Mobile Phone technology rant

[AzraelDarkangel]

Grrr...why does every phone company have to come out with fifty million different models and they all have to have at least one crappy feature regardless of price? Yet Vertu can come out with a solid gold phone, but nobody can actually use all the latest tech in one phone that would cost a small fraction as much as the stupid cell phones they make with gold or encrusted with jewels?

Technology available today not being used together in one device:

3.1" 800x480 OLED (being used in Kodak Exilim cameraphone ONLY available in Japan) OLED modules being manufactured also by Samsung.

5-8+ megapixel camera with XENON flash and WVGA 30fps video recording, (I really want 1080p).

Nvidia Tegra chipset (available but not expected production in actual devices till spring 2009)

CAPACITIVE touch screen (aside from software, why every other touchscreen fails compared to the iPhone interface)

full size 3.5mm headphones port and USB ports to attach a keyboard and seperate monitor, TV out. High quality headphone amp to drive any reasonable headphones.

WiFi, 3G, etc. VOIP software. I would prefer Debian based linux platform but Symbian, Windows, or Google Android would be ok, multi-boot OS would be awesome. Full Flash Support!

Good speakers, why not try planar magnetic? Metal chassis, not plastic, Magnesium or Titanium, TiN or DLC coated for extreme abrasion resistance. (used lots of places including high-end watches)

Even better how about a modular system so you can for example take apart
the phone to upgrade the processor or camera in the same way you can upgrade a computer?

I totally agree with this guys rant on something as simple as a Xenon flash:

From http://forums.mobiledia.com/topic68418.html


For crying out loud, am I the only person that thinks any camera phone that says "flash" should be actual Real Xenon flash? I'm sick of every flippin time I ask a customer service representative or retail sales person, they have no clue when I say Xenon. Who buys a 8.0 megapixel camera phone when your only hope for any kind of flash is an LED light? Nobody takes pictures indoors anymore? or in front of a sunset? or perhaps just anywhere that happens to not have a accessive amount of powerful light; and even then would you happen to hold your camera still enough for the image not to blur a bit? Oh! perhaps you bought an 8.0 megapixel camera phone with "image stabalization" or some sort of anti-shake technology. Well then, that fixes the blurr during highly lit picture taking. but what about taking pictures with loved ones in restaurants, clubs, karaoke, downtown or anywhere at night or a dimly lit environment, or any angle in which a brighter light shows behind you. If a cell phone lists itself as a "camera phone" and does not specify weather it has LED or Xenon flash, what's the point? Why would anybody want to buy a "CAMERA phone" if they can only take pictures before sunset? better take a day off work so you can catch the sun, because you did spend half a GRAND on a darn phone so you could take pictures with it.

Can somebody please explain to me why I'm the only person with this concern? Or perhaps others like me are out there with nowhere to cry?

My phone is dying. Every action I make with my phone now takes a 1,2,3,4 before anything happens. This causes the biggest headache when trying to call or text. I need a new phone. There ARE phones on the market with Xenon flash, but can I find one with a Qwerty keyboard? Since everyone has evidently migrated to the texting genre and won't answer just calls anymore, I must have the ability to get my point across with this communication as fast as possible, i.e. qwerty keys.

You all must think me to be an angry individual at this point, but I must insist that my passion for my opinion is not without reason. Who buys a cell phone these days and is truely happy with their decision? Or perhaps you wish it just had a better camera? REAL Xenon flash? A GPS? 3G? Touchscreen fit your tastes better? A querty keypad missing from yours and must rely on numeric keypads? Maybe, if you could only play MP3s your phone would be perfect. All of these capabilities exist. Why won't one company, one phone, do it all? The phone will be pretty big? The cost will be out of most people's budget? I have a big enough pocket to fit the "allinWONDER" Give me a PSP size phone that does it all and I'll pay $1,000 U.S.D.

I'm sure I'm not the only person that doesn't want to have to walk around with 4 different things depending on what they might want at the time. I'm a man's man. I want to carry my keys, my wallet, and my, everything else in 1 gadget. Not: ipod, tomtom, canon, AND cell phone. Make it big. Make it sturdy. Give it everything. Cell phones weren't always tiny. It'll be a littler harder to lose, that's a plus. Over time they'll change shape, style, and size and eventually (hopefully) it'll be on your wrist.

