Linksys Travel Router

A couple of years ago I bought a Nokia 6610i and I told myself it couldn’t get any better than this. I thought that was it! I wasn’t looking forward to another cell phone upgrade for at least 5 years.

Besides, what is a cell phone use beyond talking and sending text message?

Technology can progress at an unpredictable pace. 20 years ago I had an IBM PC/XT that ran slower than a tortoise could count rabbits. It ain’t the same world today. Like computers, cell phone technology needs more maturing before the novelty fades away.

My new cell phone comes with quad band EDGE/GSM, and WCDMA mode support. It also does Infrared, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi connectivity.

Unlike it predecessor, Nokia puts these connectivity to good use. For example, I can connect to an Apple Bluetooth keyboard and use it to navigate my phone; like text message, e-mail, and Internet browsing. Also, using Wi-Fi I can easily connect to a locally available Internet access point that would costs nothing as compared to using GPRS or EDGE which normally charges by the packet size.

And it really impressed me that it handles WEP and WPA/WPA2 encryption so darn good! It also has POP3 and IMAP e-mail support configurable with TLS/SSL and APOP encryption protocol.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this is a PDA with a built-in phone, and it would probably be darn close. This is a sweet gadget with Symbian OS that’s just crying out for my own J2ME software development. It even comes with an anti-virus application. Now, what does that tell you?

The feature that I like best about this phone so far is that, it can pronounce the caller’s name if the caller’s contact information is stored on the phone. I can have this phone across the room while lying on my bed, and know who’s calling before deciding to get up and answer it. It never fails to amaze me how far lazy people would go to keep themselves lazy. Now, if only I can reject the call (thus silencing the phone) by yelling at it. Why not? I’d yell like a hillbilly if I have to as long as the phone would quit ringing! That could be a nifty feature.

Nokia N80 is a keeper. It may inch a little deep into your pockets, but it’s worth it. At least until Nokia N95 gets released next year.