All right, my favorite gadget?
Well, as tempted as I am to nominate my Axim 50v, it isn't my favorite. My Nokia 3650, a sort of proto-smartphone, is my favorite gadget. Here's why.
Despite its use of MMC instead of SD, I scored a large (256Mb) card and never looked back. It allows me to take as many cameraphone shots as I like, and those shots tend to come out pretty well (my pic on Techlore is clear evidence). It also lets me sync up the pictures and media just by pulling out the card; I keep a subset of important files on the card just in case, like Firefox favorites and small utilities.
Speaking of syncing, after much heartache, I mastered Bluetooth s/w installation on Windows 2000 and can report that the phone has excellent Outlook sync capabilities. My entire calendar, contacts, and tasks
listings are on the phone, so having names and addresses available is limited only by the MMC card, really. The Bluetooth connectivity allows much more than Outlook syncronization: I can push files (music, ringtone samples in MP3 format, images, files) using the Nokia desktop s/w, I can push business cards to any Bluetooth device (desktop, another cellphone, a PDA), and use it as a GPRS modem for Internet connectivity, thus giving me Internet access where even the Axim cannot... although I can pair it with the Axim and use the Axim's IE browser with the Nokia's connection.
I've also installed Chess Genius, for when I'm looking at some downtime and need a little mental exercise. I'm not too fond of games on small screens but chess is definitely playable on any screen size, so this works
out very well.
Of course, this thing also records voice notes and video. I've captured my baby boy doing some baby boy stuff with this when we've forgotten the video camera or digital camera. I guess this phone's utility goes far beyond a mere cellphone, because I really use it to document and synchronize my life as it happens. I guess when I think about it in this manner, it defines how my ideal converged device would operate, as a
documentation device.
