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Phone Freaking<br />
All the technology exists to build the super phone of the future, but the<br />
carriers won’t do it. You can. by Clive Thompson<br />
ILLUSTRATION BY Harry Campbell WIRED TEST 0 1 5<br />
I HAVE THE MOST awesome<br />
mobile phone.<br />
You wouldn’t believe<br />
the sick stuff it can do.<br />
There’s a webcam for<br />
videoconferencing,<br />
email, a full browser,<br />
and instant messaging.<br />
I can install whatever<br />
apps I want—Rhapsody’s<br />
music service,<br />
SSH clients, document<br />
and spreadsheet editors,<br />
even software<br />
to access my desktop<br />
machine remotely.<br />
Oh yeah: It also makes<br />
free voice-over-IP calls.<br />
It cost $400. It incinerates<br />
the iPhone.<br />
The only catch: I<br />
had to build it myself.<br />
My “phone” is actually<br />
a pimped-out Nokia<br />
N800, a pocket-sized<br />
tablet computer. Technically,<br />
it’s not a phone<br />
at all, but because it’s<br />
Linux-based and has<br />
built-in Wi-Fi, it can<br />
run tons of great software.<br />
I loaded Skype,<br />
and presto—voice-call<br />
functionality whenever<br />
I’m near a wireless network,<br />
which nowadays<br />
is basically always.<br />
So why can’t your<br />
handset work this way,<br />
too? If the hardware<br />
and software are all<br />
available to make these<br />
incredible do-it-all<br />
phones—how come the<br />
wireless carriers aren’t<br />
rolling them out?»
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