Accessorize Your Phone With Another Phone 171
Rambo Tribble writes "Ars Technica reports that HTC is introducing the Mini, a small, more convenient and feature-reduced phone to tie into your big, cumbersome smartphone. So, dumb is the new smart?" Don't forget a wristwatch phone to connect to the smaller phone.
Do yourself a favor (Score:5, Insightful)
Do yourself a favor and buy a ruggedized outdoor phone. They last forever, have long battery life and unlike most smartphones are actually usable for making phone calls.
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Do yourself a favor and buy a ruggedized outdoor phone. They last forever, have long battery life and unlike most smartphones are actually usable for making phone calls.
What model do you suggest?
I love my smartphone because it can do almost anything but I'll admit that a low end Nokia dumb phone is actually better for making and receiving phone calls.
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Samsung Rugby Pro or Sony Acro S
Any other recommendation ? (Score:2)
Samsung Rugby Pro or Sony Acro S
Thanks !
Got any other recommendation ?
Thanks again !!
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Got any other recommendation ?
My brother is an avid outdoorsman, he's very happy with his ruggedised Samsung phone. I believe it's this one [samsung.com], or a very similar model. It shrugs off all kinds of abuse, and he's put it through its paces :)
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Samsung Rugby Pro or Sony Acro S
Those are both Android phones, with relatively large (and therefore vulnerable) screens.
The advantage of old fashioned dumbphones is that they have a tiny screen which is much easier to protect, and means you can get a nice small overall phone to fit in your pocket
That's what I would go for if I wanted a phone I could take on building sites or on wilderness camping trips.
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its true remember the rootkit fiasco and the remove of other os
Why would that affect what phone, TV or other piece of consumer electronics you bought?
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Not a Motorola Barrage, the Bluetooth system doesn't work very well. After a call made or answered from your bluetooth device the phone may not reconnect to it properly properly and you'll be scrambling for your phone when it rings and your car/headphone remains silent.
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If you care more about battery life, then look at LG GX200.
Re:Do yourself a favor (Score:5, Insightful)
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Do yourself a favor and buy a ruggedized outdoor phone. They last forever, have long battery life and unlike most smartphones are actually usable for making phone calls.
They still aren't waterproof. And I have a 300 watt, 120vlt aquarium heater that argues strongly against the idea that it's not possible to make a cellphone waterproof.
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They still aren't waterproof. And I have a 300 watt, 120vlt aquarium heater that argues strongly against the idea that it's not possible to make a cellphone waterproof.
Almost. I have just acquired a Samsung Galaxy Xcover [samsung.com], also known as 'Extreme', which can withstand 1 meter for 30 mins. It has a metal case and Gorilla glass. It doesn't have the latest bells and whistles but I reckon it's a reasonably rugged basic smartphone.
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You're just carping because Niris already pwned the whole discussion [slashdot.org].
Obligatory... (Score:5, Funny)
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Over in 2.
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Start of something big. (Score:5, Funny)
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Granted, there are times when you don't have your headset on and will end up talking to the tablet, but that's not such a big deal.
I don't see the motivation for having a wristwatch, or smaller phone, to communicate with my phone. It would seem to defeat the purpose of having a mobile phone in the first place. Hell, you can get an actual phone in a wristwatch today, if that's the way you want to go. But I still want my tablet.
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There are times when it would not be practical to use the keyboard, either. But it's still useable. That's what I like about tablets.
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"You're trying to tell me that your tab w/a headset is as convenient as whipping out my handset? You're dreamin' pal."
And you're trying to tell me that your handset can conveniently do spreadsheets and word processing? You're dreaming, pal.
I didn't say it was "as convenient"... that depends on your needs. What I stated was that *I* was good with that particular compromise.
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I operate heavy equipment, and by the time I can hear my phone. get it off my otter box belt clip, and get my gloves off to swipe to answer it has gone to VM. When I call them back they inevitably don't answer because they are leaving some wordy fucking message that I will never listen to. I would use this for sure mostly because I could kick the shit out of it and not worry. But it doen't go far enough, here is what I want.
Rubberized brick with CPU memory and battery that is induction or wirelessly charge
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And you're trying to tell me that your handset can conveniently do spreadsheets and word processing? You're dreaming, pal.
I was filling in a few spreadsheets, and composing proposals on a train on a iPhone. It's not AS easy on on a computer or a tablet but it does work and work well.
