The latest smart phone actually looks like... a phone!

[christa]

The Samsung

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/cwittmier/samsung-sgh-i600-1.jpg

the article (http://msmobiles.com/news.php/5545.html)

[cezanne]

Looks like a calculator to me.

[christa]

haha well it's close enough for me. considering the size and shape of most on the market this is a very nice device.

maybe you have to actually be holding it to tell.

[pzarquon]

Hmm. Doesn't look any more or less like a cell phone than most cell phones, to me. Certainly has the same mass of keys that some of the more complex ones do, very much like a Treo and the Microsoft "smartphones" that cloned the design, though perhaps in a smaller form factor (to the chagrin of anyone with fat fingers). No slick hinge like the Razr or snappy hidden keyboards or screens, at least.

Reading the article, in fact, makes it clear that this phone would be Exhibit A to anyone who decries the so-called evolution of phones to "do everything" devices. Lots of folks just want a phone, not all the bells and whistles that imply that your phone can also run your "digital lifestyle." This sucker wants to do everything, which often means it probably doesn't do any one thing particularly well.

But, what do I know. I own a "do everthing" Treo!

[hawaiidreamin]

Looks nice-I am still a fan of the flip phone or at least one that covers the keypad- most of these new phones with these "smart" features never have that.

[adrian]

I wonder if you can snap it in half (http://www.slashphone.com/118/5208.html) LOL

And the Moto better release the Q for GSM.

[craigwatanabe]

this is about as close to a retro portable phone as you can get:

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/6272/zihotch01zi2.th.jpg (http://img337.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zihotch01zi2.jpg)

[christa]

this is about as close to a retro portable phone as you can get:

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/6272/zihotch01zi2.th.jpg (http://img337.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zihotch01zi2.jpg)

!!!!!! that's got to be the hottest thing ever. i must have it. not kidding.

[adrian]

this is about as close to a retro portable phone as you can get:

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/6272/zihotch01zi2.th.jpg
No its not. This is (http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/7830/):

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/5150/retrophonehandsetinuseoi9.th.jpg (http://img517.imageshack.us/my.php?image=retrophonehandsetinuseoi9.jpg)
:D

[christa]

No its not. This is (http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/7830/):

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/5150/retrophonehandsetinuseoi9.th.jpg (http://img517.imageshack.us/my.php?image=retrophonehandsetinuseoi9.jpg)
:D

just got back from making my F.P.O.T.D. (can you guess what THAT acronym means. ha) so thank you. thank you a thousand times.

[Leo Lakio]

just got back from making my F.P.O.T.D. (can you guess what THAT acronym means. ha) so thank you. thank you a thousand times.
Final Post Of The Day? :p

[adrian]

Final Post Of The Day? :p
urbandictionary.com (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=FPOTD) has it as the "first post of the day" ;)

[craigwatanabe]

No its not. This is (http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/7830/):

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/5150/retrophonehandsetinuseoi9.th.jpg (http://img517.imageshack.us/my.php?image=retrophonehandsetinuseoi9.jpg)
:D


But where's the neck thingie that double sticks to the back of the receiver to make it a...hands free kit!!!DOH :eek:

Man I'd love to get one of those but alas the description indicated it doesn't work with RAZRs/

BTW I still have my old MaBell/GTE desk rotary phone in that puke flesh tone color. My kids think its weird having no buttons on it. "How do you use it?" they ask. Well because I'm on tone and not pulse dialing I couldn't dial out and show them but I did tell them how each fingertip in the dial represented the number of pulses needed for the telephone exchange to recognize the number dialed.

[christa]

hardly.... i'm addicted! so many things to discuss in here! what i'm eating... what i'm driving. so easy to just respond and read and respond and .... read!

oh--

Frivolous Purchase Of The Day
:)

[adrian]

But where's the neck thingie that double sticks to the back of the receiver to make it a...hands free kit!!!DOH :eek:

You know, I never could do that. I just use my bluetooth headset if I want handsfree (but then, I'd be getting looks that I'm talking to myself).

hardly.... i'm addicted! so many things to discuss in here! what i'm eating... what i'm driving. so easy to just respond and read and respond and .... read!

