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Talking Point: The Perfect Device & Network?


Guest PaulOBrien

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Guest Paul [MVP]

Talking Point: The Perfect Device & Network?

Welcome to 'Talking Point', our new 'MoDaCo Feature' for Friday!

I'm going to break you in gently... nothing too strenuous this week. I DO think we all have strong opinions on this one tho... so let's hear what you think! ;)

In this week's Talking Point, i'd love to hear what your opinions are on what you would currently class as your Perfect Device, and your Perfect Network Provider.

Without further ado, i've written my criteria below... please participate by replying to this topic! :D

P

My Perfect Device:

SDA Music / Dopod 585 form factor / buttons / colour (I love my 585!)

Changeable Covers (not because I like changing, but because it's an easy way to make a slightly battered phone look brand new!)

Integrated GPS!

QVGA Screen

Latest Smartphone OS

8 way Joystick

WiFi 802.11g

GPRS / 3G

5MP Camera with Optical Zoom

5GB Internal Hard Disk

Mini USB connection with Activesync OPTIONAL

Fingerprint Reader built into the back of the phone for authentication

Decent BlueTooth stack

FM/DAB Radio

My Perfect Network:

Like Orange USED to be, really care about customers

Treat existing customers fairly (lots say they do now, none actually do)

Flat rate, fair priced data

Flat rate, fair priced SMS

Fair pricing for SIM Free handsets / early upgrades, based on spend

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Guest chucky.egg
My Perfect Device:

SDA Music / Dopod 585 form factor / buttons / colour (I love my 585!)

Changeable Covers (not because I like changing, but because it's an easy way to make a slightly battered phone look brand new!)

Integrated GPS!

QVGA Screen

Latest Smartphone OS

8 way Joystick

WiFi 802.11g

GPRS / 3G

5MP Camera with Optical Zoom

5GB Internal Hard Disk

Mini USB connection with Activesync OPTIONAL

Fingerprint Reader built into the back of the phone for authentication

Decent BlueTooth stack

FM/DAB Radio

My Perfect Network:

Like Orange USED to be, really care about customers

Treat existing customers fairly (lots say they do now, none actually do)

Flat rate, fair priced data

Flat rate, fair priced SMS

Fair pricing for SIM Free handsets / early upgrades, based on spend

Nice spec, I like the WiFi, 5Gb and USB thingy, but personally I'd change...

5MP Camera - I'd rather have no camera, and certainly wouldn't add to the weight of my C500 for a wizzo camera. Optics and auto-focus will always let it down.

Radio - Hmm, not high on my list, and with 5Gb I can have my choice of music rather than the talentless teenybopper sheeite that is Cheesy FMs current playlist.

As for networks... don't get me started. Orange's new focus on "Existing Customers" is a joke.

My perfect network would...

- Treat me as though they actually want my £130/month

- Not make up illogical reasons why they can't provide a service

- Not expect me to just say "Oh, OK" when they haven't fixed something for 4 months

- Not charge me £15 to replace a duff handset

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Guest drblow

My perfect device would be simple enough. The C550 looks to be about right for me in terms of form (I can't wait for the bigger screen res) and my main wish would be to be able to present the smartphone homescreen like the PPC today screen, with multiple appts/tasks showing. And the ability to customise every single button/bar/text field etc. with background images & the like. I'm not a big fan of bluetooth or wifi, but integrated gps would be handy. I'm OK with gprs, but if 3G really is better then that'd be nice. Oh, and built in gprs/call counters. I have often thought it's a joke that chargeable services are not able to be tracked in the 'smartphone' without buying a rather expensive 3rd party app.

Overall though, it would be nice just to get a device that doesn't need replaced every couple of months because of some issue or another! :twisted:

In terms of network, I'll give you an example. I phoned O the other day after seeing an advert in the shop that Orange premier customers get a free bluetooth headset. I was told of course, that this is only for new customers (even though they are now advertsing to us about how loyal customers come first). I then discivered that the premier plan had changed and I could get 600 minutes free for the same price as I am currently paying for 400. Now, if OCS had contacted me when this deal became available, to say something like ... 'as a loyal customer, we just wanted to let you know that you can change your talk plan for no extra cost ... bla bla bla', then I would consider that to be excellent customer service! The fact that O are advertising every night about how their existing customers come first is just annoying the hell out of me at the minute, coz it's blatantly not true when you contact them.

I agree with chucky there about charging for replacements. I had to argue the bit the other day to avoid a charge, and my main point to OCS was that no matter how they try to justify the charge, as a customer you cannot help but feel agrivated by their cheek!