As for "convenience" it's way more convenient to carry a smartphone in your pocket.
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So do you carry the tablet absolutely everywhere you go?
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"So do you carry the tablet absolutely everywhere you go?"
Do you carry a briefcase absolutely everywhere you go? Or maybe a purse? To be honest, usually I carry a small backpack. Tablet in backpack + bluetooth headset sounds good to me.
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"So do you carry the tablet absolutely everywhere you go?"
Do you carry a briefcase absolutely everywhere you go? Or maybe a purse?
No, not when I am sailing, caving, rock clumbing, bike riding, etc. But I always need a phone for safety reasons.
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No, not when I am sailing, caving, rock clumbing, bike riding, etc. But I always need a phone for safety reasons.
If you don't already have one, you should get a rugged phone. My brother speaks highly of his Samsung Extreme (or a very similar model). He doesn't rely on it for safety, but it has taken a lot of abuse and still works perfectly. You might still have connectivity issues in caves, though :)
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I am fine with my LG Optimus. It lives in my back pack inside a waterproof bag a lot of the time. Its a small phone and carrying a big tablet seems silly to me. But I do like the bluetooth wristwatch peripheral which somebody linked to. It might be good for wearing to work.
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"So do you carry the tablet absolutely everywhere you go?"
Do you carry a briefcase absolutely everywhere you go? Or maybe a purse? To be honest, usually I carry a small backpack. Tablet in backpack + bluetooth headset sounds good to me.
As I'm not a lawyer, woman or student, no I don't carry something with me all the time that would fit a tablet in. I suppose you could get a 7 inch tablet in my coat pocket, but it would feel awkward and vulnerable.
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I've been doing this for years - I have multiple phones in my pockets at all times.
I have a small candybar phone with a 12-digit keypad that I use as a phone, and a 4+ smartphone that my s.o. affectionately calls my "mini-tab", since it replaced my large tablet for all things portable and android.
I tried using the smartphone as my primary for a while, and I nearly threw it against the walls on a daily basis. Texting on a touchscreen with big fingers is very nearly the most consistently frustrating thing I
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Interesting... I've never done T9, only multi-tap. And over the years I've gotten good enough that I can text a three-SMS-long message with a mean approaching zero errors without looking at the message even once before I send it. I take notes during meetings, blind text, etc., without having to do so much as glance at my device. Contrast this to a smartphone, where I have to double-check every WORD, in case I mis-typed. And it's not a screen- or keyboard-size issue; even a 10" iPad turned sideways gives me
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Actually, my 7.9" tablet that acts as a phone as well goes with me everywhere. Fits in my pocket and is really light and durable, as well. Bluetooth is your friend.
You must walk around with a constant snorting sound as background noise, where people are trying not to laugh openly at you.
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My tablet only has a 7 hour battery life. My netbook has about the same. Not much good to me as an always-on communications device. My smartphone still has about 36 hours battery life, and the battery is a few years old now.
How long does your tablet last? (If it's a long time, what's the model? I'm genuinely interested).
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I know you jest, but seriously, some functions just don't conveniently tie into an all-in-one device. Smartphones take crap pictures, for example. And as TFA points out, they really don't make a very good form-factor as phones, either.
I actually kinda like your (and TFA's)
Re:Start of something big. (Score:5, Insightful)
Not so true about pictures.
1- High-end smartphones (iP4s, iP5, GS3, GNote2...) take okay pictures. For a blog or email, or even regular-size prints, they are more then "good enough".
2- smartphone video compares even more favorably to regular cameras
3- and above all let you have something to take pictures *all the time*. My brother has a semi-expensive camera, and a shitty smartphone that even went through the wash once. The pictures we get of the nephews are more often take with his smartphone, because that's what he always has with him.
Now, if you want to get arty or A4-size, sure, get a true camera. If you want to shoot un-arty slices of life for friends and family, no need.
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I know you jest, but seriously, some functions just don't conveniently tie into an all-in-one device. Smartphones take crap pictures, for example.
Modern smartphones take pictures that are good enough for many people, like Ben Lowe, who does photography for the big boys (he uses an iPhone):
http://www.tuaw.com/2012/11/06/time-magazine-cover-shot-with-iphone/ [tuaw.com]
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F. Yeah. Just like in Johnny Mnemonic.
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What a wonderful future that will be where instead of one device capable of doing lots of things we have lots of individual devices dedicated to a single purpose.
Which is actually what I do.
