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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.

35 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. Do yourself a favor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:Do yourself a favor by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 2
      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    2. Re:Do yourself a favor by clonehappy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I have been a phone geek for as long as I could afford a cell phone. All I can say about smartphones is buy quality, not hype. There are perfectly fine smartphones that do it all and do it well (hint: they don't have an "i" or "Galaxy" in their name)...and since the company that makes the majority of them being acquired by Google, I think the landscape may soon be changing. That being said, I like having a fully-featured smartphone I don't have to curse at or feel like throwing on a daily basis while others continue to buy whatever device Madison Avenue shoves down their throats.

  2. Obligatory... by Niris · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.

  3. Start of something big. by senorpoco · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.

    1. Re:Start of something big. by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 2

      Give me a tablet with a keyboard bluetooth headset, and I'm good.

      Granted, there are times when you don't have your headset on and will end up talking to the tablet, but that's not such a big deal.

      I don't see the motivation for having a wristwatch, or smaller phone, to communicate with my phone. It would seem to defeat the purpose of having a mobile phone in the first place. Hell, you can get an actual phone in a wristwatch today, if that's the way you want to go. But I still want my tablet.

    2. Re:Start of something big. by pla · · Score: 2

      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 know you jest, but seriously, some functions just don't conveniently tie into an all-in-one device. Smartphones take crap pictures, for example. And as TFA points out, they really don't make a very good form-factor as phones, either.

      I actually kinda like your (and TFA's) idea, taken to an extreme. Use your tablet as a sort of personal server for storage and "real" communication, and everything else can just talk back to it via NFC.

      Only annoyance there - Power. If we can solve that one without needing to plug in half a dozen peripherals every night, I'd call this a winner.

    3. Re:Start of something big. by obarthelemy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not so true about pictures.
      1- High-end smartphones (iP4s, iP5, GS3, GNote2...) take okay pictures. For a blog or email, or even regular-size prints, they are more then "good enough".
      2- smartphone video compares even more favorably to regular cameras
      3- and above all let you have something to take pictures *all the time*. My brother has a semi-expensive camera, and a shitty smartphone that even went through the wash once. The pictures we get of the nephews are more often take with his smartphone, because that's what he always has with him.

      Now, if you want to get arty or A4-size, sure, get a true camera. If you want to shoot un-arty slices of life for friends and family, no need.

      --
      The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
    4. Re:Start of something big. by F34nor · · Score: 2

      I operate heavy equipment, and by the time I can hear my phone. get it off my otter box belt clip, and get my gloves off to swipe to answer it has gone to VM. When I call them back they inevitably don't answer because they are leaving some wordy fucking message that I will never listen to. I would use this for sure mostly because I could kick the shit out of it and not worry. But it doen't go far enough, here is what I want.

      Rubberized brick with CPU memory and battery that is induction or wirelessly charged. From there I'd like a series of preogessively larger screen from watch to phone to tablet to monitor to tv that all acccess the same device. The watch for caller ID and sms to screen calls. I'd like a headset phone like this in my pocket that is water proof and possibly a flip design for cheek operation. At home I'd like tablet Asus Padphone like setup and a thunderbolt to internal top of the line GPU so that any screen accesses the same underlying OS and data (Fuck the cloud, only chumps relinquish physical control of their data) and when I want to I can play Crysis at 40 fps. My 2+ year old Atrix can run Ubuntu on a HDMI with mouse and keyboard so it is no a stretch.

      So lets pre-reply to the trolls. I don't give a fuck what you want or think is OK there is a 50% chance you are dumber than average so I doubt I would even talk to you in person.

  4. Laugh by koan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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."
    1. Re:Laugh by ericloewe · · Score: 2

      Considering most phones these days place less emphasis on actual calls than on including millions of features, it's probably more accurate to call them devices.

    2. Re:Laugh by oodaloop · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, it'd be much easier to call them "tracking device with facial recognition, vocal recognition, finger print recognition, your bank info, GPS, and has a "phone" included". Good point.

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    3. Re:Laugh by maxwell+demon · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The Brits probably do it best, "Mobile" is as amorphous as you can get.

      Well, in Germany we usually call it "Handy". That's even more amorphous, isn't it? :-)

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  5. Oh, the wrist phone is connected to the hand phone by fustakrakich · · Score: 2

    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!”
  6. Smartphone market is saturated... by QuietLagoon · · Score: 2

    ... so a new market needs to be created to allow people to buy additional shiny toys.

  7. Re:Oh, the wrist phone is connected to the hand ph by bmo · · Score: 5, Funny

    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."

    --
    BMO

  8. It's backwards by Dr.+Evil · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.

    1. Re:It's backwards by gl4ss · · Score: 2

      well you hit the gist with "great battery life". a great battery doesn't fit into your phone.

      besides, nokia was doing that route already with 770 internet tablet(which did not have a phone and you were expected to use bt connection to a phone to connect to the net on the go). people wanted to be able to make calls with it. an extra device to carry is an extra device to carry.

      besides, wrist phones suck ass unless you want to carry a bt headset all the time.

      and these guys are just being asses and are just releasing a really high end bluetooth handset/remote. of which we have had plenty.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    2. Re:It's backwards by Big+Nemo+'60 · · Score: 2

      Believe it or not, before purchasing my current smart phone, I actually looked for an arrangement like that - a very small (5" max) Android 4.x tablet with Wi-Fi (no 3G) and a small, sturdy phone that could also work as a Wi-Fi hotspot (which cheap Android phones seem to handle pretty well now, btw).

