Don’t Turn Your Back on a Puma

Today at Mobile World Congress, Sagem Wireless unveiled its Puma phone, the first results of a licensing deal announced in October last year.

When talking about the launch with colleagues in the industry, I generally got looks of disbelief that I would recommend going to see a product from Sagem Wireless. The company has been out of the spotlight for a while, and some people even thought it had left the mobile business entirely.

The Puma phone isn’t an obvious contender for one of the “must see” products in Barcelona. It’s a feature phone running proprietary software — something that’s distinctly unfashionable these days.

However, I really recommend you go and take a look at this phone. Sagem Wireless has done an excellent job of creating a unique product. What I like is the thought and attention to detail that has obviously gone into the Puma phone. I think it’ll appeal to consumers, especially those who know and love Puma-branded sportswear. Below is an exclusive demonstration of the phone’s main features, filmed at Mobile World Congress.

The user interface offers a refreshingly clean approach and some nice touches that justify features on the phone. One example is the counters that show the charge provided by the phone’s solar panel in terms of how many messages have been “powered by the sun”. It also has user-interface elements that will delight users (what I like to call “UI bling”), such as “peeling back” the screen to reveal more information. Of course, this is not a new idea — the iPhone’s had it from day one — but it’s the first time I’ve seen it on a less-expensive device.

Other phone-makers with aging software platforms for mid-tier devices could learn from the Puma phone. People are tiring of dated grid menus. Sagem’s Puma shows them a new direction.