My DLSR is thousands of time better than my phone's camera. When I don't want to carry my huge, fragile, and expensive camera with me, I was a little Olympus mirrorless, that still takes better pictures than my phone, and pretty much (with a small, pancake prime) fits in my pocket.
My iPod is better than my phone's music player. It has more battery life, and when the battery dies I'm not left in the cold. It can hold more music, and I actually own said music (as opposed to rent
Laugh (Score:4, Insightful)
I love how they keep calling them smart "phones", it's really a tracking device with facial recognition, vocal recognition, finger print recognition, your bank info, GPS, and has a "phone" included. (primarily for a constant data connection for the aforementioned attributes)
It reminds me of the vases with clocks in them. "and it has a clock!!!"
Phones indeed...
Re:Laugh (Score:5, Funny)
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Maybe by now are more used the lot of extras than the core, but it is still is the core. Phones has evolved from just for calls to what are now piling up features over them.
Anyway, that don't explain why the N900 was called a smartphone if was something that evolved from a tablet/pocket computer by adding phone capabilities to it. Is like calling fish a dolphin.
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I love how you call the thing on your head hair. It's really just tin foil designed to stop the government satellites from tracking you.
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Considering most phones these days place less emphasis on actual calls than on including millions of features, it's probably more accurate to call them devices.
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Device is unspecific; phone may not encompass the entirety of the device, but so what? it is a phone, and, in time, the definition of phone will change to match the fullness of the things we call phones.
many things are devices which are not phones, but phones are clearly a smaller subset of things than devices -- use the term phone, not device, as both are devices but only one could be called a phone. even if you never make calls on it.
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Take a note from ST and call them "Communicators" though that still is not accurate for most. PDA is the closest but that fell out of favor in the 90s.
The Brits probably do it best, "Mobile" is as amorphous as you can get.
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The Brits probably do it best, "Mobile" is as amorphous as you can get.
Well, in Germany we usually call it "Handy". That's even more amorphous, isn't it? :-)
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Too many syllables. Noone is going to call it that. The only reason they can get away with it on ST is that the scriptwriters insist on using a word that sounds "scifi", rather than admitting that they'll prolly still call them "phones" in the future.
Do they integrate? (Score:2)
Can you get several devices on the same phone number? Do they synchronize their contact lists? And, most important, are you going to be charged for two airtime plans?
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Re:Do they integrate? (Score:4, Insightful)
It's more like a bluetooth headset than a separate phone.
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Click the link in the story.
The little handset does not have its own phone number or sim card. It connects to your bigger phone (which is more like a small tablet) via NFC.
This allows you to leave your big phone in your inside jacket pocket, or purse, and answer calls on the small handset.
It avoids the duchebaggery of holding a monstrous tablet up to your ear in public, or appearing to be talking to no-one in particular on a Bluetooth headset.
So you only need one number, one data plan, and it goes on your
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they got jealous about sony-e's android running watch that connects to your phone.
and being the htc they are they couldn't fit it in a watch.
Oh, the wrist phone is connected to the hand phone (Score:2)
The hand phone is connected to the ear phone...
Let's just go with the implants, ok? You can stream everything you see and hear on your facebook page.
Re:Oh, the wrist phone is connected to the hand ph (Score:5, Funny)
Let's just go with the implants, ok?
Yeah, so we really can't tell between the crazies and phone users.
"WTF is that smell?"
"Excuse me, I'm receiving a FAX."
--
BMO
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"WTF is that smell?"
"Excuse me, I'm receiving a FAX."
Essential communication from those guys in the Darmstadt office, perhaps?
Small really is good (Score:2)
I have this dead 2G Sony Ericsson phone which was small and very easy to carry around. The other week I saw an ipod nano in a shop. It has a little screen with six icons on it. I thought that if apple made an iphone in that form factor I would actually buy one.
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The biggest problem with Smart Phones seems to be (Score:2)
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It only uses NFC to initialize the connection. After that, it uses Bluetooth. It shouldn't be any more or less of a drain on your battery than a Bluetooth headset.
Re:The biggest problem with Smart Phones seems to (Score:5, Informative)
This device is not a dumb phone on the same number. It is merely a peripheral I/O device, like a bluetooth headset. It can't make or receive calls unless it is close to the main phone/tablet.
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Dunno about iOS, Android or Windows Phone, but MeeGo has a very effective battery-saving mode, which dims the screen, does not use data connections unless you manually start them and automatically disengages once you start charging it. It won't be as power-efficient as a dumbphone, but it does have a much larger battery.
