Best of 2005: Smartphone Feature of the Year

[Kris Kumar]

The year 2005 will be remembered as the year in which the Smartphone grew out of its traditional mold. The Smartphone manufacturers added exciting new features and enhancements. It was no longer just the Windows Mobile OS version that mattered. Features like built-in Wi-Fi, EDGE, QVGA screen, 3GB microdrive, jog dial, functional external screen and last but not the least, the "hump" (bigger antenna) made the Smartphones unique. Kudos to the manufacturers for seeing technology beyond Bluetooth and 1 Mega Pixel camera. :) <img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Kris-dec05-bestfeature.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/> So before we head into 2006, let us vote on the best new Smartphone feature of the year. As always I have only included features that we have in our hands today; cool features or innovations like push E-Mail, stereo Bluetooth profile, Moto Q's RAZR styling and QWERTY keypad have been left out. I am sure I have forgotten to include some of the other cool innovations/improvements of the year, so feel free to post them and comment upon them in this thread.

[chandler]

Hey Kris,

Do I remember right that you're working on a review of the Nextel i930?

[Mike Temporale]

Do I remember right that you're working on a review of the Nextel i930?

Yup, he is. Here's his quick look thread (http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,9798) on the i930.

[Mike Temporale]

I think the QVGA screen is the best feature. Now, when someone looks over your shoulder at your phone, they usually remark about the screen on the device. It's something that draws people in without knowing anything else about the phone. The screen is simply beautiful. 8)

[Kris Kumar]

Hey Kris,

Do I remember right that you're working on a review of the Nextel i930?

:oops: It should have been out by now. But the holidays etc plus some (GPS) account setup issues have slowed it down. Will be up on SPT soon. :)

[Kris Kumar]

I think the QVGA screen is the best feature. Now, when someone looks over your shoulder at your phone, they usually remark about the screen on the device. It's something that draws people in without knowing anything else about the phone. The screen is simply beautiful. 8)

I agree. The screen has that instant WOW factor.

But I voted for Wi-Fi. When you think that in such a small package you can get Wi-Fi (more radiation), it just blows my mind (not because of the radiation ;-))

[robertotores]

I agree. The screen has that instant WOW factor.

Lamentably the Hump also has a wow factor, albeit a negative one:

Wow what an ugly phone you have.

***long quote trimmed by mod JD***

[Kris Kumar]

Lamentably the Hump also has a wow factor, albeit a negative one:

Wow what an ugly phone you have.

Quite frankly the 2125's hump doesn't look bad. The way it is styled with the ribbed-black and silver tones; it looks good. 8) Have you seen one in person?

Have to admit though, the hump is not photo-genic. ;-)

[Jerry Raia]

I think the QVGA screen is the best feature. Now, when someone looks over your shoulder at your phone, they usually remark about the screen on the device. It's something that draws people in without knowing anything else about the phone. The screen is simply beautiful. 8)

That is what I voted for also. The hump of course is also stunning as you all know. 8)

[Sven Johannsen]

Interesting so far. Wasn't anything there earth shattering to me. I'm iffy about Wifi, as it is neat and useful, but what has it got to do with the phone. It's kind of like adding a radio to a TV set and calling it an innovation in broadcast TV.

Edge isn't a phone enhancement per se but a network enhancement, so I don't really consider it a new Smartphone feature. Good that some suport it.

I guess I've never seen a QVGA SP yet, but the switch from QVGA to VGA PPC didn't just enhance my whole existance. I get pretty much the same info either way, unless I resort to some hack which makes things too small to read IMHO. Think about it, if it is 10pt font on QVGA and you go to VGA pixel by pixel you get 2.5pt font. I'm not sure the added resolution was worth the hit in processor and battery load.

Throw a drive in there...please..throw a decent amount of non rotating memory in there if you want to capitalize on the audio/video craze. That's not in there for the consumers benefit anyway. It's there so there is room to download those $1 tune and $3 video clips ;)

I was wavering on the hump though. That was a pretty bold and gutsy move. Gambling on the consumer's ability to choose function over fashion.

So what do I think was cool. The ability of some companies to glue a PDA to a phone and get the package down to something reasonably sized. They wound up with a PPCPE instead of a Smartphone though, but that's OK because the differences are getting fewer. It boggle my mind that my I-Mate K-Jam is maybe an 1/8" thicker, 1/4" longer and less than 1/2" wider than my Closed MPX220, and packs in what it does. Legible QVGA touch screen, BT, WiFi, stereo speakers (there's one on each side, really) and a full freakin keyboard to boot.

[Kris Kumar]

I'm iffy about Wifi, as it is neat and useful, but what has it got to do with the phone. It's kind of like adding a radio to a TV set and calling it an innovation in broadcast TV.

