How Not to Build a Cellphone

Jamie found an NYT story about a new t-mobile Shadow phone which starts off by talking about how Apple is changing the phone game by wrestling power from the carriers, and then discussing what could be a reasonable piece of hardware. And then how it is wrecked by software. The phone has wait screens, a task manager, odd error messages etc. Makes for an amusing read.

Comments

Re:Cell phones are pieces of shit.

[crowbarsarefornerdyg]

I use a Boost Mobile i730. It does everything you're talking about, to be perfectly honest. I can hear 99% of the calls I send or receive, I have a "trace mode" I can use to sort of debug a connection, and it just works. I've only ever munged one Nextel / Boost phone in my life, and that's when I dropped it into the damn storm drain I was walking past. LOL. I know Nextel service sucks (mainly because it's now Sprint/Nextel), but other than the "cage" I have to work in sometimes, I even get signal inside the metal building I work in. And after I install my cell phone range expander, it should work even in the cage.

Sure, it's not an iPhone or some other similar piece of garbage, but what's the difference? I have a calculator, datebook and contact list. I have custom made ringtones and applications. It uses J2ME, so I can bang out my own code if I choose. The only downside to the phone is it will only work on the Nextel system. The newer ones, I have been lead to believe, can be made to work on any network, with the exception of the Direct Connect. Hell, the i930(?) uses a version of Windows Mobile now. The only reason I haven't messed with it is I have to get new software to do any of the hacking I do on the older Nextels.