Now you know why some of us don't leave our computers ;)

Frivolous Purchase Of The Day
Oh. You learn something new everyday.

[Leo Lakio]

Frivolous Purchase Of The Day:)"Purchase"? As in, "only one"? Oh, girl, you gots some catchin' up to do! :D

[cezanne]

haha well it's close enough for me. considering the size and shape of most on the market this is a very nice device.

maybe you have to actually be holding it to tell.

I dunno... it just looks like something that I would lose within a week, but that's me. I'm a flip phone liker ... .

[craigwatanabe]

I like the convenience of a flip phone too. Flip to answer a call, flip to end without having to deal with a keyboard lock. I have a bluetooth headset for my Moto Razr but am having connectivity problems with it (I'm sure it's my fault for not reading the instructions before attempting) on the second time.

The first time I installed it it worked then it stopped. When it did work it was great. To make a call hit the button and do the voice commands. To answer a call hit the button and talk. Meanwhile my Razr is on the dashboard on the sticky pad or in my pocket while shopping.

And yeah people do look at you as you're some crazy person especially when I'm lecturing my kids over the phone. :D

[christa]

flip is my favorite too. pda's are a necessary evil sometimes. a flip-pda-smartphone is what i'm looking for. i do NOT like the bulkiness of the smart phones. one of my clients makes one that is a "must-have" for the young generation (sidekick) but that doesn't seem like a phone to me at all.

ps: my razr was just stolen. didn't even have it for a year. pretty bummed. if anyone sees someone with a pink razr that has diamonds glued all over it and a "listen!" sticker .... then..... i don't know what you should do but know that it was MINE!


*phoneless*

[GeckoGeek]

Well because I'm on tone and not pulse dialing I couldn't dial out and show them I thought pulse dialing was always available, just tone wasn't if you didn't pay for it. At least that used to be the case - pulse was "universal".

I've got one of those Hawaiian Tel (the original Hawaiian Tel) phones - the kind you used to rent. In black. With the optional 25ft cord.

[MadAzza]

I want a Sidekick. I don't know what it is, what it does or why I would ever need it. But I want one.

[manoasurfer123]

I want a Sidekick. I don't know what it is, what it does or why I would ever need it. But I want one.
K... I can hook you up with the suzuki dealer toomorow...what year sidekick?

you know i playing :o

[cezanne]

I want a Sidekick. I don't know what it is, what it does or why I would ever need it. But I want one.

I tone a sense of carsasm :D .

[MadAzza]

Not the Suzuki, ya bunch of comedians! This! (http://www.t-mobile.com/promotions/phonemultipleplans.aspx?PAsset=Pro_Pro_1Ph_Sidekic kIII&WT.mc_n=sidekick3_External&Wt.mc_t=Other)

[Leo Lakio]

Not the Suzuki, ya bunch of comedians! Who you callin' "Canadians"? Oh, wait...we actually have some here... :o

[christa]

I want a Sidekick. I don't know what it is, what it does or why I would ever need it. But I want one.

GOOD! that's exactly what i love to hear. it's what i'm trying to tell all these prospective product managers, and, frankly, it's what pays the bills.
hooray for sidekick! sidekick!
:)



ps: thank GOD that new sony device (mylo?) doesn't have a phone. WHAT are they planning to do with that...

[scrivener]

I bought one of these two weeks ago (sudoku money), or at least its cousin. The linked article talks about an i600; I have the i607. It's got pretty much everything this article talks about EXCEPT WiFi compatibility, which irritates the crap out of me, to tell the truth. That lack of WiFi is going to cost me something in the neighborhood of $480 per year, as I had to purchase a $40 data plan that I hadn't considered when I first began shopping. I had to ask myself if an extra ten bucks per week was worth what I hoped to gain from the use of this device; obviously, the answer was "I guess so."

