NEC UK Ltd’s Radio Communications Division has launched the NEC P3 portable cellular phone, making the familiar claim that here, at last, was the first truly personal pocket phone, combining portability with long talk time. It is not quite the lightest on the market, but weighing in at just under a pound – imagine half a bag of sugar in your pocket – it is a definite improvement on the so-called hernia phones of a few years ago. NEC has put a lot of thought into the design of the thing, so that appears and feels compact and unobtrusive: the mouthpiece is streamlined into the rest of the handset, thus avoiding the risk of it simply snapping off, while the small flip-up aerial can be returned to its original position within the lines of the phone when not in use. The reduction in size over its predecessor, the NEC 9A, has been achieved by reducing the internal circuitry and battery size, yet NEC says performance has in fact been increased, with a talk time of 80 minutes and a battery life of 18 hours; complete re-charging takes 90 minutes. Memory has been increased, so that 99 numbers can be stored alphabetically with a message or name, with additions to the memory possible while the phone is in use. The P3 has a built-in clock, timer and alarm; the alarm can be set to sound before an important call is expected, and the timer can turn on the phone automatically. The P3 also doubles as a car phone when used with a hands-free kit, and an optional booster kit is available for this purpose. NEC stresses that the P3 is not just aimed at business executives, but at delivery and support staff, farmers and journalists – in fact, everybody. The promotional text finishes by asking of these potential customers can you afford to be without one?. But, with the P3 coming in at a basic UKP1,500, an equally pertinent question might be can you actually afford one?.
