I've been looking at a Nokia N8XX for a few months, along with lots of other stuff including smartphones and mp3 players, trying to figure out what is the right combination of functionality without so much feature duplication that leads to carrying around 80 gadgets and chargers in a big man-purse. As it stands, I've got a SE W600i phone (phone, crappy organizer, crappy internet, crappy camera, crappy media player), a Palm Lifedrive (better organizer, better net, better media player, Wi-fi), a Sansa media player (best media player), a point and shoot digital camera (best camera), and I'm thinking about getting a GPS. This sucks!

I'm beginning to think that the phone should be the accessory to the internet tablet, instead of a multi-function device all it's own . That way we can all use whatever tablet/pda thingy we want (carrier independent), and just tether it to a bare-bones phone on the cell carrier of our choosing.

All these smartphones are just plamtop computers, anyway, that in the end have to make significant compromises in functionality and form-factor in order to support one feature - the cell phone itself. I'm starting to think that removing the cell phone from the multifunction computer would allow both things to be better.

The N810 seems like an ideal platform for this concept. It has everything I need (organizer, media player, net, camera, GPS, WIFI), except the phone. Pairing a bare-bones phone with this device would be the ideal solution. In this case, since the n8XX can provide all the user interface for controlling the phone - address book, dialing, text messages, etc - the phone could be very, very small, have *no* interface of it's own except a button to answer or hang up, and of course have bluetooth so the n8XX (or any other tablet with BT) can control it.

In fact, it could be so small and interface-less, that it could basically look and act like a Bluetooth earpiece. That way we can initiate calls with our multifunction tablet (and be able to put down the tablet and walk away from it because the earpiece IS the phone, not just channeling BT audio from another source) and we can answer calls just by pressing a button on the earpiece.

So the earpiece would contain a battery, cell phone antenna/bluetooth related chips, and a sim card. That's it. No more holding that giant smart phone up to your ear, where it both looks ridiculous, and you can't see it to multi-task with it.

What do you guys think? Anything on the horizon? I've seen a couple of really small phones, but they are still trying to be multi-function devices, rather than a bare-bones phone, which makes them both ridiculously crippled, and way too expensive...

Jerimiah

I use the Nokia 6103. It has Edge capabilities. (no 3G around here) Does basic phone functionality, and usually comes free with your contract. I believe there is an updated version of the model I have, but the basics are the same. Connection between the IT and the phone is click and grunt, and for the aesthetically inclined, it matches in color and basic look.

and i use on verizon k1m(krzr) evdo fast - yeah i paid a few bucks for it but it is small rock solid and looks good and does what a cell phone is supposed to do- make and answer calls.....my former treo 700p had issues as a cell phone

after using a treo 700p and then a 770 / krzr combo and now the n810 /krzr combo i am convinced that the phone /tablet combo is the way to go

Jeremiah, that's a fairly popular view. It keeps coming up here periodically.

I have a n800, RAZR 3Vxx phone, and a EXILIM camera. It all fits in a small backpack (Camelbak). There is not one device on the market that can everything well. I got the n800 because the price was ok, I got the RAZR because it has 3.5G capability not just 3G and I could leave the everything behind and just bring the phone if I wanted to. And the camera is small and 7meg.

Just recently there was a discussion about a UI-less Bluetooth-enabled phone - unfortunately it turned out to be a misunderstanding but I think you'll agree that the discussion is along the same lines as that which you are proposing. I certainly think the N800 could become the central computing, control and storage device for many with Bluetooth accessories providing the audio I/O (A2DP/HSP etc.) and high power radio capabilities (eg. 3G/GSM/EDGE etc. - even WiMAX) which then allows the user to tailor the device to their chosen carrier/network/tarrif etc.

The concept is almost perfect.

I use an old Siemens S55 with my n800 - bluetooth and GPRS are all I need here. I'm soon getting a Nokia 6300 to replace the s55. The camera will be usefull, although I almost always carry my trusty Canon IXUS 500 with me.

All I need now is a way of managing my contact info, either on the phone or the n800 and synchronising the two.

Wow, thanks for the great replies, everyone. I'm not surprised that this kind of topic has come up before. Seems like people have been pairing their pda/palmtop/tablet with their cell phones for at least a couple years now, just as I did with my phone and palm device. And from the thread you mentioned, the simple phone ( or even just data channel dongle) idea makes sense to more than just a few people.

The *new* thing I guess I'm still trying to dig for, is the ultra-simple cell phone part. The cell phone manufacturers seem to be trapped in their feature boxes. Bluetooth is still consisdered a 'high end' feature, so it's nearly impossible to buy a phone that has bluetooth without it also having a camera, a media player, video games, address book, calendar, etc. The phone I'm looking for, assuming the headset idea doesn't take off with someone, has a robust bluetooth interface, but no other features besides making calls and acting as a conduit to a cellular data network...

I did find this little guy, which is at least very small and has bluetooth...

http://www.haierelegance.com/products.html

but it's far from my vision for a phone that looks just like a Jawbone...

It seems like Nokia, of all people, would be able to develop something that fits this market pretty easily... and it would do wonders to turn the cellular radio itself into a commodity, letting the feature-laden palmtop market really spread its wings, finally, without being quite so tied to the carriers...

I guess I'll keep my eyes peeled. In the meantime, if anyone finds anything interesting, please pass it on!

Cheers,
-Jerimiah

Have a look at this thread: http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...ead.php?t=6551
Their is a very nice concept design made by =DC= at the end.

After reading this thread, I remembered seen a very small bluetooth phone, and found this one: http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/9c9d/
the only thing I don't like it's only gprs, not even edge.