beta beta beta

March 27, 2009 9:02 AM

I'd like to be a beta tester for devices, specifically cell phones and smartphones. Is it possible to do this? I don't care about getting paid or actually getting to keep said device. I just really like playing around with them and would like to aid in their development as a real user.

I tried googling, but I'm not having much luck except finding things about software beta testing.

I manage the cell phone stuff at my company and really enjoy getting different devices, figuring out how they work, and what apps I can get on them etc. I'm not the person trying to put linux on everything, but I'm more of a power user, I guess. I like finding out how to do everything possible on something.

Is it possible to do this where my tinkering would benefit others? This benefits my friends and family when they need to get new phones or have problems with theirs, but I'd like to help with how companies design the user interface. I'm assuming they need "real" people apart from their R&D folks to test things out.

Or I could be completely wrong.

posted by sio42 to computers & internet (7 comments total)

My best advice would be to start a "tech blog" where you do just that with whatever cell phones you have access to now. Making yourself visible as someone who does this for himself will, ironically, turn you into someone who does this for others. If you can write well, you'll end up getting offers from tech blogs to review cell phones for them, or at least you can take some writing samples and apply to one of the better known tech review web sites if a position becomes available.
posted by misha at 9:35 AM on March 27 [1 favorite]

When I worked for a cellphone software startup we would have loved to come across someone like you. I suggest you look for cellphone app startups and offer your services in a volunteer QA / tester capacity. These companies often target higher-end phones, so it would be fun for you, and any engineer will be thrilled to have the testing burden lightened.

It may help you to study up a bit on software testing or QA, just for credibility's sake. The downside to volunteering for startups is that their supply of phones is sometimes limited, so this would be helpful in gaining their confidence before getting a phone loaned to you.
posted by doteatop at 9:43 AM on March 27

In hardware it's usually called QA (Quality Assurance) not beta testing.

I would -not- start a blog if you want this job. New hardware designs are kept confidential and top secret and hardware testers usually have to sign all sorts of non-disclosure agreements, etc. The last thing companies want is a blogger getting hold of one of these things. While occasionally bloggers get some very controlled "hands on" at conventions and company events, they're very controlled and you've got company reps guiding you and looking at their watches.

There are probably small, independent companies that do testing, but I'm sorry that I don't know who they are. The people I know who do this kind of thing work either for Apple and Sony, or for a design company like frog design.

Unfortunately a lot the new features come from market research and market research agencies don't like to re-use the same people (just in case they get the "put Linux on everything" guy :) And the sessions are often very abstract. It's very rare to actually touch or even see a device. More often you don't know the company, or even the type of product they're looking to improve.

Alternately take a trip to CES. It's only a few days but you should be able to fondle all the gadgets you want for those days. And maybe you can network with companies and get a job.

If you just want to beta test actual mobile apps and not the phones or OS... Well there's a huge boom in mobile development right now. $50 worth of good Google adwords saying that you're a reliable mobile beta tester would probably land you some work. Read up on testing and QA procedures. A well written bug report is worth gold. A badly written one is wasting a lot of people's time.
posted by Ookseer at 11:38 AM on March 27 [3 favorites]

Sometimes Centercode offers beta testing opportunities for mobile devices.
posted by healthytext at 11:50 AM on March 27 [1 favorite]

Sounds like the cell phone industry is much more of an insider industry than I realized. You'd do better off following Ookseer's advice.
posted by misha at 11:55 AM on March 27

I used to work for a cell phone carrier, and have actually beta tested a phone. As far as I know all testing is done using industry people. QA people either working for the handset manufacturer or for one of the carriers.
posted by borkencode at 1:11 PM on March 27

Nokia Pilots test and give feedback on devices and services.

Your profile doesn't list where you live, local laws can make a big difference. In the US phones have to be FCC certified before being sent out to consumers which makes things much harder, EU countries are generally less strict.
posted by Olli at 2:24 PM on March 27 [1 favorite]