:rotfl:
I think we really haven't seen the real potential for Wi-Fi. We haven't seen creative apps. I can say Skype. But then thats just one example. I see the ability to access the home or office computers over the local network instead of the carriers network and have to worry about the firewall as a big plus. :wink: I see home automation control software running on the Smartphone. I see streaming media (music/podcast). At work I see the ability to sync your Mobile SQL DB with the master SQL server. Of course a lot of these apps work the best on the Pocket PC form factor but still useful on Smartphone for folks like me who don't like to carry a big device.

Edge isn't a phone enhancement per se but a network enhancement, so I don't really consider it a new Smartphone feature. Good that some suport it.

Agreed, but we have been waiting for it forever. For Smartphones it is a must have feature. Finally it is standard one.

I guess I've never seen a QVGA SP yet, but the switch from QVGA to VGA PPC didn't just enhance my whole existance. I get pretty much the same info either way, unless I resort to some hack which makes things too small to read IMHO. Think about it, if it is 10pt font on QVGA and you go to VGA pixel by pixel you get 2.5pt font. I'm not sure the added resolution was worth the hit in processor and battery load.

The graphics. The readability of the text in my opinion has improved thanks to the QVGA. In some case I agree that the font might be small. But that is something Microsoft should fix by providing the ability to customize fonts on a per app basis.

Throw a drive in there...please..throw a decent amount of non rotating memory in there if you want to capitalize on the audio/video craze. That's not in there for the consumers benefit anyway. It's there so there is room to download those $1 tune and $3 video clips ;)

I am with you on this one. :lol:

[SteveHoward999]

I guess I've never seen a QVGA SP yet, but the switch from QVGA to VGA PPC didn't just enhance my whole existance. I get pretty much the same info either way, unless I resort to some hack which makes things too small to read IMHO. Think about it, if it is 10pt font on QVGA and you go to VGA pixel by pixel you get 2.5pt font. I'm not sure the added resolution was worth the hit in processor and battery load.


Like many, I LOVE the extra real estate of VGA on PDA. My eyesight copes fine with teeny text. I'll not go back to a QVGA setup unless my eyesight deteriorates to something that stops me reading ickle text.

Throw a drive in there...please..throw a decent amount of non rotating memory in there if you want to capitalize on the audio/video craze. That's not in there for the consumers benefit anyway. It's there so there is room to download those $1 tune and $3 video clips ;)


I'd rather see solid-state memory for the obvious battery saving, but any phone (or PDA) that has that much memory is a wonderful thing and a massive leap forward from what we had even 4 years ago. Pretty soon we'll have several tens of Gb available on our mobile devices. Right now I am happy to see that things are continuing to head that way.

For me, I think EDGE and Wi-Max are going to lead a new revolution in mobile internet. Many people are already making the decision to abandon conventional landline phones for cell phones. We'll see people making similar decisions about internet access soon too.

[Kris Kumar]

Hmm...Wi-Fi is winning.

Comeon folks...where are the comments. :roll: I am sure there are other features that are cool. :D

[SteveHoward999]

Hmm...Wi-Fi is winning.


Because it is cool.

One of the aims of WiFi is to enable transparent transfer from one wireless technology to another. In a WiFi zone? Use it for phone and data connection. If not, use phone network. That, on its own without any other applications at all is super-cool. Will be even better when I get to use such a system :-)


Meantime, it's wonderful to be able to check email, browse the web etc as I sit in the garden, on the toilet (sorry, but it has happened) or on a train, all using Wi-Fi. And when O am at home I can browse my network for music, video etc when it suits me. OK hardly killer applications, but still attractive enough for many of us.

[maxnix]

Truth is, none of them are compelling. Just gimmicks like downloadable ring tones.

If you want a vote, it might be for the imminent arrival of WM5. Then again, after it is here, maybe not. Who knows?

[Jason Dunn]

Truth is, none of them are compelling. Just gimmicks like downloadable ring tones.

Gimmicks? That's pretty harsh. I think QVGA is a big step forward for the platform. If you think those are all gimmicks, what do you think "real" advancements are?

[Jerry Raia]

I think QVGA is a big step forward for the platform.

Agreed. The display on my phone is amazing. I just wish the vendors would hurry up and update their applications to support it!

[dstrauss]

I chose QVGA as well. Would have liked to pick WiFi, but since it's only available in the costly i-Mate and Qtek versions (typical Yankee; I want someone here stateside to scream at when it won't work, even if they are unresponsive), I stuck with QVGA.

The hump's not so bad, but would be much better looking without. I can't honestly say that in my area of West Texas reception adn call clarity is noticeably better than my former Audiovox SMT 5600 (which was as good as my Moto v551 out here).

So. what's next on the radar screen for this phone rotator:

I want a Blizzard - same size as the Cingular 2125, but a slightly larger QVGA touchscreen and WiFi. Then, when I really need to respond to an email, I can write or tap onscreen instead of this slightly comatose T9. Anything beyond "Got it" is a pain for my thumbs. Sorry, but us old farts just don't have the text messaging dexterity of you Gen-Xr's. :D

[Mike Temporale]

In case anyone is looking for it, the posts expressing concerns over the newsletter advertisement have been moved over here. (http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10041&amp;highlight=)