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Mobile Phone Users Struggle With Hardware Adoption
Ian Lamont writes "A Google executive speaking at the Emerging Technology conference has described a problem that mobile phone carriers and manufacturers have been struggling with over the last few years: Users aren't taking advantage of many phones' hardware-based features. Rich Miner, Google's group manager of mobile platforms, stated that 80% of mobile phones being sold today have cameras on them, yet the number of people who actually know how to use them or get the images off the phones ranges between 10% and 50%, depending on the model. Miner listed several reasons for this state of affairs, including bad UIs and small screens, but added that the participation of companies with software expertise — including Google — would help increase usage of such features."
So many of these phone can connect to the inet, but give me a nice sd card and regular headphone jack anyday. That why I keep my palm over an iphone.
There are still real phones. Just google for Motorola F3. It's a real phone w/o any multimedia crap. The only extra is an alarm clock which I consider to be useful. And it has a display which I can read w/o my glasses.
There is another goodie: the battery life time is enormous simply because it does not have that extra useless crap
tglx
obviously getting the pics off will be hard.
Weird file formats are also an issue. I have a Samsung slider phone (T-809 I think) with T-Mobile, and it's pretty easy to use, actually... but movies recorded with the onboard camera are stored in some sort of weird file format, that I guess I have to run through Samsung's software to decode if I want to watch them on my PC. Thanks but no thanks. I even tried simply renaming the extension, but that didn't work either.
The funny thing is, by simply renaming a .mp3 into a .m4u (or something like that) I was able to use mp3 song snippets as ringtones. :)
Mod parent up. I have a nice, feature rich BlackBerry, but the Verizon crippled the coolest features: Bluetooth will only communicate with a wireless headset, and the GPS is disabled until you fork over an additional $10/month (even 3rd party apps like Google Maps can't use the GPS until you pay Verizon).
Evidently Verizon is notorious for this kind of thing, but I didn't do my homework before buying the phone.
Blackberry 8800 - no camera.
In Liberty, Rene
That's where I got my i730, which by now is hopelessly out of date. I mean, seriously - it only supports 802.11b I'd LIKE something cutting edge, but for some reason the corporations of the world have declared that everybody wants/needs a camera.
If the g'vt kept the data on you that google does you'd better believe you'd be calling it "doing evil"
Higher resolution is largely useless without better optics. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_resolution
The government can't save you.
You can never add resolution. So if you have a 4 MP camera, and you crop the image, and then want to zoom, and then need to do something else (adjust white balance, etc, etc) you will get a lower-quality end result than with a 10MP. The higher the MP the more you can edit the picture after the fact.
That said, most people don't edit much, so it won't be useful. Also, lens quality and sensor size tends to matter far more than MP number after 4-5 MP.
Not a sentence!
LG 300G, Motorola V171, and several of the other net10 phones.
Sometimes it's the goddamn cellular provider. Take Sprint, for example. At one point I had a Sanyo Katana on a Sprint account. Using the camera in the thing is painless: getting the damned pictures off was more complicated since the bloodsucking cell provider wanted a $15-$30/month "data plan" so that I could email my own pictures to myself. Fortunately I discovered MobileAction.com and bought myself a USB cable, and was able to grab images from the phone into my PC. Of course, Sprint has the firmware crippled so you can't download anything into the thing (other than phone book entries and I think schedules) unless you use their paid service. Want to dump a ringtone into your phone? Maybe use the phone for data storage? Copy some pictures into the phone so you can display them later? Forget it ... Sprint wants more money. Not worth it.
... and greed.
If the phone providers actually let their customers use all cool features of the phones they sell, maybe this wouldn't be such an issue. I think a lot of people would use more of their phone's capabilities, they just don't want to pay their provider any more juice money.
It gets back to the three most basic human emotions: greed, fear
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
1. define good. i have a feeling any answer we give, you'll shoot down as being 'too heavy' 'ugly', or something else. i'd rather know beforehand what i have to aim at.
2. nokia 1100 - it costs about US$40, has ~9 days battery, and is virtually indestructible in everyday use. no camera, java, gps, calendar, etc
90% of the people never have a NEED to take a picture with a cell phone.
I rarely use my cell phone, but I have found it to be quite usefull in the times I've needed it.
A few examples include: Pictures of someone parking so close to me, I need a can opener. Pictures of a jobsite for collaboration. Pictures taken of a co-workers car after being broken into. Pictures of a car wreck moments after it happend to show "who's at fault", etc.
I'm sure they're are may other uses. But using it as a tool to CYA has proven invaluable to me.
Life is not for the lazy.
I have a Sprint PCS phone, made by Samsung, with a camera, GPS, voice dialing, and web browser. All those features suck.
The camera has a max resolution of 640x480, which is tolerable, but that's not the default resolution. The default is 120x80, and the phone resets to the default when powered off, and sometimes when connected to a charger. So taking a picture isn't a casual affair; I have to plow through menus to reset the resolution, or risk getting a dinky picture.
The GPS isn't enabled, because Sprint requires I buy a package with tons of stuff I don't want to enable it.
Voice dialing has very slow response. My previous Motorola phone was much faster, and that was five years ago.
The web browser blows up on many sites, and connecting to Sprint's network interface usually takes at least 30 seconds of "connecting".
So I just use it for voice calls, and take an occasional picture.
>>>("just give me a phone!") is rather Luddite.
Or work-dependent. The companies I work for (defense) don't allow cameras inside the building. So I literally DO need just a phone w/o the extras.
The government is not your daddy. Its purpose is not to raid middle-class neighbors' wallets and give it to you.