Do more features in a cellphone mean a better cellphone?
By: ian tham
Do we need so many features on a cellphone?
The latest cellphone gizmo contains seemingly endless functions and features to
whet appetite and attract new phone buyers.
You want mp3 player?
You got it.
How about digital camera?
Yup! Games?
Yes.
Organiser functions ?
YES.
Web surfing ?
Yes.
You must give credit to the designers who are able to squeeze so many
features into a slim and relatively light package. But the bottom line is does
it fulfill its purpose?
In moments when you find yourself waiting for an appointment or you are in a
queue and are bored, you can indeed find
amusement playing games on your phone. However, even the latest cell phone screen are tiny compared
to portable devices dedicated to mobile gaming. You will find it hard to
manipulate the number keys and navigation buttons to play the games as the keys are rather small.
Also, the layout is not specifically configured for game playing.
You may decide to play either radio or mp3 player. An medium budget
mobile phone shows inherent weakness with minimal capacity
for songs and inability to create play list.
Likewise for the digital camera functions. The maximum resolution one can
find for a cell phone is about 1 to 2 megapixel , not to mentioned steep prices for this
function. Picture quality can never rival stand alone digital cameras whose
resolution can easily reach 8 megapixels.
Even surfing the web by gprs has its limitations. There is limited content
and it seems to take forever to get to the desired page you want. It is also difficult to read on a small screen.
By incorporating so many new features and functions, cell phone may become unwieldy
, cumbersome and complicated. One reason why cell phones are getting laden with
more and more features is because cell phone service providers or operators want
consumers to utilize more of their services. So it is important to know what
your needs are. There is no need to pay for additional features which you do not
require at all. You might be interested in VOIP and these pda phones though.
Another thing I want to point is that the mobile phone battery isn't designed
to cope with so heavy a demand. If you just play games, say maybe
20 minutes, you will easily at leastdrain half of your available battery
power. So in
the end you have to compromise. Either save the battery power for incoming and outgoing
calls or play game and run of risk of mobile phone run out of power. Things
which drained power quickly and in a couple of minutes include using the cell
phone as a torch light.
Basically, you shouldn't take these functions too seriously. They are most appropriate
for causal music listening or picture taking. It is ideal for occasions when you
t unexpectedly bump
into an old friend or classmate and you can take this opportunity to take a picture of him.
The writer is the webmaster of Understanding Technology
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