Spam ([info]madbodger) wrote,
@ 2009-05-26 13:23:00
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Current location:Alexandria, VA
Current mood:rankled
Current music:Lonely Rolling Star – Saki Kabata – Katamari Fortissimo Damacy
Entry tags:tech

Nokia lossage
I use my cell phone with a car kit to keep it charged and let me control the phone easily. To answer the phone, I just thumb the big button. To adjust the volume, I turn the knob. To make a call via voice dialing, I thumb the big button, wait for the breedle, and say the name I want to call.

However, the phone cares deeply about the state of charge of its internal battery*. Even though it is connected to the car kit, and has a continuous source of power, it worries incessantly about electricity issues. If it gets down to 99% charge, it starts recharging. And when it finishes charging, it notifies me by beeping and displaying a "battery full" message.

To dismiss this helpful and informative message (which appears a few times an hour while driving), I have to open the phone (displaying the same message, and assigning the "OK" function to the "enter" key), and press the (tiny) "enter" key. This is not really something safe to attempt whilst driving.

UNFORTUNATELY, the voice dialing feature is disabled while the phone is in this state. Mashing the big button only results in a disappointed-sounding "boop" noise, with no explanation. This rather defeats the safety and convenience of voice dialing. Bad engineering! No engineering biscuit! Bad Nokia!

I wrote Nokia to complain about this, but their reply only told me that I'm required to "confirm" the "Battery full" message. Fail.

Now, if only there were a nice rugged GSM cellphone with Bluetooth that works well with a car kit and an external antenna jack or coupler.

* Technically, it's a cell, not a battery, but the phone (and most people) refer to it as a "battery", so I will here.



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[info]dcseain
2009-05-26 05:45 pm UTC (link)
Nokias do this weird thing of using the cell only and only using the power to charge the cell. Very strange thought process, IMHO.

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[info]madbodger
2009-05-26 05:51 pm UTC (link)
While that's better than the Audiovox behaviour of having the phone unusable during charging, it's still bogus.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]draakken
2009-05-26 06:32 pm UTC (link)
can one put a switch into the 'charge' the phone connector so you can have it cat-kitted, but then you can decide when, or if it should charge?

I would even suppose a small timer and push button so you could give it say 15 min of charge time so you wouldn't have to worry about it 'over charging' to 100% and could then avoid the full message.

I had a nokia phone for years, and it never suffered the charging behavior you describe. Perhaps there is an update firmware/os that changes this behavior?

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[info]whc
2009-05-26 06:47 pm UTC (link)
Wow, that's a stupid way to handle charging, both from a user point of view and battery life. Will the car kit work if you interrupt charging power to the phone, or is the power connection part of how it identifies the car kit?

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[info]deguspice
2009-05-26 08:05 pm UTC (link)
They require you to acknowledge the phone is charged???

For rugged GSM and Bluetooth (stereo) cellphone, take a look at the Motorola Tundra (VA76r).

"Ruggedized 3G handset that's great for outdoor workforces--withstands dust, shock vibrations, rain, humidity and more"

The form-factor is a large, flip-phone. It's quad-band so you can use it in Europe or Asia.

We got it for Ann with the hope it'll survive.

It does data, but we haven't turned on the data service, so I don't know how it is as a web browser (or GPS or streaming XM radio)

Samsung also has a "rugged" cell phone called the "Rugby", but I don't know anything about it, other than what you'll find on their website.

I'm twiddling my thumbs waiting for the Palm Pre to come out with a GSM version for the US, or perhaps I might be seduced by an Android phone.

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