An HTC Mogul smartphone
The modern smartphone is (this week, anyway) the poster child of the Information Age. When certain technologies combine, the whole really is greater than the sum of the parts. Cell-based 3G/4G Internet connectivity, the GPS infrastructure, local device programmability and storage, the ability to take pictures and record and playback video and audio, and new features like accelerometers all add up to a device that is approaching the ideal Portable Information Appliance. You’re always just a few clicks away from all the information available on the Internet.
It’s impressive how many things such a small device can do, when you think about it. Here are just some of the uses that I’ve found for my phone (an HTC Mogul), so far:
- Browsing websites,
- Navigation via Google Maps Mobile,
- Recording lectures for later study,
- Remote desktop access via Terminal Services and VNC,
- Website and email administration over SSH,
- Listening to audiobooks,
- Listening to mp3s,
- Playing games (where there’s Windows, there’s Solitaire),
- Watching YouTube videos,
- Updating Facebook, Twitter etc,
- Logging GPS tracks of my walks around the area,
- Taking the occasional (crappy) picture or video,
- Functioning as a makeshift flashlight,
- Reminding me of appointments,
- Creating and viewing small Excel spreadsheets, including charts,
- Creating and viewing notes and Word documents,
- Acting as an alarm clock,
- Synchronizing Outlook contacts with my desktop and laptop,
- Providing Internet connectivity to my laptop,
- Searching for Geocaches,
- Managing shopping lists (emailed to it via SMS gateway),
- …and oh, yeah — apparently it’s a telephone, too.
About the only thing I haven’t found for it yet is a good version of portable BASIC. That’s kind of a shame, too, since I had *that* functionality in a pocket-size device way back in 1986!
