At the moment, I use a Sony Ericcson k750i as my phone. It’s solid, has good reception and audio and battery life. It has an easy-to-use camera with a flash which is important for me because that’s how I record and store whiteboard sessions. It has bluetooth for file transfer (of the whiteboard photos) and hands-free headsets (it’s illegal in Ireland to drive while using a mobile phone, so the headset – and the voice recognition dialing – are quite useful). It has an FM radio and an MP3 player for when I’m on the train. I’ve got Opera Mini installed on it so I can even check my email and websites, though writing anything with T9 is something a sane person only takes on in extremis. It’s even red It’s been a very good phone for me and I have almost no complaints about it.

But it’s time for a change.

Why? Well, the most cosmetic thing is that it’s not exactly shiny anymore. I’ve had it for two years now, and two years living in my pocket next to keys, tools, pens and general lint has taken its toll. The lens is still fine, the sliding cover was a good design idea and more phones should use one, but the facia around the keypad is almost paint-free and is coming loose and while the joystick is still functioning, it is starting to finally show glitches. A friend who had the k750i before me had the same problem – and it very quickly stopped working alltogether.

There’s also the issue of SMS messages. For those not in Ireland, you have to understand that SMS messaging in Ireland is enormous, it’s almost as big as email and in large swathes of the market it’s bigger than voice. So when … Read the rest