Comments on: google friendly phone

Question: google friendly phone

cgs — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 08:57:51 -0800

new cellphone that runs gmail and google maps?

hi- i need a new phone, that does:

1. gmail
2. google maps (google local)
3. isn't a blackberry (too expensive)

any recommendations?

my friend has an Audiovox SMT-5600 which i like and meets these requirements, but i'd have to buy it on ebay and get a new plan separately, etc. (is this route no big deal?)

thanks, AskMeFi!

By: kcm

kcm — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 09:03:52 -0800

V330 does all these, as will most Java/Symbian phones (Nokia 6620, etc.)

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 09:04:57 -0800

Any phone with a working web browser should be able to access GMail Mobile

By: unixrat

unixrat — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 09:07:02 -0800

Mobile gmail (http://m.gmail.com, IIRC) works with most phones, so I think #1 is pretty easy to achieve...

By: twiggy

twiggy — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 09:31:59 -0800

Google Local is available for almost all java phones. Mobile gmail works on my old school Sanyo 8100, too. My Sanyo 8100 is not a blackberry :-)

By: reverendX

reverendX — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 09:32:10 -0800

Google Local just requires j2me (mobile java). Many phones will support that too.

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 09:40:05 -0800

Just go to your GMail settings. Set your mail to forward to "(yournumber)@cingularme.com. All your gMail will now be sent to you as a text message.

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 09:41:33 -0800

Crap. Why did I assume you used Cingular? Somewhere on Google sevices they have a list of all forwarding addresses for all cell providers.

By: cgs

cgs — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 09:42:52 -0800

ok...does anyone own a j2me phone that they like? google local is definitely the bottleneck on this one...

By: cheerleaders_to_your_funeral

cheerleaders_to_your_funeral — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 10:12:44 -0800

Opera seems to be the market leader when it comes to mobile browsing. They actually run your pages through their server, and compress the images and layout to fit your small screen.

Here is a list of phones with j2me.

Here is demo of what it will look like on your phone. Try it on google maps. Looks like it might kind of work, as long as you don't need to click the map.

If you need google maps, you might want to go for a phone with a larger than average display. Also see this list of phones that support more advanced browsers.

Wow this post was really Opera-centric. They should hire me for stuff like this.

By: coach_mcguirk

coach_mcguirk — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 13:28:08 -0800

Google mobile is notoriously picky about which phones it will run on. In theory, all Series 60 / Symbian phones should be able to run it via the built in browser, but it either times out or hangs on an error. Even Opera Mini (which is SUPERB by the way) can't get to it.... UNLESS you go to the regular Gmail page and log in first. Kind of silly when Opera Mini makes the main Gmail page eminently usable.

I haven't tried Google Maps with it though. At the very least, I'm guessing you wouldn't be able to scroll the map easily.

By: cgs

cgs — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 07:16:36 -0800

thanks for your suggestions, everyone....cheerleaders - i found the motorola slivr on that list of j2me phones, but then it isn't on google local's list of phones.

i wonder if it will become available on the slivr as time goes by...

By: exhilaration

exhilaration — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 09:45:13 -0800

The only mobile phone browser that will run Google Maps (and other AJAX apps) is Minimo, which will only run on Windows Mobile devices.