12 Jun 2003 | JF said...

My friend Chuck had a great idea: When you are holding the phone up to your ear there's no reason for the screen to be on (sucking precious battery power). How about a setting so the screen will go off 5 seconds after you answer the call? Need to see the screen? Just tap any button and the screen lights up again.

On further thought, how about a feature to turn the screen off completely anytime you don't need it? Need it? Tap any key.

12 Jun 2003 | fajalar said...

I thought there was something like this (the please hold option). Unfortunately, I am in Seattle and I don't have access to my stuff where I could look this up. But vaguely I remember something on NPR about it.

I'd just like a cell phone that I could talk into and listen to without moving it up and down my head.

12 Jun 2003 | fajalar said...

I thought there was something like this (the please hold option). Unfortunately, I am in Seattle and I don't have access to my stuff where I could look this up. But vaguely I remember something on NPR about it.

I'd just like a cell phone that I could talk into and listen to without moving it up and down my head.

12 Jun 2003 | fajalar said...

d'oh, sorry about the double post. Not user error.;)

12 Jun 2003 | Hayden said...

I get annoyed with having to manually lock the keyboard on my Nokia phone . . . I've inadvertantly called people without realising it many times when my phone was in my pocket. Incredibly frustrating (and costly)! My previous Alcatel phone used to lock the keyboard after a certain period of inactivity.

12 Jun 2003 | fajalar said...

I am not at a computer where I can listen to the story, but I think this is the NPR story I was thinking of.

But if not, enjoy anyway.

12 Jun 2003 | pb said...

The Samsung N200 takes care of the "moving it up and down my head" and "inadvertantly call" issues. I don't know why more phones don't adopt its elegant design.

The screen-turn-off feature doesn't sound that good. The screen really doesn't use up any battery life at all when it's not back-lit.

It is normally Nokia phones that ring at inopportune times and it is direclty caused by the pathetic-ness of Nokia's ring volume controlling. It's inexcusable that Nokia doesn't put dedicated ring volume buttons on its phones.

My biggest pet peave with phone interfaces is that none use a wheel for scrolling. Using buttons and joy-sticks for scrolling is abominable.

13 Jun 2003 | UltraBob said...

Here in Japan most phones have a hold function, press the hang-up button once for hold, twice for hang-up. I find however that I almost never use it. Even when I do use it the person on the other end usually hangs up because they don't want to pay when they aren't sure how long the wait will be. One other issue is letting the caller know quickly that this is a hold message and not a voice mail intro. People often hang up as soon as they get voice mail, and so if they don't know they are on hold instead of getting ready to leave a message, you are likely to end up with a dead line when you do get to somewhere where you can answer the phone and respect others at the same time.

13 Jun 2003 | Mixm said...

when you do get to somewhere where you can answer the phone and respect others at the same time.

This thing about respect is a great thing in Japan. It is (according to my knowledge, Ive been there 5 times) prohibited to talk in your cellular in the trains/subways. Thats a great thing. Everyone use their cellulars to mail in the subway carts but no one has the sound turned on.

13 Jun 2003 | Don Schenck said...

Tell me: why is talking on a cell phone any different that, say, two people talking to one another? Why do you find it more annoying?

I don't find it any more annoying than, say, a person who talks too loud. Should we prohibit that activity.

You folks crack me up. Go find something *else* you find annoying ... sheesh. Grow some skin.

13 Jun 2003 | jj said...

There was a new feature on my nokia 8310 which I like - the 'silence' button. When the phone rings, if you press silence the ringer stops and but the phone continues to ring.
Cool if you can't/don't want to answer a call but you don't want the caller to think you hung up on them.

13 Jun 2003 | barry said...

My biggest pet peave with phone interfaces is that none use a wheel for scrolling.

actually the Blackberry 5810 and up do, they are a great solid phone as long as you don't mind looking like you talking into a calculator.

13 Jun 2003 | rjs said...

Don Schenck said: Tell me: why is talking on a cell phone any different that, say, two people talking to one another? Why do you find it more annoying?

Here are a few reasons:

1. People tend to speak louder into cell phones than in face-to-face conversation.

2. People tend to speak with less fluidity, nuance and precision on any phone due to lack of body cues and facial expression. So you get "what was that? oh right the club! yeah i'll be there. huh? no sally's been out of town.."

3. Listening to one side of a conversation is annoying.

4. Two people can't carry on a conversation in the seat next to you.

13 Jun 2003 | hurley #1 said...

Tell me: why is talking on a cell phone any different that, say, two people talking to one another? Why do you find it more annoying?

I find it annoying because many people tend to talk more loudly on a cellphone than they would if the person were sitting right in front of them. When I'm on a bus or a train, usually the people whose voices are loud enough to distract me are the people talking on cellphones; the person-to-person conversations tend to be more background noise.

Also a cellphone conversations seem to often happen in places and times when other people aren't talking.

13 Jun 2003 | Don Schenck said...

I agree about the annoying volume. What's more, it's NOT NECESSARY! Most phone have excellent voice-pickup ability.

