Jon Curnow's Digital Home
Nokia’s new messaging phone comes with a QWERTY keyboard and lacks the Treo-style annoying aerial.
Dear Palm
Please take note:
Nokia Announces Eseries for Business (Phone Scoop): E6 -: A slim (0.55 inches) messaging phone to compete with the Motorola Q. Features a landscape 24-bit QVGA display, QWERTY keyboard, and a miniSD slot. Supports quad-band GSM/EDGE and WCDMA 2100.
With no annoying sticky-up aerial to jab you when it’s in your pocket.
Thanks in advance
Me
Why are we always looking for the next new ‘phone? I know I’ve been looking.
Why Do We Love Our Mobile Phones?
Occasionally I have noted my use of a Palm-powered Treo on Orange in the UK. It’s an OK phone and an OK organiser (and an OK MP3 player and a poor camera), but as one pocket-sized device it more-or-less rocks. Sometimes I wish it were smaller, and sometimes I wish it were bigger. Sometimes I wish I’d spent the cash on the keyboard accessory, and sometimes I don’t.
Last month Engadget carried what they said were ‘actual pics of the new Treo Ace/Treo 650‘, which is the next version of the device and – of course – carries some neat improvements. At the start of next year, I will be 12 months into the contract for the ‘phone and able to change it. The thing is – although I love all the features and I love the whole Palm experience – I can’t help thinking that I need to get a simpler machine that is just a telephone.
Ah, the dilemmas of the gadget obsessed.
A little rant about data synchronisation is brewing. This isn’t it.
I have such a long post ‘brewing’ about data that we all need to transport around with us regularly. I have Microsoft Outlook at work, a Palm-powered Treo phone, and a Palm desktop/Mozilla combination at home. I occasionally back up all my data to Yahoo’s organiser (calendar, address, memo). There is no reliable synchronisation tool that handles everything well for me, and this is one of the things that truly frustrates people trying to utilise all this technology. It was one of the reasons I switched to a Palm-powered Treo rather than my old Nokia favourites (at least a good part of the synchronisation works). There are some immovables in the equation: Outlook is in use in my office, and I can’t change that, and I am attached to Windows-based computers. Although I have heard some reports that Apple’s iSync isn’t as great as it’s claimed it is – at least – an option for Mac users. I notice another satisfied user today: Jase and his Sony Ericsson T610. Maybe that post will eventually see the light of day!
I have spent the last few days trying to decide if I should update my ‘phone with Orange and today I have decided against.
I have spent the last few days trying to decide whether to update my phone with Orange, and today I decided against it. I have been considering upgrading to one of those phones that is both a PDA and a phone. I am hoping this would stop me from carrying multiple devices around with me and also ensure that I am in sync across all the things I use to try to organise my life. Sadly, I have decided there isn’t a device for me.
The Orange SPV seems to get me a lot of the way, but the phone hasn’t had the greatest reviews and, to be honest, if I were going to pay that much money, I think I would like either Bluetooth or a built-in camera (apparently, the next version will have both of these things). It also features an MP3 player that will, of course, play WMA format. I won’t get started on music formats – I am sure there is a whole post there.
Now the Treo 600 also interests me. It is a combined PDA and phone and will be able to utilise most of the Palm-related software that I have already installed and used on my trusty Palm Vx. The Real One Mobile that you could use on the Treo doesn’t play WMA files, which means that I would have to re-encode most of my music and, as I am not that much of an audiophile, I’d rather have the disc space.
Now, neither of these devices does all I need or want, and I am not going to spend that much money yet. My Nokia 7650 tries to sync contacts and a diary but doesn’t do it very well. I looked at the Sony Ericsson T610, but it doesn’t seem to be much of a leap from the Nokia I have.
So, what’s my wish list? A Palm-powered device which is also a phone and a decent MP3 player. If I had the money, it would also be Bluetooth- and Wi-Fi-enabled. One day, somebody will make it, I’ll have the money, and we’ll meet in a shop on Oxford Street.
Oh, and if you have tips for getting the Nokia 7650 to sync well (not just sync, but sync well) with the Outlook I use at the office, please let me know.