Anything that threatens the big Telcom companies will get shut down by government. The companies will find some excuse, they can be used by terrorists, they will collapse an industry, they will cook your brians. The telcom companies have enough lawyers and lobbyists to thing of something.
Interestingly there is a new breed of pda/phone combined that have recently been released into the market making this a reality already. Link here
These combine full phone functionality with a Pocket PC and wifi connectivity. And guess what, you can alredy get skpye for them! Certainly the mobile operators in the UK don't seem to be complaining about these and are offering their usual generous discounts on the full unit price
Can anyone say "cheap pda"?
As to open wifi ports there is an interesting discussion in the article as to the number of open wifi ports available in even a small area for this use. It even seems that some people are doing this DELBERATLY!
I'm also an owner of the origional NGage for similar reasons.
At the time I bought it here in the UK it was one of the cheapest smartphones available at only 100 pounds (about 170 dollars I guess). I liked that it was flexible as you could add a wide range of software to it. Also since it does so much it makes a wonderful tool/entertainment system that I always carry with me, something thats' very useful for passing the time as I commute on the train. With a 256mb MMC there's a lot you can do with it.
I Currently use my NGage for the following.
Watch Movies - SmartMovie
- Great piece of software. I can also convert my home movies for showing friends/family wherever I am.
Games MicroPool
- Great 1/2 player pool game. Good GFX/sound
Sky Force
- Scrolling shooter (like Raptor) with GREAT gfx/sound - especialy for a handheld
IM - AgileMessenger
- IM (MSN/Yahoo/AIM/ICQ/Jabber/QQ) on your phone. Works great and good for keeping in touch wherever you are.
Email (built in)
- A great addition/compliment to using IM as well. I mostly use it for posting to my blog @ blogger.com automaticaly from my phone. Good for instant updates for my family.
Sound/Call recorder - eRocorder
- Allows me to record phone calls and use my phone as a dictaphone. I use it for recarding my son's new words so my extended family can hear them.
FTP - YFTP
- Good for posting recorded soundclips or pictures to my website.
EBooks - Mobipocket
- Useful if your're bored. Also uses less battery than playing games. I also have a version of the KJV bible with Greek/Hebrew dictionary and concordance. You can also export word/excel files to be read with this app.
C64 Emulation - Frodo
- Play some old classics. Good sound emulation as well.
MP3 playback (built in)
- Good playback. Stereo (so better than other phones) but limited storage compared with (more expensive) dedicated players)
Radio (built in)
- Also in Stereo.
PIM (built in)
- I have over 200 contacts and I can store most of their contact information, including notes/photo's if I want.
My ONLY gripe is that the NGage does not have a built in camera. As to sidetalking I find it more comfortable than most normal phones and I could'nt care less what people think it looks like. At least not when I have a phone/mp3 player/radio/PDA/games console built into one device.
I'm glad that Nokia are addressing some of the critisms of the current device, but they've removed some of the features I bought it for (radio / stereo MP3 playback / USB). I would'nt buy the QD version for that reason. If they're procucing a cut down version I'd also like to see one with the USB/radio/stereo output back in. Add a camera and an IR port as well and I'll buy one tomorrow.
Here in Britain gasoline, or petrol, prices are already 2-4x what they are in the US. Prices here are roughly 75p per litre, nearly 5 dollars to the gallon.
Guess what? People still commute to work!
I suspect people are more worried about the time than the cost. You can work out the cost of commuting into if you take that that other job or not.
I could work in London working for more than I am now, enough to cover the commuting costs anyway. The reason I don't is that I don't fancy travelling for 1.5 hours each way when I have a wife and family I'd like to see each day.
On the flip side I like getting out of the house each day to talk to other people. It's about getting that work/life balance right.
Slashdot Mirror
These combine full phone functionality with a Pocket PC and wifi connectivity. And guess what, you can alredy get skpye for them! Certainly the mobile operators in the UK don't seem to be complaining about these and are offering their usual generous discounts on the full unit price
Can anyone say "cheap pda"?
As to open wifi ports there is an interesting discussion in the article as to the number of open wifi ports available in even a small area for this use. It even seems that some people are doing this DELBERATLY!
At the time I bought it here in the UK it was one of the cheapest smartphones available at only 100 pounds (about 170 dollars I guess). I liked that it was flexible as you could add a wide range of software to it. Also since it does so much it makes a wonderful tool/entertainment system that I always carry with me, something thats' very useful for passing the time as I commute on the train. With a 256mb MMC there's a lot you can do with it.
I Currently use my NGage for the following.
Watch Movies - SmartMovie
- Great piece of software. I can also convert my home movies for showing friends/family wherever I am.
Games
MicroPool
- Great 1/2 player pool game. Good GFX/sound
Sky Force
- Scrolling shooter (like Raptor) with GREAT gfx/sound - especialy for a handheld
IM - AgileMessenger
- IM (MSN/Yahoo/AIM/ICQ/Jabber/QQ) on your phone. Works great and good for keeping in touch wherever you are.
Email (built in)
- A great addition/compliment to using IM as well. I mostly use it for posting to my blog @ blogger.com automaticaly from my phone. Good for instant updates for my family.
Sound/Call recorder - eRocorder
- Allows me to record phone calls and use my phone as a dictaphone. I use it for recarding my son's new words so my extended family can hear them.
FTP - YFTP
- Good for posting recorded soundclips or pictures to my website.
EBooks - Mobipocket
- Useful if your're bored. Also uses less battery than playing games. I also have a version of the KJV bible with Greek/Hebrew dictionary and concordance. You can also export word/excel files to be read with this app.
C64 Emulation - Frodo
- Play some old classics. Good sound emulation as well.
MP3 playback (built in)
- Good playback. Stereo (so better than other phones) but limited storage compared with (more expensive) dedicated players)
Radio (built in)
- Also in Stereo.
PIM (built in)
- I have over 200 contacts and I can store most of their contact information, including notes/photo's if I want.
My ONLY gripe is that the NGage does not have a built in camera. As to sidetalking I find it more comfortable than most normal phones and I could'nt care less what people think it looks like. At least not when I have a phone/mp3 player/radio/PDA/games console built into one device.
I'm glad that Nokia are addressing some of the critisms of the current device, but they've removed some of the features I bought it for (radio / stereo MP3 playback / USB). I would'nt buy the QD version for that reason. If they're procucing a cut down version I'd also like to see one with the USB/radio/stereo output back in. Add a camera and an IR port as well and I'll buy one tomorrow.
Hey, did'nt they leave a flag on the moon last time they were there?
Here in Britain gasoline, or petrol, prices are already 2-4x what they are in the US. Prices here are roughly 75p per litre, nearly 5 dollars to the gallon. Guess what? People still commute to work! I suspect people are more worried about the time than the cost. You can work out the cost of commuting into if you take that that other job or not. I could work in London working for more than I am now, enough to cover the commuting costs anyway. The reason I don't is that I don't fancy travelling for 1.5 hours each way when I have a wife and family I'd like to see each day. On the flip side I like getting out of the house each day to talk to other people. It's about getting that work/life balance right.