Waiting for days longer
I have been wanting a new SE phone to replace my aging, and sadly unsupported (no firmware update for 22 months, now, with many outstanding bugs,) K790a. I really enjoy the rich feature set offered by SE phones, as well as the style. The C905 came up on my radar after a while of drooling over the K850. But the C905 has several disadvantages in my perspective.
First and foremost is the slider. I detest flip-phones and sliders as they just seem to make the phone more awkward to use, moving features out of a single line-of-focus. I am a candy bar man and probably always will be. Aside from the obsession over aesthetics, I do not like the idea of another moving part to wear out over time.
The keypad is another issue. While multiple keys do add to the mechanical complexity of a unit, the idea of the convenience of easy dialing and text entry outweighs the potential for failure. With my K790a, I can easily enter phone numbers and text messages without looking at the keypad, and I have become a fairly accurate predictor of T9's inaccuracies for simple corrections.
The built-in GPS is a GREAT idea, and one for which I have advocated to SE for a long time. I have a Bluetooth GPS receiver I use with the K790 and Mobile GMaps. Fantastic combination. I like the idea of geo-tagging pictures and video as well. As for the GPS and navigation power consumption, I opine that if you plan to use your phone for this functionality, have a charger at the ready, possibly providing power during its usage, like in a car for instance. Sure, it would be nice to use your phone as a GPS unit for longer outdoor excursions, but frankly, it is a phone after all. Perhaps the near future will bring us such devices with lower power draw, and/or batteries with higher capacity for the form-factor.
I really do not see the issue of the 3.5mm jack inclusion as, well, an issue. A 3.5mm jack takes up valuable real estate inside the phone. One can easily purchase a SE port connector to 3.5mm adapter from myriad sources, and I believe some of the Walkman series even come with one. The buds included with my K790 are quite adequate, if flimsy feeling which betrays robustness. As well, the SE phones have great A2DP support, and with the recent proliferation of Bluetooth audio devices, I would predict, if only like to see, the age of the 3.5mm jack come to a swift demise.
But that SE connector on the side is a major issue. Major issue, indeed. It makes having the phone on the SE car charger awkward at best, as well as any number of other accessories, though it seems it would work well for the camera tripod. Having an accessory connected to the bottom certainly adds to the length of the still-slender device, but having an item connection to the side just adds bulk and the unwieldy "pregnant" form.
Ideally, I would like to see a C905-alike with a 2.2" screen, numeric keypad on the face, SE connector on the bottom, easy access to the media player like the K790 (track forward, back, volume, and play/stop without launching the media player or unlocking,) while maintaining the other features of the C905.
Additionally, there are many obscured features and "openness" allowed by the JP-series operating systems that I hope do not change: the email client is robust and usable, as well as the ability to install new secure certificates (though the email client lacks digital signatures at this time.) As well, some "new" features would be great, like copy text from the web browser, and a simple "notepad"-style text editor. Support for more paired Bluetooth devices and device types, such as Bluetooth keyboards. And for Pete's sake, current-technology LED flash is simply no replacement for Xenon.
So, there is my Christmas list for 2009. SE's putting a lot of work into their phones, and I hope they continue to evolve.
Paris, continuing to evolve, but just not making the Christmas list.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