If your OS of choice isn't as smart, if you want to save your battery, manually shut off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC (may not apply), 3G/4G data and dim the screen.
Smartphone market is saturated... (Score:3)
I'm still waiting for a Zoolander dumb-phone (Score:2)
I am still waiting for a tiny Zoolander phone.
Since it'd be a dumb phone, it could be mostly battery and could last a week between charges.
It's backwards (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't understand this. Why would you take your inconvenient, expensive to upgrade, battery-sucking tablet and put your SIM card inside it? Then bring a smaller device in case it's too inconvenient to take out your smartphone?
Why not have a small phone with great battery life and core features, then just use it as a hotspot for a tablet? I was looking at wristwatch phones and none of them seem to do this. There's even the new Pebble http://getpebble.com/ [getpebble.com]... which is a wristwatch UI for your fat phone.
This whole trend is backwards. Put the phone on our wrists and let us carry an optional tablet, handset or earpiece.
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well you hit the gist with "great battery life". a great battery doesn't fit into your phone.
besides, nokia was doing that route already with 770 internet tablet(which did not have a phone and you were expected to use bt connection to a phone to connect to the net on the go). people wanted to be able to make calls with it. an extra device to carry is an extra device to carry.
besides, wrist phones suck ass unless you want to carry a bt headset all the time.
and these guys are just being asses and are just rel
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"a great battery doesn't fit into your phone."
My Nokia C40 lasts 7 days on a single charge.
When you reduce the functionality, the battery life goes up dramatically. With the small displays, there's little value in having a lot of features. Just the basics, and the ability to interface with other peripherals.
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Believe it or not, before purchasing my current smart phone, I actually looked for an arrangement like that - a very small (5" max) Android 4.x tablet with Wi-Fi (no 3G) and a small, sturdy phone that could also work as a Wi-Fi hotspot (which cheap Android phones seem to handle pretty well now, btw).
Eventually I gave up because (a) I could not find a tablet smaller than 7" of acceptable quality (this may have changed - I did not check again after I eventually purchased a smart phone) and (b) where I live (s
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It's just a matter of which device is the one you use most and carry with you all the time and which device is the optional accessory you only carry when you need it. We call them "smartphones" but increasingly they're portable computers that are only occasionally used to make phone calls.
If you spend most of your time browsing the web and watching cat videos, it makes sense to put the connection in the device so you don't have to carry around a hotspot too. Then you have a Bluetooth headset -- which is bas
Re:It's backwards (Score:4, Informative)
I don't understand this. Why would you take your inconvenient, expensive to upgrade, battery-sucking tablet and put your SIM card inside it? Then bring a smaller device in case it's too inconvenient to take out your smartphone?
Why not have a small phone with great battery life and core features, then just use it as a hotspot for a tablet? I was looking at wristwatch phones and none of them seem to do this.
A watch-sized 4G hotspot with a tiny watch battery would last about 30 minutes in real life.
This device [engadget.com] would do the trick I suppose, but with that baby strapped to your wrist -- it would look more like a court-mandated gps-tracker. And I doubt that's the fashion statement you'd want to go for.
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a small phone with great battery life and ... hotspot for a tablet?
And you lost me right there.
Great trick to combat that annoying friend at the party who is always on the phone, grab his phone and put it into hotspot mode. Guaranteed the battery will be dead within the hour.
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Blackberries aren't small, don't have a great battery life and without BES, barely let you sync your address book.
Yer Doing it Wrong (Score:5, Insightful)
If your smart phone is too cumbersome, the solution is NOT to get another gadget to add to the complexity.
Seriously, some folks are so gadget happy with their oohh-aaahh features on their phones that they forget why they bought it.Speak with your wallet. Buy a phone that works for your needs, and is easy to use.
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Almost everything in the retail channels are smart phones.
I still have a feature phone and it saddens me that almost no one manufactures them anymore.
It's gotten to the point where low-end smart phones are being pushed hard into Africa, which has generally been a stronghold for the dumb phone.
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Seriously, some folks are so gadget happy with their oohh-aaahh features on their phones that they forget why they bought it.
I think you're confused about why they bought it. We call them "smartphones" but their primary purpose these days is browsing the web, not making phone calls.
Getting ridiculous (Score:5, Insightful)
If your phone is so big and cumbersome that you need a second phone that is easier to hold and easier to handle, then why wouldn't you just get a primary phone that fits those requirements in the first place?
