My Next Smart Phone

So a lot of my recent posts have dealt with the iPhone...but that's probably because I've spent so much time with it this past month. As while I'm very glad I finally upgraded from my usual cheap/free basic phone (with no interwebs); things are still far from perfect...and I love redesigning/dreaming about all my gadgets and such.

So, it's late...and I should probably be in bed right now, so for both our sakes I'll try to not be as wordy as usual...well, at least from here on.

1. I want an open source OS, and I want to hack around on it without having to “jailbreak” it. I completely understand Apple's thinking and methodology with it's App Store...however, I should have the option of installing unapproved 3rd party apps (at my own risk of course). This also entails that I want access to a command line terminal and the ability to mount my phone's hard drive just like it were any other external usb drive. My next phone will quite definitely be running OpenMoko/Android/LiMo/OpenSymbian or something like that. To sum it up, I want to be able to do whatever the hell I want to with MY phone.

2. I want a true 16:9 screen....not 16:10, not 3:2... standard 16:9, with preferably 480p resolution and OLED rather than LCD.

3. This is obvious, but of course I want a more powerful CPU (dual-core would be awesome). I want a much more powerful GPU that can handle playing up to 720p video (Nvidia's new Tegra line claims it can already). More RAM, more hard drive space....you know, the usual ;)

4. A much much better camera. I've honestly never had a phone with a camera in it before. However, now that I have one....I want it to be at least as capable as my shitty 8+ year old digital camera (3.1MP). I'm talking at the bare minimum 5 megapixel, if not 10. I want all the settings, like apature and shutter speed. I need a manual focus option, white balance...the works. I need some sort of flash mechanism too. The iPhone's current camera has really shitty capability for taking low light shots. Furthermore, this camera needs to be capable of recording video, not just stills. My wife's 3 or 4 year old Razor can take video (albeit really shitty quality, but still video) why can't my frickin' iPhone? I'm hoping at least 480p resolution too. Zoom would be nice too, but I'll understand if it gets left out... Oh also, have some sort of lens cover built in for when I'm not taking photos (Nokia knows what's up).

5. A hand editable equalizer. Every set of headphones is different, I really need at least a 5 if not 7 level EQ that I can tweak to perfection rather than just a handful of presets. Side note: I haven't been able to figure out if the “iPod” app's EQ settings are system wide or are just for the iPod app. This is partially due to the fact that thru various setbacks I have still yet to getting around to jailbreaking my phone so I can transfer my music collection over (maybe it'll finally happen this weekend with Pwnage 2.0.2).

6. A more repairable design. Handling my iPhone is like handling a hand grenade everyday. I spent hundreds of dollars on this thing...and it could all be over with just one little accidental drop. I really wish I had the capability to replace my own battery or screen in the unfortunate case they were to break. Somehow I just know it that before my 2 year contract is up I'm gonna have to pay apple a hundred or two more to fix/replace mine when it breaks.

7. Here's a weird one... slightly bigger. Yes...I wish my iPhone was bigger. I've already discussed how and why I'd like it to be a little longer, but also a little bit thicker too I think. This would give room for a bigger battery most importantly, and as while I don't think it's current battery is nearly as bad as most make it out to be, it could always be bigger. I think because of it's size (and sheen) it just feels way to delicate for a klutz like me to be handling on a regular basis.

8. Stereo Bluetooth. I love my Smokin' Buds and all, but it'd be really cool to be totally wireless one day...too bad the current iPhones only support mono via Bluetooth :/

9. Front side web cam. Not only do I want the main camera on the back to be much better...I want a second one (like was rumored) on the front for video chat. I don't know about you, but I just think that would be awesome.

10. Use a standard USB port or something. It just irritates me that Apple has to have proprietary ports on their iPods and the iPhone. Why not just put a mini USB or Firewire port on there? Maybe it's just me, but I think it would awesome to be able to whip out a roll-up keyboard and start typing away (thus completely eliminating my need for a laptop altogether)...or even think about being able to plug your smart phone right up to a printer, ok perhaps that's just silly but maybe not, I should at least be able to print to a network printer that uses either Post Script or PCL. I don't know... perhaps Apple has good reason for using it's own port, maybe it can handle more bandwidth and or voltage that USB 2.0 or something. I mean, a simple converter dongle could get the job done right now...I'm just thinking what's the point.

11. Use more of a matte finish. Honestly, the shiny look of the iPhone is great for press pictures and whatnot, but it just ends up in smudge city at the end of the day. I really wish companies would go for some sort of rugged rubber or something rather than the shiny, brittle plastic. Obviously the glass on the front would have to be glossy...but why the rest of the phone? I've already noticed the cheap chrome plating around the edge chipping and getting rough in not even a month of usage so far.

That's about it. An hour later now, it looks like I failed on the whole keeping it simple concept. Honestly, number 1 and 4 are the only ones I really really need...but they'd all be nice ;)