OT Re: Cell phone opinions/options

[richb at pioneer.ci.net (Rich Braun)]

Robert La Ferla <robert at laferla.net> innocently asked:
> Do these cell phones run Linux?  ;-)

No but I chose my current phone (a Nokia 6340i) based on its ability to
synchronize its address-book with a Linux program that I wrote in PHP a couple
years ago as an enhancement to Squirrelmail.

As someone noted in this off-topic thread, those clever cell-phone capitalists
have figured out how to price-gouge you for everything.  So I carry a
stripped-down GSM phone on a $29.99 month-to-month Cingular plan.

My PHP program stores names/addresses/email/phone numbers in a MySQL database.
 I transfer the data first into MS Outlook (it's my only remaining purpose for
Outlook) and then I use Nokia's sync software to download the phone list via
the IR port.  (Would love to have a sync utility on Linux that bypasses
Windows but didn't see one back when I set this up.)

Footnote:  just because GSM stands for "global" system for mobility doesn't
mean your American (or Thai or Latin-American) GSM phone can be used anywhere
other than the country where you bought it.  Assume that you will need a
different phone every time you cross a border; even if you're willing to pay
$2/min for roaming, your phone may not get a signal anyway.

-rich