Mobile Tech Digest: Andy Ihnatko on smartphones

[andrea]

Lives are so incredibly fast-paced in the modern world, and it is completely logical for our mobile devices to help keep our need for information under control. If one device, the smartphone, can manage these demands — via platform-independent applications and the Internet — AND handle actual telephony well, the convergence of analogue (by that I mean voice) and digital two-way communication makes perfect rational sense.

Andy Ihnatko makes the point that smartphones can help us find answers, addresses and the latest information via Web browsers and platform-independent applications. AND they receive and make telephone calls, too.

What do you use your smartphone for? Do you use all the Web-connected applications he lists in his article to stay connected, or are you more 'old-fashioned' and see your smartphone as a phone first and mobile digital communications device second?

Read Andy Ihnatko's article.
Read the full post.

[getsurfers]

I've got Google and Yahoo (GO) mobile editions on my N80 and PDA.

Although good on a mobile, there always limited by screen size and the fact few websites cater for the mobile web user sufficiently IMO.

As such I tend to use my PDA more for web stuff, and my mobile phone for my providers WAP pages so I can get quick info such as news headlines and weather. I also try to use wi-fi (mobile and PDA have these) rather than pay Orange extortunate data charges.

[andrea]

I agree that not many sites have a small-screen version. It's really annoying sometimes! As my mobile only uses GPRS, I would have no choice but to pay the data charges, so you can see why I'm so hesitant!

When I get a phone with Wi-Fi or, more droolingly, 3G, I will definitely download and use Yahoo! and Google's mobile services.

[getsurfers]

The N95 is a very good phone if you prefer phones to smartphones (like XDA etc).

It's going to be the most popular phone this year, if not ever as far as Nokia are concerned IMO.

[andrea]

I, indeed, have been looking at the N95. My problem is, every time I spot a phone I really like, a new one I like even more turns up six months later!

Hehe.

[Jon Hendry]

some conflicting reports of the N95 in this thread.

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=87065

[Fred333]

That is the good and bad of the cell phone industry. There is always a new something coming down the road.

[semboyan]

N95 is a really good phone in terms of product reliability. I think I will stick for N95. It is easy to use and easy to manage

[getsurfers]

Originally Posted by semboyan

N95 is a really good phone in terms of product reliability. I think I will stick for N95. It is easy to use and easy to manage

Until October, when the N96 is out