I have a friend who is way too loud, all the time. I hate speaking on the phone with him. ARGH!

But it's not the cell phone, it's the people.

Hey cell phone companies: How about including a paper "It's not necessary to raise your voice to use your phone: our Nokia 9999 can pick up the sound of a pin dropping".

13 Jun 2003 | Jay said...

Here's a feature that I think cellphones should have:

When you don't want to be disturbed, you can switch to a "do not disturb" mode that greets callers with a message like: "The person you are calling does not want to be disturbed unless this is an emergency. If this is an emergency, please press 1." And then, if the caller presses 1, the phone will disturb you.

There are certainly problems that would need to be worked out, such as people using the mode too often or forgetting that it's on (both of which would threaten to make the mode meaningless) but it's better than doing what I sometimes do: turn the phone off entirely so that I can work undisturbed for a few hours.

It might also be a good idea to include extra information in the greeting, such as when the owner of the phone will be available for calls. ("Please try again after 5:00.")

Would this feature only be useful to a weird person like myself, or would other people like to see this?

13 Jun 2003 | Tim said...

I'd want my ideal cellphone to be able to play Mp3s, take digital pictures, flip open to reveal a PDA-like internet enabled device, display a full spectrum of colors so I can download and play "Excite Bike, have a rich ring-tone feature so I can add the newest Ludacris tune in a slightly less-tinny midi sounding format than I can currently, have a multi-setting vibration mode, have a retractable jimmy tool for when I lock my keys in my car, and have a dual-mode speaker/hair dryer for those morning when I am rushed on the way to work.

;)

13 Jun 2003 | Markku Seguerra said...

Most newer Nokias here in the Philippines like the 3530, 6100 and 6610 has a "silence" menu option aside from the usual "answer" and "reject", perhaps achieving the same effect as the "please hold" suggestion. but "please hold" has one advantage, it lets the caller know that you are present to receive the call, just momentarily looking for a place to receive the call without disturbing others.

13 Jun 2003 | smooth_j said...

Yeah, similar to above the Sanyo 4900 allows you press a button and silence the ringer although there's no message for the caller. But actually what's the difference? After five rings the voice mail picks up anyway.

BTW, that sanyo phone i chose because of it's great reviews on amazon. Few bells and whistles but an incredibly reliable phone. (And it's free after rebates)

13 Jun 2003 | Steve said...

I don't find the need for separate ringer volume buttons to be a big deal at all. I rarely used it on the phones I've had that included it, and I don't miss it on the umpteen Nokias I've owned.

My new Nokia has the "silence" feature everyone's talking about. Although, it's always been there: hit the "end" key when the phone's ringing, and the audible ringing stops but the phone keeps ringing until it goes to voice mail.

The ringer timer function the columnist requested is present on my new Nokia 6200. Haven't made use of it yet. Kinda doubt I ever will. Nice to have it there, I guess.

My biggest thing is easy transfer of contact numbers. One thing that does help that out a bit is that most US carriers are converting to GSM, and you can store your numbers on the GSM chip, which you transfer to your new phone when you get a new one, since that's where your activation information is stored instead of in the phone's onboard memory, like in non-GSM phones. So, when I get a new phone, I have to program zero contacts (assuming I've stored them to the chip instead of the phone).

13 Jun 2003 | JF said...

If I was a wireless provider, I'd give everyone 30 free anytime minutes during December as a holiday present.

13 Jun 2003 | Don Schenck said...

I want a phone that'll play this.

13 Jun 2003 | pb said...

I couldn't disagree with Don more.

My experience is that you definitely *do* need to talk louder into a cell phone when in the middle of a populated public space than you do if your two people haveing a face-to-face conversation.

The only thing I'd add is that my sense is that these cell phone users invariably exude much self-importance.

13 Jun 2003 | Don Schenck said...

pb brings up a good point; perhaps the phones differ that much?

The self-importance doesn't bother me a bit. Then again, I impress myself, so ...

:)

17 Jun 2003 | jj said...

My new Nokia has the "silence" feature everyone's talking about. Although, it's always been there: hit the "end" key when the phone's ringing, and the audible ringing stops but the phone keeps ringing until it goes to voice mail.

The "end" key just immediately sends the caller to voicemail. It's then quite obvious that you've ended the call, which you might not always want. I'd rather callers not know that I've looked at their name and decided against taking their call, for whatever reason.

17 Jun 2003 | Steve said...

The "end" key just immediately sends the caller to voicemail. It's then quite obvious that you've ended the call, which you might not always want. I'd rather callers not know that I've looked at their name and decided against taking their call, for whatever reason.

That must vary by phone, then. In all my old Nokias, the phone kept "ringing" - the lights would keep blinking and the display would still indicate an incoming call, but it would stop vibrating and audibly ringing - and it would roll over to voice mail in the normal amount of time.

28 Nov 2004 | click said...

8970 Very well said chappy.

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