A New Mobile Device Rating System for Consumers Based on User Experience

WALNUT CREEK, California and BEIJING, Nov. 18, 2013 — (PRNewswire) — BDTI (Berkeley Design Technology, Inc.: www.BDTI.com), the technology industry's trusted source for benchmarks, analysis, advice, and engineering, today announced the launch of Certimo™, a new rating system for mobile devices that accurately reflects consumer experiences.  The first version of Certimo is now available, supporting Android smartphones in China.  Future versions of Certimo will be available for other regions and other device types.

Certimo ratings allow prospective mobile device purchasers to choose a phone with confidence.  With Certimo, consumers have a trustworthy way to evaluate different vendors' smartphones through standardized measurements—including application performance, web browsing, messaging, multimedia, infotainment, display quality and battery life—all based on real-world operating conditions and use cases.   Moreover, all Certimo results are laboratory-certified before public release.

Developed by BDTI with the support of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. ( www.qualcomm.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, and others, Certimo addresses an important need to accurately evaluate smartphone experiences.  "The mobile device industry has grown quickly, and consumer benchmarks have just not kept up," explained Jeff Bier, President of BDTI.  "This has created an environment where benchmarks often have no relation to user experience, and where benchmark results can confuse or mislead consumers.  With Certimo, consumers have access to a trustworthy comparison reflecting user experience to help with their buying decisions."

The digital channel of China's largest and most used Internet service portal, QQ.com (Tencent), has joined with BDTI for the launch of Certimo and has become the exclusive online media partner for China.  QQ.com's editor-in-chief, Caitlyn Chen, commented, "Certimo provides an objective and accurate analysis of product characteristics based on user-experience, to provide an accurate and reliable basis for decision making.  As China's largest Internet media platform, Tencent will leverage our media-oriented operation to bring the consumer benefits of the Certimo rating to China."

Initial Certimo results cover over 25 mobile devices, with more scheduled.  All results are certified before release.  Access to the Certimo rating system will be available through the Mobile Experience Alliance ( www.mobile-xperience.com), a membership-based association that welcomes all companies equally.  Members may gain access to the Certimo tests for internal use during their product development.  As new devices become ready for market, BDTI manages the process of verifying and certifying Certimo results.  Certimo results include an overall score for each mobile device, as well as key individual user experience ratings.  This detail provides prospective buyers with trustworthy and in-depth insights into each device's capabilities to help in their purchasing decisions.

"Certimo brings a useful and verifiable tool for mobile users in China to help evaluate smartphone performance based on real user experiences and ways people actually use their phones," said Raj Talluri, senior vice president of product management for Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "With Certimo, users will gain valuable knowledge about their phone and the experiences they can expect to get from it."

For over 20 years, BDTI has been a leading provider of independent technology analysis and benchmarks.  BDTI benchmarks are used by leading electronic system and semiconductor companies and have become the most trusted benchmarks in the electronics industry.  BDTI was founded by U.C. Berkeley faculty and researchers, and is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Further information about BDTI may be found at www.BDTI.com.

Media Contact 
Jeff Bier 
Email Contact 
+1 (925) 954-1411

 

SOURCE Berkeley Design Technology, Inc. (BDTI)

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Berkeley Design Technology, Inc. (BDTI) Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Web: http://www.BDTI.com