Dialed In

What the heck is this?

(Credit: Nokia)

Cleaning your office/desk is an annual preholiday ritual at CNET. It's amazing what you can collect in a year, and because I'm the polar opposite of a hoarder, I actually look forward to the task. Mostly I toss old press releases and outdated cables--I promise that I recycle everything that I can--but occasionally I'll find a museum-worthy gadget from another age.

Take for instance, the Nokia Fun Camera, which I found at the bottom of a box filled with old wired headsets.

Back before cameras made it into phones, they existed briefly inside attachable accessories. If memory serves, Sony Ericsson developed one of the such products, but Nokia jumped on the trend as well. And as Nokia usually does, it did so wholeheartedly. The orange and red Nokia Fun Camera, aka the PT-3, is shaped like a tear drop. You'll notice a few buttons, a circular display, and a detachable viewfinder. The camera lens and flash sit on the back side, and the whole thing comes on a lanyard for taking it on the go. And you thought wearing a Bluetooth headset around the neck was silly.

Smile!

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

You can use the Fun Camera by itself, though you must connect it to a compatible phone or USB cable if you want to get pictures off the camera. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to perform a transfer by either method so I couldn't test the image quality. I haven't seen a USB cable that uses the old Nokia connection in years, and the only compatible phone I could find--a Nokia 2115i Shorty from Virgin Mobile--is missing its battery.

Still, I did connect the phone and the camera to see what would happen. The fit between the two devices is secure, even if it's a cumbersome arrangement and the plastic flap covering the camera's connecting pins gets in the way. The body feels relatively solid, it's lightweight (3.17 ounces), and it fits easily in a pocket.

LG Volt 700

(Credit: Cellular South)

It looks like regional carrier Cellular South has gotten itself a version of the LG Bliss that it's calling the LG Volt 700 (a decidedly less blissful name). It is identical to the Bliss, and has that large 3-inch display, a 2-megapixel camera, 3G, an onscreen keyboard, stereo Bluetooth, a music player, and more. It is available right now for $49.99 after a two-year agreement and a mail-in rebate.

We've already listed our top cell phones and smartphones of the year, but we think the messaging phone has emerged as a strong enough category in 2009 that we think it deserves a top-10 list of its very own. Not quite smartphones, these handsets have full QWERTY keyboards and are made mostly for sending text messages. They come in all different shapes and sizes, some with touch screens with plenty of multimedia features, and others with just a basic feature set.

Top messaging phones of 2009 (photos)

In picking our top-10 list, we chose the ones with the highest ratings that fit within our messaging phone category. The two most obvious are the Samsung Rogue and the LG enV Touch, which both won our Editors' Choice this year. In fact, Samsung and LG dominated this list in general, with stand-outs like the Samsung Impression and the LG Xenon. There were a couple of phones that aren't from those two manufacturers, but you'll have to take a look at our slideshow to find out.

Welcome to the 411, my Q&A column answering all your questions about cell phones and cell phone accessories. I receive plenty of questions about these subjects via e-mail, so I figured many of you might have the same questions, too. At times, I might solicit answers from readers if I'm stumped. Send your questions and comments to me at nicole.lee@cnet.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, let me know in the e-mail.

Hello, My question is I received an LG Chocolate as a gift. Do I have to have a Verizon deal/contract to get it to work? Or can I buy minutes and use it that way? Thank you--Al, via e-mail.

If you plan on using your phone on a relatively frequent basis then a Verizon contract would be good as you might save more money over the long run. However, if you want, you can buy prepaid minutes and use them with your new Verizon phone. You may need to ask Verizon if your particular phone--the LG Chocolate in this case--is supported, however--I understand Verizon only offers prepaid minutes for certain phone models.

You also bring up a good point in regards to gift-giving when it comes to cell phones--you need cell phone service for them to work! If any of you plan on giving cell phones as gifts this year, do remember to do a little research on what carriers your recipient prefers and if things like prepaid minutes or data plans are options. Do your research so they don't have to!

Help! I want a small simple cellphone, I don't need texting or camera capability. I am with Verizon's National Freedom 300 plan ($35 monthly). Plan is no longer available to new subscribers, I want to keep the plan. Can you suggest a phone for me? I have an old Motorola currently, battery won't last the day. Thank you.--Zeb, via e-mail.

There are a number of simple cell phones on Verizon that don't have cameras. The Samsung Knack, for example, is a very basic phone that has an easy-to-use keypad and a slim profile, and it's only $39.99 with a contract. If you prefer a more rugged model, the Motorola Barrage can be bought without a camera either, but it is more expensive at $129.99 with a contract. If you don't mind having a camera, you can get various phones for free with a contract--they include the LG Chocolate 3 and the Nokia 7205 Intrigue (At the time of this writing anyway). Unfortunately, Zeb, I don't think you can keep your current plan if you want to get any of these phones under contract. You might be able to keep your plan if you buy these phones without a contract, but the price would be significantly higher. The Samsung Knack, for example, would be $159.99 without a contract. Maybe you can ask a Verizon representative and persuade them to let you keep your plan. Let us know if that works out for you.

