How Not to Build a Cellphone 326
Jamie found an NYT story about a new t-mobile Shadow phone which starts off by talking about how Apple is changing the phone game by wrestling power from the carriers, and then discussing what could be a reasonable piece of hardware. And then how it is wrecked by software. The phone has wait screens, a task manager, odd error messages etc. Makes for an amusing read.
T-mobile designe something ? Not (Score:4, Informative)
Not Classic - It's WM Standard (Score:1, Informative)
Classic is your regular PDA, albeit with a 624 MHz Marvel 310 processor, 128 MB of RAM, 320 MB or more of flash, CF and SDHC, 4" 480x640
http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/handheld/PC/1/storefronts/FB041AA%2523ABA [hp.com]
Pro is usually constrained (carriers, you know)
http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/handheld/Phone/1/storefronts/FA990AA%2523ABA [hp.com]
is small one (610). There is a larger one (910) not currently listed there.
Re:Mystifying (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Mystifying (Score:3, Informative)
"I could care less" --> sarcasm, or abbreviated form of "I could care less (but I don't know how)"
Now that's an ugly phone! (Score:2, Informative)
When I read this in the article:
It made me seriously question whether the photo shown along side was actually the phone they were talking about. That thing is seriously the ugliest phone I've seen in a long time and reminds me of something from the late '90s. Seriously, how could anyone possibly look at that phone and think it's even remotely inspired by the iPhone/iPod?!
"A buttonless facade"??? What the? There are 7 buttons plus the wheel on the front, plus another 20 with the keyboard pulled out. Maybe I just don't understand what "buttonless" means these days".
Tried Nokia N800? (Score:3, Informative)
On the downside it could use a bit longer active use-time (~4h of continuous usage in worst case), but I suppose that's the price of a large high-quality color screen.
My Comments to his Suggestions (Score:5, Informative)
I think this person needs to understand what the difference is between WM6 and a company that has jacked it up. WM6 is not perfect, but the issues he's blasted here are either because of TMobile's implementation, or his lack of knowledge of the features of the OS.
Nokia 1100 (Score:3, Informative)
It's the epitomy of minimalism, but it's the only phone I've seen with this sensible feature. Not a xenon tube that needs a battery guzzling capacitor to charge for each shot, either.
AHHHH!!!!!!!! (Score:5, Informative)
And it needs to be, most importantly, a GOOD PHONE. With GOOD RECEPTION, SOUND QUALITY, AND DIALING SHOULD BE SUPER-SIMPLE!!
Photo and video opportunities so that you could upload to Youtube/Flickr/Facebook would be cool too, but I'm OK without having that.
How fucking hard is it to roll that out???? Seriously, how fucking hard?
Re:everything you need to know: (Score:4, Informative)
have to object to that.
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/6203_204_million_Symbian_OS_handset.php [allaboutsymbian.com]
> nearly as messy
now this is personal opinion but you couldn't pay me to use windows mobile. i've seen every iteration in devices my boss buys and they all have problems that make them completely unusable. battery life, crashes, sync problems.
while symbian could be improved i have no problems using it every day since a nokia 3650 -> nokia n70 -> e61 -> e61i. the current phone e61i is used every day to
* take screenshots when away from my desk to look up errors when i get a chance.
* take pictures of a4 documents so i no longer need to locate a working photocopier for personal records.
* working on long emails that i get 2-3 times a year from a correspondent. 200k+ documents been worked on when on the bus amongst others.
* gmail application allows me to check email with or without wifi. bloody fantastic! i could get push email but i find the concept as annoying as sms.
* video spectacular crashes so that i can email them to the supplier who claims that what i'm reporting is impossible.
* notepad been used for every password username that comes my way. personal code used to encrypt the information before somebody points out that the builtin has none. mind you i know a symbian user who added a python wiki to his phone with encryption so could use that in the future if i really wanted.
* qreader for reading ebooks.
* web browser for when i need to check stuff out and about. i'm on a pay as you go contract so have to pay for every byte but sometimes a few k from google will give all the answers.
* spreadsheets for personal accounts.
* nokia maps for navigation
* still trying to learn python on the little bugger. i'll get there. i'll get there.
* planning on helping http://www.openstreetmap.org/ [openstreetmap.org] map out dublin by linking on a bt gps. will have to see how that goes.
* plugs in as a usb device to a pc or mac so have used it as a thumb drive when necessary.
for me the killer app is taking notes. was at a software conference at the start of the year. loads of people taking notes on laptops over 3 days. and hunting for power supplies at the end of every talk. the e61 (was before the e61i) was slower to type on but the battery lasted the 3 days with top ups from a battery powered charger at night. much more convenient.
if it were that messy i could get none of the above done. it does depend on what you use your phone for though.
Re:WM6 (Score:2, Informative)
Re:OK, here (Score:2, Informative)