

A cellphone with no flips, no folds - just a very low price - prakash
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/12/technology/wireless13.php

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danw
The Motorola F3 has been selling at this price point for a year I believe -
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_FONE_F3>

You can pick up pay as you go Nokia S40's for £20 or so these days too.

The tricky part is designing a UI for illiterate users.

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mleonhard
Do you know if the F3 will work with T-Mobile in USA?

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mqt
There are two versions of the F3; the 850/1900 MHz variant works with any GSM
carrier in the US (AT&T/T-Mobile/etc).

I bought one for $40. The calls sound clear, the battery lasts for 5+ days,
and you can run over it in a car without breaking it.

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jgrahamc
The most striking thing is not the no flips, no folds... there's no screen.

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jeroen
And that probably means there's no addressbook either. I don't know if I could
go back to remembering all those phone numbers.

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randallsquared
Well, either it has some features like that, or the pic is just an artist's
impression, given that it has an enter key.

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jraines
$20?! What, is it made of diamonds?

My current phone is AT&T's $10 Go Phone (some kind of LG), and it has a color
screen, customizable menus, and better voice quality than my previous phone
(an LG flip phone). It's also light, small and has decent battery life.

Of course, I'm just waiting till I'm eligible for an upgrade so I can get an
iPhone . . .

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ejs
Maybe they are not subsidizing the cost of the hardware with the service
price?

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ptm
In India, handsets are never bundled with the service.

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mosburger
They aren't in most countries - AFAIK, bundling with the service is mostly a
U.S. phenomenon. That's why you only see SIM-locked GSM phones in the U.S.

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edw519
"good old days when telephones were made for talking"

Finally. Just what I'm looking for.

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Olgaar
Agreed! The first thing I thought when I saw that phone is, "that's EXACTLY
the phone I need!"

I work in a secure facility, where cameras are not allowed. Do you know how
hard it is to find a phone w/o a camera in it these days? It's actually a
PITA! And that's just silly... :)

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LogicHoleFlaw
I know some folks working in secure facilities who actually drill out the
camera lens with a drill press and fill the hole with a drying cement. It's
effective, if a bit... draconian.

Though I heard a month or two ago that the regulations for some secure sites
have been changed to allow cameras on phones. Several people I know who have
not gotten cells are now looking at getting them because they can keep them
when at a secure site.

This is all experience with military contractors in St. Louis, so your mileage
may vary.

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jsmcgd
I'd really be interested in a phone with slots for 2 or more SIM cards. Can
you get those?

~~~
danw
Not as far as I know but you can get dual-sim hacks in most market phone
shops. See <http://skydeck.com/blog/thisisbroken/the-xphone/>

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TrevorJ
This could really catch on. It's hip.