I see these people with their ridiculous 5 inch Android phones. They have them set to dim and turn off the screen almost immediately, because the battery life is so shitty. When they aren't swiping around on them like a crazy person, they are looking for power outlets to keep the stupidly big things charged up.
Screw that. Get a phone with a normal size screen, a phone that fits in your pocket, a phone that has a battery that lasts for a whole day, a phone that doesn't need another phone as an accessory.
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Speaking as someone with a "ridiculous 5 inch Android phone" (actually 5.5" display, Galaxy Note 2) I have never had a problem with battery life, it lasts all day no problem, and as it sits on my bedside as a replacement for my old alarm clock, it charges every night.
As for why have a secondary phone, I can see it. The note is a big phone, but not so big as to be cumbersome in general, and as I wear cargo pants 95% of the time or more, there's plenty of pocket space. Unfortunately though I do occasionally d
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I would be fired if I did NOT wear cargos, I'm in a uniformed profession, cargo pants are the only choice of pants offered for work.
When I'm relaxing at home, I have some baggy comfortable cargos (and I don't see any reason at all to care what I look like at home), and when I'm out and about I have some very professional looking cargos that are applicable for almost every situation that doesn't require some level of fancy dress (plain black similar cut to most "casual" pants and with slim cargo pockets, ce
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Cargo pants are just convenient clothing, just like jeans. There is nothing inappropriate about them. Thankfully, jeans at least are acceptable almost everywhere by now - no thanks to dumb fucks like you who're stuck in Victorian times - and we'll get there on other good stuff eventually.
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I suspect longer than a day, but since it gets plugged in every night anyway, it doesn't matter how long it lasts past that time.
Once battery life reaches "until it ends up on a charger anyway" it doesn't matter how much longer than that it could last. I don't understand the people who constantly complain about the battery life of smart phones and state that they expect a phone to last several days on a charge. Why? do you routinely go several days without sleeping? do you normally go several days without b
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Where are you sleeping on these vacations? if it's a hotel, hostel, RV, or friend's place, it has power. If you're in a tent for days on end, maybe you shouldn't be spending much time on your phone anyway... I find that it is extremely rare to be without power for that long AND in cell coverage, however in the rare circumstance I use one of the following solutions:
1) car charger
2) portable battery pack (about the size of a cell phone, 2-5 charges)
3) realize that it's ok to be without a cell phone some times
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a phone that fits in your pocket
I can fit my Nexus 7 in the back pocket of my jeans quite comfortably. And I do so regularly when I take it out of doors. It also fits quite nicely in the pocket of my cargo shorts as well.
A nugget with a menu of optional interfaces (Score:5, Interesting)
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So what they're really selling is... (Score:5, Insightful)
... an inconveniently large bluetooth headset?
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Not even that useful, it's NFC.
RIM was there first (Score:2)
--
.nosig
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RIM was there first, only the other way around.
Yes, and we saw how well it worked for them.
Incidentally, George Santayana was right.
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Yes, and we saw how well it worked for them.
It was actually a great idea. It wasn't executed very well, and people didn't realize, yet, why it should work that way. Nowadays, it makes a whole lot more sense.
I bet this is immensely helpful... (Score:5, Insightful)
Awesome new idea (Score:4, Insightful)
Can you like, accessorize it? (Score:2)
Just a remote (Score:2)
If you think of it as a Bluetooth remote (NFC doesn't really give enough range that "remote" has any meaning) it's not really all that unreasonable. I spent a good chunk of my morning looking for a Canadian supplier of something not entirely dissimilar [amazon.com]... remote music control, camera shutter trigger, and since it has Real Buttons it's a little more effective to control music and whatnot while driving.
But yeah, whoever decided to market this as a phone for a phone needs their head(s) checked.
I guess size does matter (Score:3)
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Phone shops want to sell shiny things not practical things.
You can find low end phones that just work in most airports. Business travelers often break their phones and need to buy a new one in a hurry.
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Well, rather than a 'tiny phone thing with 4g', I'm more thinking you have a huge tablet thing with the 4g and a 'tiny phone thing' that hooks up to it via bluetooth.
Bigger antenna = more sensitivity and needing less power(on average) to connect to the cell network; plus the bigger battery gives you the life you want.
Then have the port so that you slot your tiny phone into it for charging and so you don't lose it.