I think that Orange is a strange company. They do/will offer you decent service, but often you have to fight for it, and it often depends on who you are speaking to. Now, if they are able to offer you decent service, why not just do it, without all the banter! Then they would really start to make customers feel that they are getting value for their 'xxx' pounds per month.

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Guest pd.ryder

I've got to agree with everything said so far (hehe :roll: )

I would give the radio a miss, I can live without 'CheesyFM' :exclaim:

I'd love intergral WiFi (maybe WiMax???) but think 5MP is a bit much for the occasional snap (and they would be 'storage munching' image sizes)

Again, integral biometric scanning would be a real boom - as long as Lee Majors follows me around going "de-de-de-de..." like the IBM ads ;)

Orange - don't get me started!! I sent them another 'loving' email the other day after seeing their website stating how much they'd like to care for their existing customers - as long as you're PAYG of course :x Why bother with statements of this sort when there's nothing for loyal contract customers??

[Rant over]

Phew! Plenty of good ideas there Paul :D

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Guest chucky.egg

If you read the terms of the PAYG "repay" deal what you find is that if you spend £10 in a week they will give you another £5 of "services" (anything it seems, Voice, SMS, GPRS etc) free to use in the remainder of that same week (Mon-Sun).

But as contract customers we don't have to worry about their new interest in keeping loyal clients, because it just doesn't apply to us.

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Guest Tunney

Hmmm... fun thread. ;)

I would go for something along the lines for:

- Form-factor/size similar to the SE P910

- VGA resolution screen

- EDGE/UMTS/802.11g wifi/Bluetooth

- Mini-USB jack. Shows up as a HD under Windows without any additional drivers and charges over USB too

- A good quality 2MP camera. Anything over 2MP is over-kill, in my opinion, but one that takes nice pictures would be appreciated

- An SDIO slot, possibly an internal HD

- Decent hand-writing recognition software

- Quad-band GSM

As for the perfect operator I would like to see:

- Decent and reliable customer service, where I can speak to a knowledgable human being in my own country.

- Flat-rate data charges

- Fewer billing mistakes!

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Guest dahquim

My Perfect device

Imate Jam/MDA Compact Form Factor (not got 1 yet)

Like the idea of changable covers

QVGA Screen

8 way Joystick

WiFi 802.11g

GPRS / 3G (SKYPE yeah)

2MP Camera

Itegrated hard drive would be nice, but wot about a compact flash slot (4GB maximum)

Bluetooth

My Perfect network

I've Heard rumours that orange might be doing a two contract, where you can have THREE upgrades during the TWO Years, this sounds ok.

A Network that actually wants to keep customers

Dahquim

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Guest bluesmudge

As orange were very quick to realise the power of windows mobile - im goin with orange with a couple of tweaks. Like everyone else says they should spend more time giving existing customer a reason to stay with them.

But i can't complain they replaced my phone free twice now becuase of dust issues. There was a mistake with my contract i ordered over the web where i got 1250 texts a month instead of just 1000 - and they honoured it AND said sorry - lol

The ideal phone can be no bigger than the c500 - i got tired of the comments about my e200 being a brick. BUT it should be no smaller that the c500 other wise the keypad becomes squashed and unuseable.

I agree with alot of people - if you want a powerful camera buy a camera. But one that works better in dark situations would be nice - i.e to record the funny things that happen when your staggering home from the pub with your firends - its lucky traffic cones reflect alot of light otherwise the pictures i've take wouldn't have come out.

3.5mm headphone jack built in - and give a jack that converts to 2.5 if anyone wishes to use headset.

Clear loud speaker when playing music without headphones - some times that would be nice.

Changeable covers. and definatly plug and play feature so you can use the phone like a usb storage dongle. Oh and at least 5 GB Internal mem would be cool. Wifi at 802.11b so its compatible with my router.

ok thats about it!

Edited by bluesmudge
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Guest travisb

As for the 'perfect gadget', it's like nailing jelly to the wall. You may get what you think is perfect only for someone to come out with something just a little bit better the following week.

Mobiles seem to going through what pc's went through, with extra disk space and ram meaning more software/ hardware add ons designed to take advantage of it. How many people would still be perfectly happy with the functionality of Office 97 :?:

As for Orange, I've been lucky, I've fed the rest of my family with handsets having taken advantage of the free upgrades over the years, and just as they ditch Orange care for upgrades, I get it given free with my bank acount!

I do wish that all csr's sang from the same hymm sheet though. When I rang about the dust issue on the C500 the person I spoke to didn't have a clue.

Being able to find out your current GPRS spend would be handy. They do have a billing system that can handle it ( I know 'cos I used to work for the software house that designed it). And yes I do have Traffic Counter.

