I just started phone shopping again. My fiance needs a new mobile phone and I'm considering buying an MS Smartphone for myself to check out their MIDP implementation as well as to see if Microsoft has a more developer-friendly platform than Symbian.
As usual, there's no perfect phone out there, so I thought I'd see if I could come up with my dream phone and see if I could have a better understanding of what's important to me. This isn't really my DreamPhone, which would have things like friggin' sharks with "lasers" attached, a (secure) bluetooth connection to certain parts of my brain, and a mood-sensing faceplate to change its look depending on how I'm feeling (everything from goth to granola/hippy to Hello Kitty).
But those kinds of fantasy visions tend run absurd and often are only good for time-capsule-like glimpses into a period of history (i.e. a dream car from 1955 or a dream computer from 1982)
So I wanted to see if I could come up with a FrankenPhone, which could have elements from any current or near-market phone out there. Damn the logistics or feasibility, here's what I came up with:
1) Form Factor - This is a big deal for me. My favorite form factor out there now is probably the Nokia 6820, with the fold-open keyboard. This will probably piss off Russ and his candybar holy war, but I really like the form factor of the 6820. Maybe it's the fact that I grew up into Transformers or that I'm terrible with a keypad and prefer a keyboard, but this shape really fits me well. I've got big hands and fingers that have been gnarled from too much coding and video games growing up, so small keypads are tough for me. But I still like being able to use my phone one-handed while driving, so I won't even consider a flip-phone anymore.
2) Data Speed- I use my phone more for data than for voice, so gimme UMTS or EVDO.
3) Screen size & colors - I'm satisfied with the screen of my current phone(6620) as a minimum. 65,536 colors and 176 x 208 pixels. If a bigger screen means a bigger phone, I'll pass, but I wouldn't to go any smaller or with fewer colors.
4) Styling/Color - My two favorite phones on the horizon in terms of looks are the Samsung SCH-S250 and the Sony Ericsson K600i, so something along these lines.
5) Pointing device - I use the pointing device a lot on my phone and it feels flimsy like it's about to break. This one's hard to judge screenshots, so I have to go with only the ones I've tried out in a store in person. My favorite currently is the Motorola MPx220.
6) Headset Jack (2.5 mm) - Yeah, I know I could get bluetooth headphones, but I really wish my current phone had a normal headset jack like the HTCs for listening to music.
7) Bluetooth - of course.
8) Memory card - I'm not picky about this, just give me a common enough format that I can buy somewhere.
9) Radio - I really don't care about a built-in radio. I'd prefer to save the space and leave it out.
10) Camera - I rarely use my phone's camera, so the quality of the picture isn't that important to me. It's nice to have a camera available, but I'm satisfied with a minimal one.
11) OK, I said I wasn't going to do this, but can I have one Super Happy Ninja Dream Feature? How about a dual-boot Symbian/MS Smartphone option? Scratch that, how 'bout a tri-boot option with linux?
