Bernie Goldback extols the virtues of Nokia Communicators for mobile blogging (moblogging). I'd kind of forgotten about this series of devices and may well give them more consideration when they support GPRS and MMS.
Ok, here's what I want from an MMS mobile. Is this too much to ask? -
1) Excellent email client with IMAP and support for HTML messages
2) Functional web-browser.
3) Expandable memory for lots of MP3 playback
4) Bluetooth supporting the headset profile.
5) Reasonable quality inbuilt camera.
That's all. Anything else is a bonus.
Now, I've already decided on not getting the Nokia 7650 mainly because it didn't meet requirement #4 but also #3. I was sure the Sony Ericsson P800 would be the dream device I've been waiting for but the severe restrictions on expandability, as cited in the OCWorkbench article, have give me cause to pause.
I'm not particularly worried about the sound quality of MP3 playback as my usage of this functionality will be almost exlusively for MP3 encoded speech and not music. I want to carry my TextAloud rendered text/html files 'on the road' so that I can make more productive use of 'down time'.
Russell Beattie is also pondering his next
purchase but more from a developer's point of view. Maybe I'll end up waiting for the Nokia 3650 which he says is SUCH a better phone than the Nokia 7650. Emmm....
BBC - When every picture tells a story. Technology consultant Bill Thompson believes that camera phones will catch on rapidly. "They will be used by all sorts of businesses, from tree surgeons to roofing contractors, and no estate agent or used car sales person will be without one. By the end of the year they will be pretty ubiquitous in many work settings."
What's interesting about this article though are the caveats he has about the new technology. And he's not just
talking about the usual privacy intrusions by strangers on celebrities, but the more insidious possibilities such as,
"having to provide picture evidence of your red nose and bleary eyes when you call in sick". Indeed he mentions
a number of perturbing scenarios which I had simply never imagined before. Scary.
Here's a fabulously detailed review of the long-awaited SonyEricsson P800. 5 pages of photos and commentary by OCWorkbench where the author struggles to give a positive review. In fact it seems that he so desperately wanted to love this product that he could only half-heartedly criticise it. His reluctance apparently stems from having expected so much from the device that its few frustrating shortcomings only detract from what would be an otherwise terrific gadget.
Mobile Data Association (MDA) - Hot Topics"The total number of chargeable person-to-person text messages sent across the four UK GSM network operators during November was 1.5 billion.".
Scotland on Sunday - UK - Child fears prompt ban on camera phones. "CAMERA phones are set to be banned from swimming pools and sports centres amid growing fears they could be used by paedophiles to take pictures of unsuspecting children. A Home Office taskforce is considering the potential threat to children’s safety posed by the devices, which incorporate a tiny digital camera in a mobile phone. "
This is understandable but let's hope that common sense prevails as the hand of the law moves in to regulate the usage of picture phones.
BBCNews - What's the point of picture messaging?. "Sean Davies thinks so. He's been using picture messaging for a couple of months now, and says his business has been transformed as a result. The 37-year-old tree surgeon from Earlstoke, Wiltshire, says using two Nokia 7650 picture messaging phones has saved him a great deal of time and money.
Great to see a report 'from the field', where real people are making real use of these phones, as opposed to unsubstantiated hypothesising from cynical journos who have no clue about this technology revolution.