Paul, I trust all that gadgetry fits into a handset that doesn't require a trolley ;)

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Guest bluesmudge
As for the 'perfect gadget', it's like nailing jelly to the wall. You may get what you think is perfect only for someone to come out with something just a little bit better the following week.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That reminds me im holding the third annual Jelly nailing competition in oxford this week. tickets £2 when booked in advance £3 on the door. Jelly not supplied - anyone found not to be using Olympic standard jelly instead of the UK Jelly nailing federation standard will be disqualified. Though KY jelly is allowed it is not reccomended.

Refreshments available

Edited by bluesmudge
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Guest Alex_le_brit

Hmm am I the only Smartphone user who craves simplicity? So for me I'd like.

Standard SDIO slot (not mini SD as my digital camera also takes and SD card and also there's loads of SDIO accessories if the drivers were available).

Software that recognised any stored programs on the SD card and automatically inserted icons into the start menu.

USB master capability, with Mini USB socket (that way you could plug a whole range of things into the phone).

Changeable covers to beat the scratches.

Internal HD and the capability to upgrade the OS without having to buy a new phone.

In other words I'd like a phone I could keep, and just upgrade, instead of having to buy a new handset each time I wanted to upgrade, and surely this would be cheaper for the operators too?

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Guest hunyango_uk

woooooooooooooooooooooooow!!! :shock:

nice spec for a smartphone.

i would like to add ccd cam for that 2mp/5mp cam. so we can have dvd quality camcorder. 8)

it would be nice if they don't lock their device to their own network, and can they just appz unlock all the device they are selling.

and i think we can only have the perfect network in dreams, they are all greedy. think nothing more but money. this is a worldwide disease for all the networks, they are sucking lots of money from the mobile phone users.

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Guest brykins

My perfect phone/pda:

The same size as my C500, same size keys, even keep the joystick/thingy that lots of people complain about....I like it.

Same size screen but up the resolution. 240x320 (QVGA) would be okay, 480x640 would be great! Oh! And a landscape option for browsing.

Make the screen touch sensitive like a PocketPC/Treo and incorporate a slim stylus.

No camera....don't need it as the optics will never be good enough in such a small form.

800Mhz processor.

1GB on board memory

Two external MiniSD slots - so I can keep a 2GB on in there and transfer photo's to it from a 512MB one from the camera.

USB sync'ing and as others have said, useable as a flash drive without having to install Activesync.

100m Bluetooth - make it actually fun to bluejack...being under 10m away is a bit of a giveaway.

802.11g WiFi - starting to realise just how useful this is in a powerful device.

InfraRed that works over 10m so I can use it as a TV remote.

Standard size headphone jack - I want the choice of more headphones without the agro of an adaptor.

Supplied with a docking station - all smartphones ought to be.

Runs Windows Mobile 2003 SE (or Windows Mobile 2005/Magneto) so I can use all the stuff from my Axim (Pocket Informant, etc).

A nifty little adaptor that plugs into the USB/charging socket and provides VGA or S-Video output so I can plug the phone into a monitor or TV anywhere and run a Powerpoint or slideshow or even a film.

Built in RF output so I can play the mp3's via my car stereo.

Tiny little scanner on the bottom so I can scan lines of text into a note, and optical character recognition built-in.

Intergrated GPS but without an external receiver.

Built-in digital TV tuner.

I could live without the last four, but everything before would make the perfect device for me.

An additional optional extra....8" TFT screens that connect to the phone via bluetooth to watch movies on. I'd get two (one for the back of each headrest) for the kids in the car, but also for presentations, hotel stays, picnics, etc.

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Guest Jamma14

Well for me, the perfect handset would be something like this (sorry for stealing some other ppls ideas! :D):

Form factor: Like a razr v3 - that is a phone with style!

Specs:

QVGA

3mp cam (no need for more) with digi zoom

1Ghz processor

128mb RAM

In built ultra mini low power consumption 2tb, yes tb, hard drive

Ultra far bluetooth

Normal headphone jack (good ideas ;))

8 way *thing* for moving around

the *thing* would actually be good not awkward left/right like the c500 and wouldn't break and muck up like the e100, e200, sp3i etc.. note I say *thing* as my joystick is broken and think there could be a better solution (although just an easy to use 8 way one that doesn't break would be nice)

OS: Windows Mobile 3005, yes 3005, including:

Amazing microsoft office editing

Programs that make use of things like bluetooth file transfer that aren't currently included

Comes sim and app unlocked

And all the cool gadgety stuff thats been invented by 3005!

PS: To get it to us now, people in the future teleport it back to us using the newly discovered ir/bluetooth/space/time/teleportation beam which is integrated into the phone.