I'm still discovering what this phone can do and how it is going to fit into my life. I've recently joined a Yahoo! group dedicated to just this phone, but there are only six members so far.

My biggest problem with it (besides the lack of WiFi) is that I'm having trouble pairing it via Bluetooth with my MacBook Pro. Another problems is that the OS (Windows Mobile) just isn't intuitive enough for my tastes, but of course I expected that going in.

I purchased a case (horizontal, belt-clip) that holds the BlackJack nicely but it's a bit on the bulky side, which defeats the purpose of having the slimmest smartphone on the market. I'm hoping for some good third-party stuff in the near future.

I would love to chat about this with anyone else who gets one. Let me know what your experience is like; I'm reserving judgment until I really get rolling with it.

[GeckoGeek]

I would love to chat about this with anyone else who gets one. Let me know what your experience is like; I'm reserving judgment until I really get rolling with it.

One day I may do it, but it will be a Palm-based Treo. So far I've read nothing that will convert be from Palm to Windows Mobile. And I'm not a Mac or Linux guy either. :D

[pzarquon]

I love my Treo.

As for the Samsung Blackjack, though, I caught this review on Wired:

Blackjack: Jackpot, or Bust? (http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,72279-0.html?tw=wn_columns_3)
So, my quest for a cell phone that can handle my music needs as well as a high-quality, dedicated MP3 player continues. The Blackjack falls short as a serious music playback device because it can only hold 2 GB of music (and that's with with an optional expansion card); it only works with Bluetooth headphones; and while there's a nice graphic EQ in the Blackjack's Windows Media Mobile software, the overall music interface it presents isn't as slick or easy to navigate as the ones on the iPod or Zune.Obviously the angle here is using the phone as a music player, and doesn't cover any of the smartphone features (that would be my primary interest). I guess the focus of the marketing for this phone is music, but not surprisingly, the supposedly inevitable "convergence" of cell phones and music players is taking its sweet old time.

[scrivener]

The music- and video-playing capabilities of the BlackJack were the least of my interests when I bought this thing, but curiously, it is the music function that I have gotten the second-most use of (after text-messaging). I have found many occasions during the day when I get a three- or four-minute downtime and have enjoyed listening to one of the few songs I've moved to the phone. These are breaks that don't really make hauling out the iPod or laptop worthwhile, but whipping out the phone and giving Cowboy Mouth a good four-minute listen has been pleasant. As primarily a music-listening device, it certainly has its problems, but I confess I wonder about people whose lives require that kind of functionality.

[pzarquon]

Are you just using the little mono speaker on the phone, or piping it through a stereo Bluetooth headset? I was surprised to read that, for a "music" phone, it had no standard 1/8" or 1/16" audio jack.

I know the speakers on phones are getting better, but I just can't get into tinny music coming through a tinny speaker. It's grating to me. Which is why music ringers mostly annoy me, and why I can't stand the commercials that glamorize walking down the street, phone propped two feet from your head, broadcasting your questionable music taste to the world.

It's not a Nextel beep or walkie-talkie conversation, but it's close.

[LocalMotion]

great style, only thing i don't like is that it runs Windows Mobile. I tried 2 phones with WM and got tired of it crashing/freezing too often. i had a treo 650 as well, but found it too thick. so i ended up with the Nokia E61 (Symbian OS) and love it. has everything including WiFi, which you can use to make VoIP calls, surf net, etc. but it doesn't have a camera (which i don't need on a phone, and actually brings the price down a lot). it's also thinner than the Treo 650. you can buy the E61 unlocked for under $350

http://web.mac.com/brianhancock/iWeb/Brian%27s%20Blog/My%20toys/3F3E2DC5-A692-4ADC-A192-82DABF179BC9_files/page0_blog_entry2_1.png

[pzarquon]

Hey, Scriv, could this be useful?

