How to buy your next Mobile Cell Phone

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"...one of the strongest motives that lead men to art and science is escape from everyday life with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, from the fetters of one's own ever-shifting desires. A finely tempered nature longs to escape from the personal life into the world of objective perception and thought." - Albert Einstein

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Tuesday, September 09, 2008

How to buy your next Mobile Cell Phone

Many people seem to be purchasing an iPhone these days. My opinion is this decision is usually based on some sort of perceived coolness factor. There are many other good highly competitive choices available. In this post I just want you to consider some possible new phone applications and features for yourself while you are shopping for your next phone.

Applications:
1. The phone should be a great phone first and foremost. For this it needs a sensitive radio section. Find a cell phone that has great reception.
2. Bluetooth. Many people use the hands free bluetooth application with their car and hands free devices. Does the phone have voice dialing built into it for true hands free calling? Can you call someone by saying into your handsfree "Call Mary Home"?
3. Tethering. Many cell phones can enable a laptop or desktop to receive internet through them.
4. Music. Many cell phones can play MP3, WMA, AAC or DRM protected content. Sony, Apple, and Microsoft all have their own formats. MP3 is ubiquitous.
5. Stereo Bluetooth provides high fidelity WIRELESS audio. The phone should support A2DP and AVRP bluetooth profiles, Does the phone have an AM or FM radio built in?
6. Download podcasts. Some phones can subscribe to RSS feeds and download podcasts directly to the phone.
7. GPS. Many phones have GPS capability in them. I have not come across a phone with usable GPS hardware. In my opinion the GPS needs to be more sensitive and lock faster, comparable to the dedicated units. Again, IMO, the phones will also need turn-by-turn voice prompting for this to be a viable application. I have not met a phone yet that supports this application. The first phone that does this right will be a killer.
8. Can the phone play internet Radio or TV.
9. Do you need access to Corporate email. Access to POP3 or IMAP accounts?

Features to consider:
1. Do you type a lot? Perhaps you need a keyboard.
2. Will you be downloading web pages or podcasts? Do you need 3G speed?
3. Will you be using the screen? What size screen does your phone have? Is it viewable in daylight?
4. Is a removable battery important?
5. How much memory is in the phone? Does it support a removable memory card? Is the card easily accessible?
6. Are third party applications available?
7. How fast is the response of the phone to applications?
8. Battery life.
9. Does the phone use proprietary or difficult to manage connectors?
10. WiFi. I did not think this was a big feature when I was looking for my phone, but if you start to download large files you will appreciate this feature in a cell phone.
11 GSM or CDMA. The two largest carriers in the US are ATT (GSM) and Verizon (CDMA). The advantage is that an unlocked GSM phone, with SIM card, can be used worldwide. It could be expensive in some countries to use an ATT SIM card. When I was in the Philippines I bought a local card, only $6.
12. Cost.

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