Cellular phone holiday wish list

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Sidekick II
T-Mobile
The Sidekick II is a favorite with kids and teens.

I was on a New York City bus at 3 p.m. on a recent school day. It was me and about 1,000 ’tweens and teens — all trying to use their cell phones at the same time. I was amused to see that a large number of kids were using Sidekick IIs.

The Sidekick is a sophisticated tri-band world phone but is best used as an instant messaging device. You should have seen all those young fingers flying. The device has a unique slide open case which reveals a beautiful color screen and a terrific little keyboard. Inside are AOL Instant Messaging software, a real Web browser, a speakerphone and an integrated camera. All this in a package shaped liked a bar of soap (subliminal message for kids?) and sells for the remarkable price of $199.99 from T-Mobile.

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To run the Sidekick you need a monthly minutes plan in addition to the $29.99 Sidekick data plan which includes unlimited data transfers and test messaging. If what I saw on that bus was any indication, T-Mobile loses money on that unlimited data stuff.

There are also two new special edition Sidekick models — Juicy Couture (pink) and Mister Cartoon (black) — which sell for $399.99.

BlackBerry 8700c
RIM
The brand-new BlackBerry 8700c is currently sold by Cingular, but others will carry it in 2006.

Any discussion of mobile e-mail devices must include a discussion of BlackBerries. Nearly every cellular carrier sells them in one form or another. Some have older clunkier models, while others offer the newer, smaller and sleeker handsets. In the long run it doesn’t matter which one you choose depending on which cellular service works best for you (see above).

The main difference is that the 7100 series is small and neat, and has an unusual keyboard layout in which each key represents two letters. The software inside figures out what word you meant to type or prompts you if there are a few good choices.

Then there’s the brand new 8700c world phone discussed in detail a few weeks ago. It’s smaller, and more importantly faster, with blazing Web browsing and e-mailing speed. It should be arriving in Cingular stores right about now. Expect to pay $299.99 and shell out for Cingular’s Blackberry monthly data plan.

Finally, there are two special phones that would make great gifts:

Firefly phone
Cingular
Firefly is made for young kids.
Cingular markets the Firefly cellular phone for young kids. I know that sounds odd, but the limited-use phone is meant for young children. There’s a mommy key and a daddy key, plus space for 20 programmed numbers. All other incoming and outgoing calls are restricted. The phone is currently $49.99 on Cingular’s Web site.

Nokia's 7280 tri-band world phone
Nokia
Nokia's 7280 tri-band world phone
My current favorite phone isn't available from any U.S. carrier, but you can buy one on the Web. The Nokia 7280 tri-band, GSM world phone ($449.99) has no keypad, just a rotating dial and a bunch of buttons. The idea is to have your numbers programmed inside or to use the voice programming and dialing features.

It worked flawlessly in Europe recently and can be highly recommended. There’s also an upgraded model on the way (the 7380) with new features and an upgraded (2 megapixel) digital camera inside.

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