How To: Tether a Samsung BlackJack to get your Mac online (http://www.tuaw.com/2006/12/14/how-to-tether-a-samsung-blackjack-to-get-your-mac-online/)

[GeckoGeek]

the supposedly inevitable "convergence" of cell phones and music players is taking its sweet old time.

I have to wonder of there isn't some backroom politics preventing this. While I'm sure the consumer would love it, the wireless companies want to deliver music though their network where they can charge for it. They get nothing from having a consumer play from memory. At minimum the amount the carriers are willing to subsidize that model phone will be less driving the consumer's price up - possibly to unmarketable levels.

[LocalMotion]

I have to wonder of there isn't some backroom politics preventing this. While I'm sure the consumer would love it, the wireless companies want to deliver music though their network where they can charge for it. They get nothing from having a consumer play from memory. At minimum the amount the carriers are willing to subsidize that model phone will be less driving the consumer's price up - possibly to unmarketable levels.


I'm sure all that will change with the "iPhone" when it's introduced from Apple. There are a million rumors running rampant, but i tend to agree with the ones who say that it will be innovative in a way we haven't seen yet.

this is a good read
"How an iPhone could rock wireless" (http://money.cnn.com/2006/12/15/technology/pluggedin_mehta_iphone.fortune/index.htm)

[craigwatanabe]

I'm sure all that will change with the "iPhone" when it's introduced from Apple. There are a million rumors running rampant, but i tend to agree with the ones who say that it will be innovative in a way we haven't seen yet.

this is a good read
"How an iPhone could rock wireless" (http://money.cnn.com/2006/12/15/technology/pluggedin_mehta_iphone.fortune/index.htm)

Like a cell phone that actually can function as one?

[Pua'i Mana'o]

well, my treo 650 is fritzing on me, and I am painfully discovering how I would be less dependent on an artificial heart than I am on my treo.

Options:

1)beef it out on ebay for a 650
2)surrender the $400 required for an unlocked 680
3)there is no 3rd option

Must. Have. PalmOs phone. :eek: :eek:

[GeckoGeek]

3)there is no 3rd option

Don't forget Treo 700p.

[scrivener]

Are you just using the little mono speaker on the phone, or piping it through a stereo Bluetooth headset? I was surprised to read that, for a "music" phone, it had no standard 1/8" or 1/16" audio jack.
This is true. The BlackJack comes with a proprietary USB/charger/headphone jack. I like that it's one jack for all three uses, but of course I dislike that it's a unique jack. There are adapters that will let you plug in standard headphones or earbuds, though, so Bluetooth is not your only option.

I know the speakers on phones are getting better, but I just can't get into tinny music coming through a tinny speaker. It's grating to me. Which is why music ringers mostly annoy me, and why I can't stand the commercials that glamorize walking down the street, phone propped two feet from your head, broadcasting your questionable music taste to the world.
Yes, as a music-listening device, it's lacking in lots of ways. I don't mind it so much, though, on a one-song-at-a-time basis when I've got three of four minutes to listen to something I'm trying to get more familiar with. I take these eyedrops twice a day that could make me sterile or impotent if I don't hold still for three minutes while the medicine soaks into my eye; that can be a long three minutes sometimes, but when I whip out my phone and play my latest favorite song, it goes by in a flash. I like that.

Hey, Scriv, could this be useful?
How To: Tether a Samsung BlackJack to get your Mac online (http://www.tuaw.com/2006/12/14/how-to-tether-a-samsung-blackjack-to-get-your-mac-online/)
I think this is the same thing Pua`i Manao posted a link to; I haven't tried it yet, but I'm curious. I don't know if it will work well without the 3G network coverage, which all reviews say is almost mind-blowingly fast, but which we don't have in Hawaii yet.