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Accessorize Your Phone With Another Phone
Rambo Tribble writes "Ars Technica reports that HTC is introducing the Mini, a small, more convenient and feature-reduced phone to tie into your big, cumbersome smartphone. So, dumb is the new smart?" Don't forget a wristwatch phone to connect to the smaller phone.
Do yourself a favor and buy a ruggedized outdoor phone. They last forever, have long battery life and unlike most smartphones are actually usable for making phone calls.
Yo dawg, I heard you like phones, so I put a phone with your phone, so you can use a phone while you use your phone.
Why stop there? Have a separate camera, a separate music player too. What a wonderful future that will be where instead of one device capable of doing lots of things we have lots of individual devices dedicated to a single purpose.
I love how they keep calling them smart "phones", it's really a tracking device with facial recognition, vocal recognition, finger print recognition, your bank info, GPS, and has a "phone" included. (primarily for a constant data connection for the aforementioned attributes)
It reminds me of the vases with clocks in them. "and it has a clock!!!"
Phones indeed...
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Can you get several devices on the same phone number? Do they synchronize their contact lists? And, most important, are you going to be charged for two airtime plans?
The hand phone is connected to the ear phone...
Let's just go with the implants, ok? You can stream everything you see and hear on your facebook page.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
I have this dead 2G Sony Ericsson phone which was small and very easy to carry around. The other week I saw an ipod nano in a shop. It has a little screen with six icons on it. I thought that if apple made an iphone in that form factor I would actually buy one.
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Some smart phones don't keep a charge for a full day. So people are constantly charging their phones and it is cumbersome sometimes. If you have a phone specialized for power economy to keep a charge for days, yet is just a dumb phone tied in on the same number, I'm sure people would go for it. Think about the benefits: 1) If your smart phone's battery dies, simply take your dumb phone for the interim. 2) Since your smart phone is your primary phone, if you lose it, you'll know your dumb phone is on the charger to make a call.... or call your smart phone to find out where you misplaced it. 3) The cost isn't recurring, it should be just a one time cost to get a dumb phone for you.
I don't advocate taking two phones around with you when you walk because that is cumbersome, but having your pick of which one you want to take with you really helps with the major problem of smart phones: That they run out of charge rapidly.
God spoke to me
... so a new market needs to be created to allow people to buy additional shiny toys.
Let's just go with the implants, ok?
Yeah, so we really can't tell between the crazies and phone users.
"WTF is that smell?"
"Excuse me, I'm receiving a FAX."
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BMO
I am still waiting for a tiny Zoolander phone.
Since it'd be a dumb phone, it could be mostly battery and could last a week between charges.
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I don't understand this. Why would you take your inconvenient, expensive to upgrade, battery-sucking tablet and put your SIM card inside it? Then bring a smaller device in case it's too inconvenient to take out your smartphone?
Why not have a small phone with great battery life and core features, then just use it as a hotspot for a tablet? I was looking at wristwatch phones and none of them seem to do this. There's even the new Pebble http://getpebble.com/... which is a wristwatch UI for your fat phone.
This whole trend is backwards. Put the phone on our wrists and let us carry an optional tablet, handset or earpiece.
If your smart phone is too cumbersome, the solution is NOT to get another gadget to add to the complexity.
Seriously, some folks are so gadget happy with their oohh-aaahh features on their phones that they forget why they bought it.Speak with your wallet. Buy a phone that works for your needs, and is easy to use.
If your phone is so big and cumbersome that you need a second phone that is easier to hold and easier to handle, then why wouldn't you just get a primary phone that fits those requirements in the first place?
I see these people with their ridiculous 5 inch Android phones. They have them set to dim and turn off the screen almost immediately, because the battery life is so shitty. When they aren't swiping around on them like a crazy person, they are looking for power outlets to keep the stupidly big things charged up.
Screw that. Get a phone with a normal size screen, a phone that fits in your pocket, a phone that has a battery that lasts for a whole day, a phone that doesn't need another phone as an accessory.
This phone connects to the main phone via NFC, as the article points out. None of the aforementioned benefits would be derived from this setup. Furthermore. running the NFC radio on the main phone (needed so the smaller phone will work) will drain the battery even more. The dumbphone does not work without the smartphone.
What I want is a computing nugget that I can carry in my pocket (on a necklace, whatever), and then carry any number of different task-specific interfaces to it. You don't even have to carry them. Just walk up to your desk, and your keyboard and monitor connect and you have a desktop. Pick up your "smart-phone" interface, and go. Pick up your candybar interface and go. But all the computing and storage stays the same. It's your cloud in your pocket. Sell me that HTC.
... an inconveniently large bluetooth headset?
If you carry one like i do since i rarely actually make calls, they do make something called a 'wireless headset' ...
If each phone is half the size of the previous phone, I can fit an infinite number in my pocket!
This device is not a dumb phone on the same number. It is merely a peripheral I/O device, like a bluetooth headset. It can't make or receive calls unless it is close to the main phone/tablet.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
It only uses NFC to initialize the connection. After that, it uses Bluetooth. It shouldn't be any more or less of a drain on your battery than a Bluetooth headset.
This would be useful in my truck-boat-truck, so that I don't have to hold such a bulky phone while towing my boat that tows my other truck.
I went into a store the other day wanting to buy a phone. They sales staff showed me an MP3 player, internet browser, gaming console, PDA and a radio. I walked out frustrated ... I just wanted a phone!
