Technology insists on doing this to me, and probably to you, too. You put off the new laptop or desktop purchase and watch the prices fall; you finally bite the bullet and make the buy; and a week later, something better/faster/cooler hits the market and makes you say, "Dammit, if I'd known ..."
I broke down and bought a new cell phone last week, a U510 slider from Samsung. (Not that my previous phone was unsophisticated -- it could make and take calls, and ... well, actually, that's about it.) It's well spec'd for media, e-mail and Web access, quick snapshots and the like. It's quite sexy in the way only a slider phone can be (have I perhaps been in this industry too long?). I was content.
Then I met this morning with representatives of ZTE Corp., the first mainland Chinese manufacturer to deliver a handset to the Canadian market. With the caveat that I haven't had a full test-drive so I can't tell you about call quality and the like, my once-over convinced me it's worth lusting after.
It a clamshell and a little on the chunky side, but it feels solid. It can access the standard suite of Telus Mobility services. But it's the keypad that sets it apart. I remember seeing the first generation of Fastap keypads a-couple-a-three years ago and hating it on sight -- individual round alpha keys jammed into the nooks between numerical pads, looking cluttered and inaccessible. It's handled much more elegantly on the D90, over the corners of the number keys -- easily accessible. And the alpha keys are backlit separately, so they disappear when not in use. (There's no photo available online as yet; we'll link one when we can.)
Functionally speaking, each of the 26 alpha keys can be custom-programmed as a hot key. Press and hold the "M" key and go immediately to the music menu. Or to the Messenger menu. Or to Mom's speed-dial. And the MicroSD card pops into a slot on the top of the phone rather than under the battery like many phones
It looks to be a dream for heavy texters, mobile e-mail users and the like. Its contact and calendaring functions aren't going to put your PDA shame, but they're at least minimal. And it's not horrifically expensive ($79.99 with a three-year Telus contract, $229.99 without). I'm looking forward to a full test in the next week or so, so I'll let you know if it doesn't live up to expectations. Hopefully, the U510 won't be jealous.