Cell Phone On A Chip 256
sebFlyte writes "Texas Instruments have developed a new chip for mobiles that, according to some, should make is possible to make a cell phone for less than $25, bringing it into the realm of possibilities for low-level corporate giveaways, or a reasonable loss leader for getting people started on pay-as-you go mobile offerings."
Re:Start with just making PHONES (Score:2, Informative)
In the UK (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002K78
Re:Start with just making PHONES (Score:1, Informative)
I don't want to carry around my camera.
I don't want a bulky portable music player.
I don't want to have to stay in my office to stay in touch.
I don't want to have to call a recording service to check movie times.
I don't want to have to buy cargo pants and add pockets.
I call bullshit.
The camera in your phone is absolut crap. It doesn't eliminate the need to cary a real camera if you are at all interested in pictures.
I dunno about music playing phones, but I suspect that they are just toys due to battery life and possibly storage restrictions.
Email on a cell phone is useless for all but trivial emails. It is a PITA to send email, a PITA to read email and does no good for emails containing the text: Please read the attached document.
The Web Browser interface on your phone is WAY slower than dealing with an IVR. Sure you can spend time and effort to customize your configuration to get to one or two sites quickly. Sort of like speed-dial.
The games on your phone are totally lame. Not to mention that battery thing again. Not to mention that you can't use it on a plane. As stupid as they look, I'd go with the Cargo pants.
Your does-it-all phone doesn't replace ANYTHING. It is simply a box of new toys that you have been programmed to feel you need.
What did I miss? (Score:3, Informative)
Not that cell phone capabilities on inexpensive chips isn't welcomed, but your pitch seems a little skewed. I'm not very excited about new technologies that will let me do what has already been going on for years (which is why the Media PC is such a non-event). Dream a little about the possibilities of new technology! How about Spooner's phone from I, Robot? "Hey, cool bluetooth earpiece!", "No, that's my whole phone!" Or maybe Steve Jobs will decide to add this into the next iPod version. Now that's a little more exciting.
Re:Pointless policy at work? (Score:3, Informative)
Cadmium and lead are dangerous as they do not have a biochemical function, and until resently exposure to high levels of them was unusual, so there are no biochemical or fast geochemical mechanisms to deal with these in the environment.
Arsenic is in between, as their are some rare organism that utilise arsenic for some purposes. It is generally not as bioaccumalative as Cadmium or lead, but it is still very dangerous in high enough concentrations.
Re:I folded and got a phone (Score:5, Informative)
No, no, no. I was an "early adopter" of cell phones. Mine was the size fo a VCR and came with its own handy carrying case that was bigger than my wife's purse.
Back to your point though, most cellular contracts have a backout period. I know I had 15 days with Nextel to bring my phones back if I wanted to back out of the contract. Seeing as Nextel didn't pick up at my house, I dropped them and went to Cingular within that timeframe. The Nextel salesman did tell me that I couldn't do that, but I calmly pointed out where it was written in the contract and after some arguing he gave in and cancelled our contracts. It might already be too late for you, but check your contract and see if you have a way to back out.