Dunno about iOS, Android or Windows Phone, but MeeGo has a very effective battery-saving mode, which dims the screen, does not use data connections unless you manually start them and automatically disengages once you start charging it. It won't be as power-efficient as a dumbphone, but it does have a much larger battery.
If your OS of choice isn't as smart, if you want to save your battery, manually shut off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC (may not apply), 3G/4G data and dim the screen.
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.nosig
... for calling your phone when you misplace it.
Yo, I've got something that will blow your mind: a phone that stays at your house and can't go anywhere. It get amazing reception, and call quality and dropped calls are never really an issue. Pretty soon every teenager is going to want one. These things are BAD, and can be really big. Big is the new small, know what I'm saying? How come nobody ever thought of a phone before that is JUST a phone and doesn't play Angry Birds? And you'll never ever crack the screen. No giant Otterbox necessary (besides, it is already so big it doesn't need a box to make it huge, like an iPhone). Bonus: you'll never forget it or have it stolen at Starbucks, cause you can't use it there.
This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
Can you like get a mini parasitic phone that comes like pre-bedazzled? If I can get a sparkly one that works with my iPhone then I'm like, you know, like sooo in. What about an even smaller one for my min-pin-chin-tzu (you've like GOT to get a custom four-breed tiny dog) to carry around on her collar? lol that would be like soooo cute.
This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
"WTF is that smell?"
"Excuse me, I'm receiving a FAX."
Essential communication from those guys in the Darmstadt office, perhaps?
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
If you think of it as a Bluetooth remote (NFC doesn't really give enough range that "remote" has any meaning) it's not really all that unreasonable. I spent a good chunk of my morning looking for a Canadian supplier of something not entirely dissimilar... remote music control, camera shutter trigger, and since it has Real Buttons it's a little more effective to control music and whatnot while driving.
But yeah, whoever decided to market this as a phone for a phone needs their head(s) checked.
Log in or piss off.
"Dunno about iOS, Android or Windows Phone, but MeeGo has a very effective battery-saving mode, which dims the screen, does not use data connections unless you manually start them and automatically disengages once you start charging it."
There is an app for that.
So now we have tablets that detach from keyboards, and phones that are put into tablets, and phones that are put into phones. Obviously the super device will combine all of these! You'll have a tiny phone thing with 4g and other communication boards that slot into a bigger phone with a bigger screen and battery and storage and more processing power that slots into an even bigger screen with more battery that connects to a keyboard with and extra battery and another flash drive.
And I form the legs!
Are questions the new answer?
Fringe alternate universe - if you don't know, watch the show.
So bigger is better AND smaller is better.
Sorry, but gray text on gray background is making my eyes bleed.
Why the trashing?
It's not that stupid of an idea.
If you don't pay for a landline and all you use is a cellphone, then this is basically an additional handset for that. It's no different then buying extra handsets for an existing wireless phone system (that plugs into an RJ11 jack). You can have your cell phone sitting in the dock charging after a days worth of use, and be in another room (assuming Bluetooth reaches) and still use it to make calls and receive calls.
So it's not that stupid of an idea. They're kinda marketing it wrong though.
I personally use Asterix to provide similar functionality. When my phone is home and within range of my Asterix system, all my RJ11 jacks in the house are routed through my cellphone automatically. The system obviously goes dead when I'm not around, but I'm single so what do I care. If I wasn't such a geek and insisted on maintaining such a rube-goldberg setup, then I could totally see myself buying a few BT handsets like this to use instead.
Samsung Rugby Pro or Sony Acro S
Thanks !
Got any other recommendation ?
Thanks again !!
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
I heard you like phones, so we put a phone in your phone so you can talk while you talk.
Soon Siri will converse with Siri.
Everyone has a device with a big battery and fast internet connectivity that they carry with them everywhere and is always connected: in a purse, pocket, backpack, or even a harness. Right now this is the "smart phone".
Their watch, their actual phone, their headset, their glasses, their computer, their tablet are all connected to it to use it for internet connectivity and even to top their batteries off via wireless charging if they get dangerously low.
Until foldable, rollable screens go live and you can have a tuck a screen the size of a book into your coin pocket, your biggest screen will continue to be stuck to your battery and internet device.
I've seen this coming for a long time. I've even asked for this myself. As smartphones get bigger and bigger, holding them to your ear is more and more awkward. Can you imagine putting your 10" iPhone to your ear? I cannot. Or having to carry your big pad close at hand so when it rings, you can answer the call. That's a bit hard to do when it is in your bagpack where it belongs. But consumers what the bigger smartphones for their ease of use and need a mobile plan with it to use the internet. So: buy two mobile plans? Get two simcard with your one mobile plan? Or get a small BT-enabled phone that you can carry in your pocket while the "mother-device" stays tucked away.
It's a natural development. We've all seen how the laptop has grown to something unwieldy, manufacturers have recognized that and made the small laptops like the EEEpc and iPad. This is the next step.
I have two phones. A small one that I have to carry for work. Try using a "smart phone" whilst
wearing gloves! Try dropping your $30 flip phone and your $200 smart phone into a snow bank
or into a puddle of water and get back to me about which is better for outside work. Honestly,
I think that my smart phone almost laughable in its attempt to work as a telephone. But it works
great for GPS and for Internet. It's also, with the addition of 3rd party typing tools, easier for texting
(once the gloves have been removed.)