Monday, April 17, 2006

The times they are a-changing

I've just seen this article on The Register about the Nokia 6103 low-end mobile phone. The editor describes it as 'a drop-dead simple phone'. I remember drop-dead simple phones. You could talk and text and that was about it. In fact I still have my Motorola Timeport which I would consider a drop-dead simple phone.

But this is 2006 and "drop-dead simple" or 'low-end' now includes:
  • Clamshell style
  • Small protruding antenna
  • Colour screen - 128 x 160 pixels (ok for pictures, not suitable for video)
  • Camera (yes, you read that right, a camera) albeit VGA
  • Email client
  • Tri-band
  • Wap access
  • Edge support for faster downloads
  • Change your ringtone
  • FM radio (but no MP3 player)
  • Excellent reception (umm, shouldn't *every* phone have this?)
  • 4.4 mb memory (ok, so that's a bit small these days)
  • and, err bluetooth for wireless data access.
Wow, and that's a 'low-end' phone. If my mother was given this phone as a gift, I'd be very surprised if she found any of the above simple or 'low-end'. What about your Mum Ewan?