RFI: futurephones?

[curgoth]

The lure of sort-of affordable cellular internet has me wanting a 3g phone. The iphone is an obvious front-runner, but I'm not terribly happy with the degree of control that apple demands over them. Does anyone have recommendations for other 3g phones?

I want something that does;

• Web browsing (my current blackberry surprisingly does not)


• Calendaring, including syncing to the desktop. Though I suppose I could just do it live to yahoo calendar online if it came to it.


• Mp3 playing, because I need a backup device for when my ipod dies.


• A camera - doesn't have to be a good one, but I'm getting annoyed by not having a quick-n-dirty camera on hand.


• Bluetooth

Nice to haves;

• Voice dialling - the BB does this well, and I've gotten used to it.


• Wifi - because while I want the phone for the 3g internet, if I can get by without it...

I don't care about getting e-mail on my phone.

Any suggestions besides the iphone?

Comments

treo

[t0d.livejournal.com]

I loved my treo 600p when I had it. That didn't have 3g, etc, but it worked well. I think the newer treos have a lot of the functions you're looking though. I'd steer away from WinCE based devices, but I don't like winblows.

Re: treo

[curgoth]

The new Treo runs windows Mobile 6.0 :/

Re: treo

[t0d.livejournal.com]

looks like you can get the centro or 680 for gsm. I don't know if they're available in Canada, but you can get unlocked versions.

[dymaxion.livejournal.com]

The Blackberry 9000 is out in Canada now -- you guys got it first, in fact. It covers everything that you're looking for.

[curgoth]

Huh. So it does... I think we may have a winner.

[dymaxion.livejournal.com]

If you get one, you may need to get a very small sticker that says "one less iphone".

[curgoth]

I'm going to go see a salesdroid tomorrow afternoon. We shall see if I can convince them to sell me a bold for a decent price - if not,, I may go iphone anyway.

[dairymilk.livejournal.com]

No camera on your berry??

[curgoth]

Nope. No camera, no web browser.

[dairymilk.livejournal.com]

Above comment explains it all! (: Yours looked like my Mom's so I just assumed it was the same one!

[misslynx.livejournal.com]

My Palm Treo 650 does pretty much all of that - not sure about the voice dialing as it's not something I've ever really thought about, but it does all the stuff on your first list, at least. And the camera is surprisingly good, for a cell phone. Not on a par with a regular camera, but better than most of its kind. Though if you want to put a lot of MP3s on there you're going to want to add a memory card.

[kalivor.livejournal.com]

Samsung has an iPhone ripoff coming out -- don't know how good it will be, but Samsung tends to make some pretty decent phones.

Also, the new HTC phone using Google's Android will be released in October.

On the other hand, their current top model doesn't play MP3s, but HTC claims the new one will "raise the bar" regarding both mobile internet and entertainment. Which means probably MP3s will be played.

Additionally, the Blackberry Bold looks pretty good, and appears to have pretty good music playing abilities and internet interface.

[curgoth]

It looks like I'm constrained, timewise - rogers is offering $30 for 6GB a month, but after Sept 30 that goes up to $100 for 6 GB a month, which is less attractive.

[kalivor.livejournal.com]

For $100, I would expect unlimited access ... unlimited access is certainly less than that in the UK. Although we do tend to be cheaper on the mobile phone front (and nothing else).

[curgoth]

Cell internet in Canada is ridiculous. We have the worst cell rates in the Western world. But our cell companies are making insane profits, so that's... good for the economy?