My Magic Cell Phone

What would I like to see in a cell phone? I'll answer that realistically and logically and save you all the junk you might hear people spout such as "I'd like my magic cell phone to stop world hunger, end global warming, and shoot out kittens to anyone who might be having a bad day!"

First, let me start by saying that my Treo 650 is pretty close to the ultimate device. While it's not perfect, it does everything I need it to do, and a lot that I don't really need it to do. It's not quite perfect, though.

First off, a magic phone's gotta be a good phone. Clear, crisp calls, nice and loud, with a good speaker that'll pick me up even if I'm holding the thing with my head resting on my shoulder. By the way, that's how God intended us to hold a phone when our hands are full. It's intuitive, and it's been around since the old Ma Bell handsets of the 1970's (or before.) Hand somebody a phone and then give them something big to hold. They'll put the phone on their shoulder and hold it with their head. Phone designers should take this into account and test the phone in this way.

Phone features that have to be so simple a child (or a senior citizen) could use:
1. Redial (from an endless list of previously dialed or incoming calls)
2. Dial from directory
3. Voice dial (if you don't think that technology works, try calling 1-800-466-4411 or 1-800-225-5411 some time... those are the Google 411 and Microsoft 411 services and they're mind-blowingly accurate)
4. Speaker phone, hold, mute, pickup call waiting, switch calls, 3-way calling
5. Manage incoming calls -- answer, send to voice mail, or ignore entirely (click!)
6. Wired and wireless handset integration that's bullet-proof (bluetooth devices need a single-button wizard that instantly pairs a new device -- even while you're in the middle of a call)

Most phones (including the Treo) have all the phone features down pretty well. Sound quality and the interface can always be improved, though. And as much as I love the wired and wireless headsets, there's something to be said for just picking up the phone to talk.

The only headset I'd be sure to use continually, though, would be one build into the phone. Why hasn't anybody thought of this before? Either:
1. Pull an ear piece from the side of the phone that has a retractable wire, or,
2. Pull a bluetooth ear piece from the side of the phone that snaps back in place when you're done (Use the Microsoft wireless mouse as an example, where the USB dongle presses into the back of the mouse when it's not in use. It works perfectly, and it's simple.)

The PIM features all have to be there, and they need to be as good (or better) than the ones on the Treo: Calendar, Phone Book, Alarms, and the To Do List (which I've never used). The Treo does quite well with all of these. I'd like a single-click ability to postpone an alarm, though. It should ask -- postpone this for how long? 5 minutes, and hour, a day, a week, etc.

The Treo lacks WiFi, though, and that's just really, really sad. Communication apps I'd use daily: Web browser (that's a whole other conversation -- but let's just say the phone needs a good, fast browser), email client, and instant messenger (which should have all the basic protocols, although I could live just fine with MSN and AIM only), SMS/MMS, RSS reader, and an online directory client to look up names, companies, and their addresses and phone numbers (integrating this with the phone book app would be a big plus.)

Communication apps I'd need sometimes: Remote Desktop Client, VNC Client, Ping Client, Port Scanner, FTP Client, Reverse DUN (use the phone as a PC or Mac modem), Telnet (ssh) Client, Weather Forecast Client (or pre-formatted web page for this purpose), and an Airline Flight Status Client. There's probably more, but really -- just about all this stuff could be handled with a decent low-bandwidth web page.

The phone need great Bible software -- the Laridian Palm stuff is the best I've seen for any mobile platform. There needs to be a bunch of good games (including Scrabble and Backgammon, both of which are great on the Palm.) Other apps that are crucial to a perfect phone experience: Dictionary, Thesaurus, English to Spanish/French translator, Mileage Calculator, Mapping (Google Maps), Vehicle Maintenance Tracking. The Treo has great versions of all of these.

A great MP3 player is good to have (ala Pocket Tunes), but I rarely use it, as is a great movie player that'll play just about any format (like TCPMP.) While these features might be the most-used apps for many (or most) users, they get occasional use from me. A big plus would be a PC app that'll routinely download shows from your Tivo and prepare it for viewing on the mobile phone.

A camera that takes good still shots and video are good to have, but personally, I'd trade a built-in removable wireless ear piece for both of them.

The screen should be as big as possible, as should the keyboard. I like the slide-out keyboard designs, although I haven't tried using any of them for any length of time. The Treo keyboard works, and I can type 30+ words-per-minute on it in a pinch, but it could be a lot, lot better.

There's probably a lot I'm missing, but for the most part, I'm happy with the Treo 650. It's old, but it's got a great form factor and does everything I need it to do. The only thing that'd get me to upgrade it is WiFi, the only feature missing from every new Treo they release. Oh well.