Does such a thing exist? Because I can't find it. LG's Prada II maybe? or is their "flash" just an LED? The Nokia N97 looks quite promising! but is the "5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics" going to only give us half-@$$ed restaurant pictures? Somebody save me from this agony.

[Hypediss]

Much agreed... if only we could use and boot japanese keitai's with ease ... i wouldnt even touch any nokia or htc branded phone

[tiro_uspsss]

3.1" 800x480 OLED (being used in Kodak Exilim cameraphone ONLY available in Japan) OLED modules being manufactured also by Samsung.


the more pixels to drive, the less batt time ;)


5-8+ megapixel camera with XENON flash and WVGA 30fps video recording, (I really want 1080p).


1080P?! lol! no where near enough cpu power in a phone & again, batt power to think of ;)


Nvidia Tegra chipset (available but not expected production in actual devices till spring 2009)


never heard of it - whats it about?


full size 3.5mm headphones port and USB ports to attach a keyboard and seperate monitor, TV out. High quality headphone amp to drive any reasonable headphones.


there are phones with 3.5mm jack - my N95 has it, it does TV-Out from it as well :up:


Good speakers, why not try planar magnetic? Metal chassis, not plastic, Magnesium or Titanium, TiN or DLC coated for extreme abrasion resistance. (used lots of places including high-end watches)


speakers? naaa, I'm fussy, I doubt there will ever be speakers small enough that are make hi-qual sound (at least anytime soon)


Even better how about a modular system so you can for example take apart
the phone to upgrade the processor or camera in the same way you can upgrade a computer?


wow never thought of that.. that'd be insane :D :up:

[Moonraker™]

We´re in no way armed to do this as people yzet and make it available to the public. But as long as there are people like u around, people will have to push the envelope. Of course all of this will happen. I never dreamed 10 years ago, I could have a whole megadrive (genesis to u NA dudes) on my n95. - nor the level of tech we're at with phones was a dream 5 years ago.

But look around you.

Really when u look in the world theres like this barrier now. All we're doing is like recycling old technology. There's only so much they can do. Until something amazing comes .along. i.e. a "mind interface"

wireless = is halted now.... not wired anymore. practically impossible to speed up noticably.
cameras = will just get better mp's
processing power = will just get slighlty faster each time
battery = will contain more power slowly, unless an invention of new tech comes for storing power
cards / hdd's = will just get bigger
usage = will go more touch screen imo, the iphone's is far advance, but still a recycled technology. give it 50 years and we'll all be calling with our minds!

[Calmatory]

It is a phone. Besides, who would afford an 1lbs, +$1800 PHONE, which has < 10 hours of battery life.

Take look at OpenPandora.org if you want an handheld computer. It owns. Really. ;)

And lastly... If you REALLY believe that you could MAKE MONEY with such an device, why don't you go ahead and try? Thats what the OpenPandora people did. They were not satisfied with GP2X(Handheld console) and GMH(company behind GP2X) and decided to create the Ultimate handheld gaming device. Now it is almost finished. They really did it. ;)

I hope people understand how much of an niche market such an "Pocket Computer" really is. Sure you got dozen forums full of people who would like to see one, but really, that is less than 100k people, and less than 10k people who would buy one. No way company is going to cover the R&D costs, manufacturing and shipping costs with sales like that.

I just want 1700% of R800 performance. I don't care about the die size. Heck, use the full wafer! Let it draw 1300 W, I got external PSU for it anyway, let it cost $15000, money is not a problem... Now if you think the reasons why Nvidia or AMD are not goign to do that, you understand the reason why such a phone is not going to happen anytime soon.

[taowulf]

Man, you don't ask for much, do you? I spent nearly 15 years in the wireless biz, from sales and customer care all of the way to network monitoring and support. With the phones here in the US the primary issue is bring the cost of the device into the sub $200 price point. Also consider that the window of opportunity for a mobile device is extremely short. Hell, the first iPhone was outdated within 6 months and that was ancient for a mobile phone. The G1 I am posting with right now will be outdated in less than a few months if it isn't already. The manufacturers only want to incorperate tech that will drastically drop in cost to produce so that todayls whiz bang becomes tomorrows standard feature.

