Geek Gifts

By Ernest Lilley

November 21, 2005

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For reasons I won't bother you with, I've been on hiatus since the beginning of the summer, but I'm better now. Just remember; they put those signs on the shark cages for a reason. Kidding. But I did take some involuntary time off this summer and I'm happy to be back in time to smell the turkey and look forward to some holiday gizmo shopping.

So, let's start in by looking at a few of the new widgets arriving just in time to make it under a tree, or other gift stashing location.

Cell Phones That Think They're PDAs

We've clearly reached the point where you can't tell a cell phone from a PDA, and thanks to high speed cellular technologies we're quickly closing in on the promise of third generation cellular telephony. So much so that the Blackberry 7290 I bought a few months back is already just about obsolete, despite its Bluetooth, color display, and integrated cell phone features. With the 8700c EDGE version just coming out, the tedious data rates it got over GPRS are just unacceptable.

The 8700, first available in an EDGE version from Cingular (8700c) but at some point also in EV-DO from Sprint, is pretty clearly the Uber-Blackberry. It simply blows the previous model, the 7290, right out of the pond with better graphics, a desperately needed speaker phone, and best of all: high speed Internet access. But for all that, it's still a Blackberry, great for e-mail, and mediocre for Internet surfing. The little screen and poor HTML handling of the integrated browser leave you wanting more. Specifically, it leaves you wanting to use it as a modem with your laptop, but Cingular isn't about to let you do that…yet. If you're willing to go for a two-year contract, you may be able to pick one up for $299.99 when they go on sale November 21st, and if you're currently using a slower version that's worth doing…but the modem issue still bugs me.

For all that, you can expect me to shell out money for one, if only to get the speakerphone. If I could hook up an external monitor and keyboard, and maybe add an external memory card, I'd be happy to forgive it the modem thing.

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