I'm looking for a cell phone to develop software on. Which phone best
meets the following criteria?

- Available in the US and works on the AT&T or Cingular network
- Supports J2ME for development of MIDlets and downloadable
apps/games/toys
- Support GPRS and always-on internet
- Has a color screen, the more colors the better
- Has a reasonably large screen
- But of course, is small and easily portable
- Provides enough CPU power to play action games
- Provides debugging support
- Nice to have: Bluetooth

I've seen ads for the T720, but I haven't found any reviews that
address my above concerns through web searches or in newsgroups. But
I'm not as good at looking as you guys ;)

Thanks!

Hello.

The Nokia 3650 is compatible with your networks and will do all the
things you have requested.

It is fast enough to play a 3D game like Doom or process live video,
so it should perform well.

Have a look at:

http://www.nokiausa.com/phones/3650

You can buy an unlocked version that works on any network on:
http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=NOK_3650IMP

Regards.

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Request for Answer Clarification by bliprob-ga on 16 Jan 2003 09:35 PST

Thanks...that looks like quite nice...but that phone isn't yet
available in the US. I see from your link I can buy it overseas, but
I'm a bit leary of that. Can you compare and constrast the phones that
are availble in the US and make a recommendation of those based on the
stated criteria?

Thanks...

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Clarification of Answer by mantrac-ga on 17 Jan 2003 03:44 PST

Hello.

The T720i is as close to a multimedia phone as you can get from a US
carrier right now.
All other more advanced multimedia phones are on sale but not yet
bundled with any US airtime from carriers in your country.

The 720i is not a bad phone but it doesn't come close to the 3650.
It supports GPRS, MMS messaging, J2ME (although its CPU is weaker than
that of the 3650 - can't remember the exact clock speed), it has a
smaller screen of 120 x 160 pixels resolution at 4,096 colours (same
as the 3650), it features a basic calendar and an only store 500kb of
pictures which isn't really that much.

If I was you, I'd buy the 3650 from Europe (credit card transactions
are all insured against fraud) or wait for it to appear in the US
which should be any time soon...

I hope this helps.

Thanks for the information!