March 7th, 2005
New Toy
My new phone. It speaks digital and analog, comes with a camera with zoom and flash, internal and external displays, speakerphone, and voice recognition for complete voice control. It weights 116g, has a talk time of 3 hours and a standby time of 150 hours. Its two-year-old ancestor seems like a dinosaur by comparison.
Since getting wireless, Ive abandoned my wired phone company, switching to cable for data and video and cellular for calling. While the development of desktop computers has stagnated in the last four years, the massive integration of formerly disparate functions onto a single chipset combined with massive consumer demand has made rapid progress in cellular technology possible. Unfortunately, North America is still way behind Japan and Europe, where phone networks have embraced the Internet and support features such as video chat, GPS navigation, and digital wallets.