Ms Lee, I had owned two Gz'One Boulder telephones, both of which suffered from a poor receiver speaker. The speaker sounded extremely muffled on both, so I gave up on the Boulder. Can you tell me if this problem has been addressed on the new Gz'One Rock? Thank You. Dale, via e-mail.

The speaker on the G'zOne Rock is no longer as muffled as the one on the original G'zOne Boulder, so you're in the clear there. We still thought it sounded rather echoey and tinny, so your mileage may vary.

I really need a Bluetooth speakerphone recommendation! Price isn't an issue if the product is excellent quality...and small size that will cip to car visor... Kim, via e-mail.

I'm personally a fan of the BlueAnt S1 thanks to its voice recognition, streaming music ability, and affordability (currently around $65 online), but you might also take a look at the Motorola Motorokr T505, which earned an Editor's Choice last year for great features and performance. Hope that helps!

This is the last 411 column for the year, so thank you so much for your response in my inaugural year fielding your cell phone questions. Happy holidays to everyone and may you enjoy full signal strength in 2010!

Verizon's letter to the FCC

(Credit: FCC)

A few weeks after the FCC sent an inquiry about its early termination fee (ETF) increase, Verizon has replied back with a seven-page missive of its own in defense of the fee hike. If you recall, Verizon increased its ETF from $175 to $350 specifically for "advanced devices," which we assume means smartphones like the Droid.

Verizon claims that the ETF allows the company to offer the phones at lower upfront prices and to reduce its losses if the customers do break their contracts early. Even with such a fee increase, Verizon claims it would still be losing money, since the carrier does prorate the ETF the longer you're in the contract (never mind that you still owe $120 in ETFs if you quit in the 23rd month). Verizon also points out that additional revenue from the ETFs is useful to keep its broadband network strong (a dig at AT&T, perhaps?). The company answers the FCC's questions about ETF awareness by saying it is making it very clear to customers, with advertising and marketing material.

We were hoping that we would get at least a lowering of the ETF out of all this, but it seems that Verizon is holding strong to its fee increase. It's the FCC's move next, to see if we can get any kind of reprieve at all.

Source: Verizon's response to the FCC via Phonescoop

We've already offered you the best smartphones and best cell phones of 2009, so you know that we couldn't end the year without picking the worst handsets as well. In this case, we didn't just pick the 10 phones with the lowest ratings; we did take ratings into account, but we also selected the models that disappointed us the most.

The following handsets, which are listed in no particular order, failed on a variety of fronts. Some had terrible performance, while others had poor designs. We didn't consider phones that simply had few features--that wouldn't be fair to basic phones--but if a low-end phone couldn't make a good call, then it earned itself a place on the list. We also had to include the Sony Ericsson TM717 as a bonus worst phone. Though it had a poor speakerphone, but we were more concerned with the fact that it exemplified Sony Ericsson's worst habits.

So take a look at our worst phones of 2009 sideshow, and be sure to tell us about your most hated phones of the year below.

Worst cell phones of 2009 (photos)

As 2009 ends, CNET honors an annual tradition of collecting the best cell phones of the year. Unlike the list we published last week in which we covered your favorites of 2009, this gallery includes the cell phones that we liked best.

The following 10 handsets scored the highest ratings out of the 168 handsets that we reviewed this year. I didn't include smartphones--Bonnie Cha already covered those in her top 10 list--and the models are listed in no particular order. I had to make an exception for the Motorola Cliq, though. It didn't make Bonnie's list, but it was one my favorite phones of the whole year. After you've taken a gander at CNET's top phones of 2009, be sure to tell us about your favorites below.

Best cell phones of 2009 (photos)

RIM BlackBerry Curve 8530

(Credit: Sprint)

Right in the nick of time for the holidays, the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8530 is now available from Sprint for $49.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate.

Though an entry-level phone, the Curve 8530 comes with a pretty decent feature list, including Wi-Fi, an optical trackpad, GPS, a 2-megapixel camera, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. In addition, it will support the Sprint Navigation, Sprint Music Store, and Sprint TV.

If you're feeling it, you can purchase the smartphone in stores or through Sprint's business channel or telesales. The carrier will offer the smartphone in black, red, and royal purple.

(Credit: Screenshot by Bonnie Cha/CNET)

On Thursday, Palm made its new browser-based mobile development platform available to all developers as a public beta. Dubbed Project Ares, developers can now create programs for Palm WebOS simply by firing up their browser (Firefox, Safari, and Chrome are supported) and signing into their account where they will then have access to all the tools they need to build apps.

Project Ares includes such features as:

• Drag-and-drop interface builder, code editor, visual debugger, and log viewer
• Access to full library of Mojo UI widgets
• Push-button project and scene creation
• Drag-and-drop file upload
• SMS and MMS messaging delivery is improved
• Ability to run apps directly on the WebOS emulator or device

Palm's believes that the future of mobile will be built on the Web and hopes that Project Ares will open the door to more developers creating apps for WebOS. Of course, one of the criticisms about the OS and Palm's current devices, the Palm Pre and Palm Pixi, has been the sparse app catalog, but it's been making progress. Hopefully, Project Ares will speed things along just a bit more.

To find more information on Project Ares or to sign up, you can check out Palm's Web site.