Re: [Fsuk-manchester] Advice on mobile phones please

[Giacomo Lacava]

On 11/18/07, Tim Dobson <address@hidden> wrote:
> On 18/11/2007, Iain Roberts <address@hidden> wrote:
> > - Something on which I can connect to the Internet and sensibly browse the 
> > web without paying a fortune.

That really depends on the contract more than on the phone... T-mobile
and  Vodafone now have flat data plans with sensible prices, however
Vodafone will proxy all http requests through their transcoding
software Navarra...

Most recent phones will have a decent browser (e.g. in the Nokia world
they now use an adapted version of Safari/webkit which people calll
"the Open Source Browser" [sic]) and if they don't, there's probably a
version of Opera Mini you can install.

> > - Ability to use an SSH client so I can connect to customer servers.

If you use ssh, you probably want a qwerty keyboard. That will
restrict your field a lot. The typical phone with qwerty is Nokia
E61/61e/62, a geek favourite.

> > - If at all possible, an open platform that plays nicely with GNU/Linux.

S60 is probably the most open "mainstream" platform, it even runs python :)
Have a look at http://www.s60.com/life/s60phones/browseDevices.do
Linux interop is very good via bluetooth & wifi; USB cable support is
patchy, mainly because it's a jungle of nonstandard proprietary
drivers.

> Firstly you might be best off with a iPAQ PDA running OPIE GNU+Linux
> instead of a phone, (other people on here know more about this than
> me)

... unless you want to make phone calls! ;)

> the Neo1973 is due to come out sometime at the end of December
> beginning of january.

I fear Neo will end up like the recently-killed Qt phone... :( But if
somebody manages to import it at a decent price (i.e. much less than
an iPhone), I might get it next year.

cheers
-- 
Giacomo Lacava