Monday, August 18, 2008

Phone Technology

I'm not sure if I've impressed myself or become some behind in technology that I don't realized I've been passed up. I have had the same cell phone for over 2 years now, I can't believe this, I can even get $100 off a new phone from my service provider if I upgrade now, but I'm not doing it, well at least not yet.

I am currently using a Motorola Q, this is a good phone for receiving email, but horrible for using the web or viewing attachments (my iTouch does attachments much cleaner than the Q). What am I waiting for? A real phone on my network, the iPhone would do the trick, except it's using the AT&T network, AT&T is horrible in my neighborhood and my current provider, Verizon, has a great network, but sub-standard phones. What am I looking at in a phone, well it's simple:
  1. Great Network - Reliable and fast
  2. Email - Needs to support multiple IMAP accounts and the phone needs to talk directly to my email servers and not use something like Apple's Me network (I don't like the idea of one group gathering all my email, it's kind of creepy if you ask me).
  3. Sync with Outlook, this should be a no brainer for ANYONE creating a phone, most people use Outlook.
  4. Internet Access
  5. Decent and configurable profiles, so I can quickly switch to silent mode, and it should automatically switch to headset mode. It would also be nice to have the phone have a separate profile for when it was charging or attached to your computer.
  6. Bluetooth, people shouldn't be building phones without bluetooth.
  7. MP3, this is a must for any decent phone lately, it's good to have so you don't have to carry multiple devices.
  8. Expansion Card.
  9. Fantastic Battery Life (I have great battery life on my Q, but I've purchased a huge battery for it, on trips I also carry two other batteries, just in case).
  10. Nice screen, my iTouch has a fantastic screen, still small, but usable.
  11. Finally the ability to tether the phone to a laptop.

What I'm finding is 3 types of phones, your standard cell phone, a "feature" phone and a smart phone. I understand the standard cell phone, many people just want a phone, they don't need bells and whistles. I understand the "smart" phone, which is what I have above, but I don't understand the "feature" phone, which shoves features into the phone, but leaves out the functionality.

Possible Phones:

I want a full screen phone, like the iPhone, what I currently have the option for is a LG Dare, which looks like a fantastic phone, but it doesn't pass the email test, you need to log into a service to view your email, this is a security issue and inconvenient if you want to go through your email while you don't have service, email should be downloaded to the phone. My next possible phone is the Blackberry Thunder, but I have been reading very poor reviews of it (Verizon really shot themselves when they didn't deal with Apple). Until I can find a phone that is worth a new 2-year contract I'll be sticking with my good old reliable Motorola Q (now watch it die on me ;)).

3 comments:

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

I'm surprised to learn about bad reviews for the Blackberry Thunder as I didn't think it was out yet (rumor 10/13) and only a few pictures have hit the web. I'm sitting on the fence with my Blackberry Pearl from Verizon waiting for the Thunder (aka Storm) or moving to the iPhone. It will be interesting to hear about your decision.

August 19, 2008 4:52 AM

Unknown said...

Al, it's tough to really give a good judgement, since the companies are very tight on allowing access to their new phones before they are released, I don't even see this phone in forums like phonescoop.com which usually have phones listed well before their ship.

In reading pages such as Thunder Review I'd be surprised if the Thunder is released on time or really does what I want (I'm not sure if it'll do what others want).

All I can hope now is that my cellphone lasts another 6-12 months :).