Edited by Jamma14
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Guest SMYKUL

oooooooh, I like this topic :D .

For me it would have to be:

-Built in wifi (the best one, cnt remember whether its the 'b' or the 'g' one).

-Built in radio/TV tuners.

-IR port that can cope with commercial standards (TV remote etc.).

-Class one bluetooth.

-10Gb Non-volatile flash memory.

-128mb ram.

-32bit 1.5Ghz processor.

-Big massive screen res (640x480 and above).

-Built in scanner for scanning documents & character recognition.

-Sweet 5 megapixel camera with at least 3x optical zoom, and a shutter !!

-Built in low-power projector for showing films to your mates :D.

-Shows up as an external hdd when plugged into usb (can change connection modes from phone, activsync/external hdd/scanner/webcam etc.).

-Should have the same sort of style as the SPV1 but as one of them new clamshells with the screen that flips round.

-16 way joystick.

-All of the holes for buttons etc. should be sealed(to avoid dust) And hopefully make the phone water proof. ;) .

-Balance/movement sensor. in order to protect itself(like a think pad) and so you can play games by tilting.

-Multi-coloured lights under the buttons. so you can choose the colour by putting in RGB values.

-Built in gps that supports lots of connections (or however that works).

-NO security model (seriously guys, whats the point ?) except for when dealing with hardware that supports comms, BT/Wifi etc.

-Touch screen (yes, a touchscreen phone). Maybe just the bottom(to get rid of the two buttons below the screen, start|contacts, that bit).

-Built in biometric scanner (finger-print reader).

-A half-way decent ram management system.

-Better speaker and microphone (like on a ppc) & speech recognition.

-3g, of course :D .

-Static shock generator, for when vibrate just wont do (i have some new jeans that have some kind of shock absorbing quality :S ).

-A really long life battery that is fixed to the back panel of the phone (like on SPV1) which is held in with springy-type things (like SPV1). To stop the bloomin' thing rattling !! :D .

-Im quite happy with orange, although i do admit there customer support has always seemed sub-standard and never seem very well trained/clued-up. fixed price unlimited gprs and 3g would be nice tho.

ok, phew :D i think im done. :D

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Guest harrelson

If my C500 would look and weigh like a T610, have a qvga screen, run magneto with lots of juice and have itap input, it would be my dream phone

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Guest wookiewacker

i would like my ideal smartphone to be about the size and style of a samsung d500

with all the best bits all you guys said

also

- a phone with buttons and joystick that does'nt break all the time (my e200)

- a single media player that will play all files

- a set of earphones with inline display and controls

- fully customisable led and keypad colours

- a more stable os that never crashes

and as for the operator i would like orange how they used to be too not like they are now - they dont give a damn about there existing customers

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Guest rose840

I'd just be happy with a c500 with a vacuum attachment to remove dust ;)

by the way i am planning on selling my collected dust on ebay anyone interested??

hmmm what other functionality would I like??

Higher resolution screen

Faster CPU (at least 400mhz) not overkill... want long battery life!

New LiIon Battery by Toshiba i've heard that they take 5 mins to charge!!

solar panel reverse (phone can charge itself then!)

The option to customise a rom completly and upload it yourself (without voiding warranty)

3G connection (more reliable than the "3" network tho!!)

touch screen would be nice

A flash on the camera would be nice!

1.5 MP camera would be ample

A keypad lock that stops you making emergency calls

Wifi would be beneficial

casing that doesnt mark when dropped!

Happy with the joystick thing but paint that doesnt wear off would be nice

Stun gun would also be good! :D

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Guest spidermunky

Don't be fooled. I'm pretty sure the we love our existing customers bit is really just to con new customers into changing to them.

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Guest beersoft

my idea phone would have

a fair few gig of drive space

3g + wifi + bt + wimax

usb host port so i can plug more stuff into it

a keyboard and keypad (nokia 9xxx series style)

dual screens (maybe)

DVB (we like digital telly on the go)

an optinal removable camera (for the places cams are forbiden), something like a slot in compactflash style extra hard disk or camera type of module style thing

support h323 and sip out of the box in a hardware sort of way(and talk to my sip gateway at the office)

and all in a package no bigger than 20 superkings

and the network that would release it will

love all its old customers, have great offers for new and old bods

let me use wifi hotspots when im out of 3g range

not cut me off on billing day because there too stupid to send the bill to me in time (im looking at you tcom)

let me upgrade my phone as soon as i have spent more than the current average spend per year (for normal customers on my tarrif)

not blame my equipment when the network goes wrong (thats aimed at everyone, but mostly BT)

/me stops before this turns into a rant about telcos

later

Owen

"needing a ultrasupermegaportable data and voice device"

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