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Tomorrow's Cell Phones
bart_scriv writes "Businessweek looks at the future of the cell phone, starting with some existing button-free prototypes and moving on to more outlandish and whimsical designs. From the article: 'New technologies drive many of the new designs. One example: Synaptics ClearPad, a new type of touch screen that will become commercially available later this year. Unlike today's touch screens, which aren't entirely transparent and often not very sensitive — we've all had to endlessly tap one with a stylus to get a response — ClearPad is clear, so it can be used as a sensitive overlay to a cell-phone display. Another innovation likely to change the cell-phone's appearance: flexible displays. An electronic ink screen prototype, developed by Koninklijke Philips Electronics and startup E-Ink, is thin and flexible like paper so it can be worn wrapped around a cell phone. Users can unwrap it to view a map on a larger screen. Eventually, the display could be used to watch video.'"
The e-ink prototype that they are displaying from phillips looks almost identical to one that was on Earth Final Conflict years ago. Just like the one on the show, this one has a screen that can roll up to place in your pocket, or expand to reveal a large screen suitable for displaying video.
They already have one. It's called Firefly Mobile
Something like the Firefly or the Migo, then?
"It's tough to be bilingual when you get hit in the head."
Just to let you know. They have the fewest dropped calls because they changed how the towers drop a call. it is not called dropped until the tower releases it, and towers are programmed to not release the call for 30 seconds or more after signal is lost, so you press end before it drops. I used to get credit for dropped calls on Cingular, I havent got one credit for 8 months now and a buddy that works in their engineering dept told me thay "tweaked" the software to not let calls drop.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
I had a Samsung i300 that had no buttons, just a touch screen. It was a pain if I had to use the thing while I'm eating fried chicken or pizza. It also sucked because I couldn't dial by touch. I just want buttons. Nothing bloody wrong with buttons.
The perfect sig is a lot like silence, only louder
Cell phones could go a long way, but I think that something like this limits the environment too much.
Beware if you're with Cingular. If you don't give them something like 30 days notice to your cancellation, they will charge you for a full month of service _AFTER_ they deactivate your SIM card, even if your contract is over.
Additionally, they do NOT prorate your last bill -- it is always billed to the end of the billing cycle whether or not your SIM card was even active.
Good luck porting your number from them for this reason... they just cancel your account immediately upon the port request, giving you pretty much no opportunity to avoid this extra month of payments. This caused me to be billed to the end of my last billing cycle PLUS an additional billing cycle for not giving them 30 days notice. It worked out to about 1.5 extra months of service I was forced to pay that I didn't receive.
Just be sure you read the fine print on your usage agreement very very carefully... that company in particular is destined to scam you.
Hehe, dribble charge.
The term you are looking for is Trickle Charge
Your idea works until you realize that you can easily 'hack' your phone to allow transfers to and from your computer. For example, VZW blocks ALL file / data transfer. Buying the Motorola Phone Tools + a 'bonus' cd unlocks all the features VZW attempted to block.
The software and business arrangements in the industry are fundamentally broken. The technology is pretty good, and the companies involved manage to screw it up through concerted effort.