEO of Saygus. “It’s an honor to be the 2010 Best of Innovations winner. The Wireless Handsets category is known for recognizing the biggest names in the smartphone world. It is a privilege to be in their company—we’ve literally become the ‘little guy’ with the ‘big guy’ device.”

The Saygus VPhone passed its FCC (Federal Communications Commission) certification Nov. 5, generating considerable buzz with its industry-leading features, and is expected to be available in the United States soon.

The Innovations Design and Engineering Awards recognizes achievements in product design and engineering and is sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association®, the producer of the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas annually, and endorsed by the Industrial Designers Society of America.

The Saygus VPhone will premiere at the 2010 International CES Jan. 7-10, 2010, in Las Vegas and CES Unveiled: The Official Press Event of the International CES on Jan. 5.

Innovations honorees reflect exceptional innovation in design and engineering. For more information on Honoree products, visit www.cesweb.org/innovations.

About Saygus

Founded in 1997, Salt Lake City, Utah-based Saygus, Inc. is a video calling technology developer currently launching America’s first two-way cellular video calling phone as an Android smartphone. Saygus expects to begin licensing its low bandwidth video calling technology to smartphone and feature phone makers soon with requests for their technology already planned in a handful of phones for the U.S. market during 2010. Saygus is operated by a seasoned group of executives including founder Chad Sayers, CEO; Tim Riker, former CTO of Lineo and Project Manager at Texas Instruments, CTO; Greg Merten, former VP and GM at HP’s Inkjet Cartridge Division; Ash Darwish, former VP at LG; and Krishna Rao, former CFO and Board member of Mitsubishi Silicon. Saygus is a privately funded company with the majority of its shareholders in Utah. www.saygus.com.

I’m pretty plugged into the smartphone scene, so I was eager to find out where Saygus came from and what sort of smartphone-making expertise it was bringing to the table. The rumor that the V1 would come out of Verizon’s Open Development initiative, in particular, really piqued my curiosity. But while I was unable to come up with much information about the company (there’s not a lot available), what I did find struck me as bizarre.

Saygus, according to its web site, is based in South Jordan, Utah; it was founded by CEO Chad Sayers. It bills itself as an “innovative leader in the communications industry specializing in the design, development, beta testing and market implementation of the world‘s first live wireless two-way video conferencing PCDA (Personal Communications Data Assistant).”

Saygus is set to release in the “fourth quarter of this year” the V1 — “the world’s first two-way live video conferencing PCDA.” The picture of the V1 (above) depicts the phone that is appearing all over the web as the new Android phone to possibly be carried by Verizon.

Read the rest of the story at jkontherun