      Eventually I gave up because (a) I could not find a tablet smaller than 7" of acceptable quality (this may have changed - I did not check again after I eventually purchased a smart phone) and (b) where I live (somewhere in Europe) network operators charge you extra if you use your cellphone to connect other devices to the 'net (it is actually a separate service from the smart phone data package).

      If I could overcome these issues I would still go that way. I would expect much better battery life for both devices (like when I carried a Palm TX and a cellphone) and I would not be a bit surprised if the two devices together would be cheaper than a high-end smart phone. Fringe benefit, I would expect to be able to upgrade each device separately when needed. Also, when I do not need the tablet I could leave it at home.

      Details to be defined: where the GPS receiver should be (I'd say in the phone, even if the map app should obviously run on the tablet), what to synchronize between the two (I'd say only the contacts, the tablet being the master).

      I am a bit of a Star Trek fan, and I always considered how Starfleet officers carry two devices - a communicator (always) and a datapad (when needed). OK make three devices with the Phaser ;-)

      --
      In the long run we are all dead. - John Maynard Keynes (1883 - 1946)
    3. Re:It's backwards by Fred+Ferrigno · · Score: 2

      It's just a matter of which device is the one you use most and carry with you all the time and which device is the optional accessory you only carry when you need it. We call them "smartphones" but increasingly they're portable computers that are only occasionally used to make phone calls.

      If you spend most of your time browsing the web and watching cat videos, it makes sense to put the connection in the device so you don't have to carry around a hotspot too. Then you have a Bluetooth headset -- which is basically what the HTC Mini is -- for those infrequent occasions when you need to have a long phone conversation. If you're not expecting any calls, you leave the headset at home.

    4. Re:It's backwards by stephanruby · · Score: 3, Informative

      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.

      A watch-sized 4G hotspot with a tiny watch battery would last about 30 minutes in real life.

      This device would do the trick I suppose, but with that baby strapped to your wrist -- it would look more like a court-mandated gps-tracker. And I doubt that's the fashion statement you'd want to go for.

  9. Re:Do they integrate? by Internal+Modem · · Score: 2

    The article points out that it connects to the main (mother) phone via NFC. It's a tethered phone rather than one that connects to the cellular carrier.

  10. Yer Doing it Wrong by MrLogic17 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

  11. Getting ridiculous by Arcady13 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:Getting ridiculous by green1 · · Score: 2

      Speaking as someone with a "ridiculous 5 inch Android phone" (actually 5.5" display, Galaxy Note 2) I have never had a problem with battery life, it lasts all day no problem, and as it sits on my bedside as a replacement for my old alarm clock, it charges every night.

      As for why have a secondary phone, I can see it. The note is a big phone, but not so big as to be cumbersome in general, and as I wear cargo pants 95% of the time or more, there's plenty of pocket space. Unfortunately though I do occasionally dress a little fancier for one occasion or other, and in those rare cases it would be nice to have something smaller to fit in the reduced pocket space. I personally don't know that this is the solution though, it seems to me that the situation is rare enough for me that the best solution would be a small/cheap dumb phone that I can just swap the SIM in to as needed instead of an even more expensive smart phone with detachable dumb phone.

    2. Re:Getting ridiculous by green1 · · Score: 2

      I would be fired if I did NOT wear cargos, I'm in a uniformed profession, cargo pants are the only choice of pants offered for work.
      When I'm relaxing at home, I have some baggy comfortable cargos (and I don't see any reason at all to care what I look like at home), and when I'm out and about I have some very professional looking cargos that are applicable for almost every situation that doesn't require some level of fancy dress (plain black similar cut to most "casual" pants and with slim cargo pockets, certainly far more professional looking than the jeans most people wear).
      If you're one of those people who think cargo pants = camouflage pants, think again, I'll agree that baggy camo pants aren't appropriate most of the time, but it is rare to find an occasion at anything up to the "business casual" level that precludes professional looking cargo pants (think the type of pant that Police, or EMS wear, but without the stripe)
      When I go out to a party I will sometimes wear the professional looking cargos, or for slightly fancier events or for a date I don't wear cargos, It's only those times when I care what size my phone is. (of course if I'm at an event fancy enough to wear a suit, the phone isn't a problem anymore as the inside pocket of a suit jacket fits the phone just fine.)

  12. A nugget with a menu of optional interfaces by ldbapp · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.

  13. So what they're really selling is... by Gordonjcp · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... an inconveniently large bluetooth headset?

  14. Re:Do they integrate? by Agent+ME · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's more like a bluetooth headset than a separate phone.

  15. Re:The biggest problem with Smart Phones seems to by icebike · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.
  16. Re:Where is the phone? by 1s44c · · Score: 2

    Phone shops want to sell shiny things not practical things.

    You can find low end phones that just work in most airports. Business travelers often break their phones and need to buy a new one in a hurry.

  17. Re:Do they integrate? by Belial6 · · Score: 2

    That is what I was thinking. I personally find bluetooth headsets to be cumbersome. They are uncomfortable, I don't get enough calls to warrant wearing one all of the time and if it isn't on and paired when the phone rings, you might as well not have one. Having a small bluetooth handset would actually be convenient. Being able to pair it via NFC would make it all the more convenient.

  18. I bet this is immensely helpful... by pellik · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... for calling your phone when you misplace it.

  19. Awesome new idea by uvajed_ekil · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.
  20. I guess size does matter by cvtan · · Score: 2

    So bigger is better AND smaller is better.

    --
    Sorry, but gray text on gray background is making my eyes bleed.