[bowman]

I gave up on buying a 'hi tech' phone, they're all :banana::banana::banana::banana:, they all run Windows Mobile which is :banana::banana::banana::banana:, they're all locked down if not in terms of SIM then in terms of software and hardware, and their battery life is useless.

At some point handheld PCs and phones are going to converge (32nm Atom will probably be the start) and that's when it might start to get interesting.. Before that I'll stick to my current one, that has no camera or wi-fi or whatever..

[[XC] leviathan18]

get a s60 symbian phone from nokia.... far from useless

[inCore]

I gave up looking for a holy grail a while ago. I'm getting a Blackberry Bold in 2 days, which I'm hoping will do a good job. Of course, the camera issues don't exist with the Blackberry, which only has a 2 MP camera, but I'm not the photographer type. You have the problem of being too techy. :p:

[EliTE22]

http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_tegra_600_us.html
this is the phone a want:D 800MHz not bad,

[Nanometer]

im not that disappointed with cell phone progression. but i think what is sad, is cell phone quality and price

[inCore]

I hope all of the prophecies about free calls will come true. International calls are still way too expensive.

[taowulf]

I recently bought the G1. It is on the T-Mobile network, built by HTC, and the OS is Android by google. the last phone i had that could even remotely compare rqan Symbian, and i was not a fan. So far i like this phone, but does have a quirk or two, so as the complete laxk of java compatability. but otherwise it rocks.

[[XC] leviathan18]

nokia e-71 best phone i had in my hands all metal construction

[DeltZ]

All those features would rape battery life I'm sure.

And anyway, all that tech doesn't make it any less easy to lose and break.

[Papu]

I want a phone , that makes and receives calls ,i have a laptop / camera / pmp for everything else

[Meco]

its pretty simple.. its simply to expencive to make a phone like that..

- meco

[HotGore]

Pretty sure most people who buy a phone want it as cheap as dirt, have some kind of camera, texting ability and can make calls. The more you want the more niche the market becomes.

[-thc-(cZ)]

I agree with the OP.. eventhough i do not normaly like random internet rants.. I have been waiting for this holy grail for years.. Let's see..

-there is the phone.. simple razor that you have to charge every day..
-the discman that plays MP3s (I have way too much music to fit into any MP3 Player, so I just burn whatever i feel like to MP3-CDs, over time most of my 150GB of music is in the car somewhere : )) Wish they made a DVD-disc MP3 player..
-the ultraportable camera, that takes good pics and decent vids..

I could do without: PSP in a phone.. it would be nice but way too hard to implement to be worth it

I could do without: "desktop" computer in a phone.. cmon, how often are (esp.) you guys somewhere where there are no computers within 10min walk..

But the rest of it all in one device is not way-out-there at all.. they have xenon flash phones with 3MP cameras that take 70% as good pictures as my 5MP Canon.. at night too.. any non xenon 8MP phone is a marketing scam. Headphone jack, some phones have those. Memory card slot, same thing.. So it has all been done just not right in one device.

If you just want a phone, you should be using a nokia from the 90's, with a monochrome display, since those had better batt. life, better signal, simple OS, great voice call quality.. All of those "proper good phone" functions are way worse with my 10 years younger razor

So fine, if you don't mind having a phone, psp, laptop, ipod and gps unit in your big pocket go ahead..

BUT there are people that would buy this holygrail.. I think the manufacturers are afraid as more different devices make them more money.. They have dimond phones that people buy, what makes you think this would be such a fail that nobody is doing it?

anyways, i'll keep on waiting - at best 2-3 years, at worst 5-10.

After that bring on the implants!

ps. happy new year xs! i smell WRs!

[Revv23]

If you just want a phone, you should be using a nokia from the 90's, with a monochrome display, since those had better batt. life, better signal, simple OS, great voice call quality.. All of those "proper good phone" functions are way worse with my 10 years younger razor



haha those were the best phones ever!!! Week long battery life! Always had service! Could throw them at walls! Snake!