Wifi Cell Phone
Even in the 1970’s, the idea of satellite and telephone networking allowing for the instantaneous transfer of digital information wasn’t considered impossibility. Experts were already predicting the rise of online gaming and digital distribution of multimedia.
If the experts of forty years ago made one fumble, they might not have dreamed quite big enough. Today, we can not only play video games with people in other countries, watch movies on our computers, and transfer emails in the blink of an eye, we can do it all on cell phones about the size of a pack of cigarettes. You know when you watch an old sci-fi film, and they have a little electronic device that can give them tons of relevant information on the flora and fauna of whatever strange planet they’ve stumbled upon? That’s really not much different from using a wifi equipped cell phone and wikipedia.
Lately, wifi phones have become almost more of a status symbol. The iPhone and the Blackberry are great products, to be sure, but they’re not the only game in town (even if they are the trendiest). Here are a few top quality cell phones with wifi built right in…
Asus A626 MyPal Windows Mobile PDA
The Asus MyPal A626 is palm sized with a 3.5 inch anti-glare touch screen and stainless steel casing. The MyPal features both Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity built in. The Asus MyPal is created as a sort of a super-convenient alternative to lugging a notebook around for basic internet and computer functions. You can expect to find MyPals in the area of $250.
I-MATE Ultimate 8502
The I-MATE features a 3 megapixel video camera, 2.6 inch QVGA screen, a 400Mhz processor, Wi-fi 802.11 b/g, integrated GPS, Bluetooth 2.0, VGA out and a microSD card slot. All of this puts it about on par with the top of the line PCs of about a decade ago. The price is a little steep, at $700-$800 at the lowest, but it’s a surprisingly powerful little phone.
T-Mobile HTC Wing PDA Smartphone
The Wing is a quad-band unlocked GSM cell phone that comes equipped with a 2+ megapixel camera, wi-fi and Bluetooth, and a slide out keyboard. Maybe not quite as heavy duty as the I-MATE, but at $300-$400, it’s hard to complain. The browser also comes with Java, which not all wi-fi cell phones are equipped with. The phone works great as an MP3 player, and has a large touchscreen.
