I've been saying for years that there's a market for a simple phone for people who don't want games or apps or anything fancy, they just want a phone.
Say hello to the Vodafone Emporia RL1, a 60 quid handset designed solely for voice calls and texting - and none of that app nonsense.
And with large, clearly labelled buttons, the RL1 is not only geared toward the smartphone-phobic but also folk whose eyes and motor skills might not by up to touchscreen navigation.
The 92g phone has a OLED screen, and only connects over 2G networks - on the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands only, we're afraid, making it less useful as a low-cost phone you can take overseas without worry too much about dropping it in the pool or having it nicked.
The RL1's two nods toward smartphone functionality: a calendar and an alarm.
didnt the dude who "invented" *see below* cell phones announce some new Motorola phone that even had a dial tone when you pressed the green button? Some simple solution to aid the elderly.
I don't really understand the phobia with smart phones. Out of the box an iPhone doesn't really do a whole lot, so you're not forced to do fancy stuff. It's just extra apps that turn it into a toy. Even the keypad is one of the most basic I've seen, and text messaging is a standard qwerty keyboard and not predictive text or having to hit each number 3 times to get the right letter. My work mate hates smart phones yet his is one of the hardest phones I've ever tried to use. I think iPhones have become popular due in part to their simplicity.
w00dsy wrote:Out of the box an iPhone doesn't really do a whole lot, so you're not forced to do fancy stuff. It's just extra apps that turn it into a toy.
But it costs £600.
I think Apple have missed a trick that a lot of the other companies do. The pay as you go market usually has all the old tech at knock down prices. If you're not bothered in paying big bucks for the latest nokia, just wait 3 years and it'll be £100 on PAYG. It's still a perfectly good phone, just old tech. Apple could easily sell iphone 3's cheap on PAYG but they still cost hundreds.
But, one problem now is that virtually every new phone is a smart phone. So people who just want something simple are almost being forced in to having these big complicated things that they don't need. They just want a phone. And that's what this does.
ysu wrote:you said it, Kev.
I don't need a toy, I need a PHONE. Small, light, simple & cheap. It's for talking, and telling me what time it is. Nothing else.
Stupid tech companies adding weird features to a simple device, I mean don't you know that's what a watch is for? People just want a PHONE, not some time-telling function...
ysu wrote:you said it, Kev.
I don't need a toy, I need a PHONE. Small, light, simple & cheap. It's for talking, and telling me what time it is. Nothing else.
Stupid tech companies adding weird features to a simple device, I mean don't you know that's what a watch is for? People just want a PHONE, not some time-telling function...
That settles it, I am going start work on a unit with a rotary dial...
You know one day in the future, when mobile phones have long moved on from our current position, there will be a thread like this saying "At last, a simple phone!" And it'll be a newly released one which is just like the iPhone 4
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