Pictured: The LG KF750 Secret – Nice face: Shame about the keyboard
It sometimes seems as if manufacturers have very little idea of what consumers really want.
When it comes to mobile phones, all I ask is a device that’s reasonably portable and easy to use, with a long battery life. I have one. It’s a Sagem, marketed by Vodafone in Ireland as the Simply. It has a large screen, large buttons (the “physical” type, not the touchy-fairy type that have a mind of their own) and a battery that needs charging only once a week.
It has no camera, no MP3 player, and no radio. Which is why I bought it in the first place. And it’s why I’m still using it nearly three years later.
During those years I have been given or lent numerous newer and far more sexy phones to try out or to keep. All have gone back in their boxes after a brief romance and the stalwart Sagem returned to service.
The latest mobile to come my way is a gift from the friendly and efficient marketing people at LG Electronics, the world’s third largest appliance maker and South Korea’s second largest electronics manufacturer.
The LG KF750 Secret is undoubtedly the sexiest of all the models to slip through my hands.
Weighing just 111g, it comes in an almost indestructible carbon fibre case, and features include a 5 megapixel camera with video and a TV out capability, a radio and MP3 player, plus 3G browsing, HSDPA and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity, built-in hands-free capability, an organiser, and the ability to handle Word docs and others of that ilk. Oh yes, and an accelerometer for motion sensor gaming so that the user can wave the device around like an angler’s rod while playing a pre-installed electronic fly-fishing game.
Oh, and did I mention that this device can also be used to make and receive phone calls!
Hmmm, all very impressive. However, this model was released several weeks ago in Asia and other parts of Europe, and many reviewers have bitched about the flaky touch-screen that sends the user off on a maddening journey to unintended menu destinations. Stop! Stop! Stop!
Another common gripe is the user manual, which is long on hype and scanty on useful information. After three days of use, a riffle back and forth through the manual, and several Google searches, I still had not figured out how to change the standard ring-tone – which is undoubtedly the worst I have ever heard.
Will manufacturers take note of these gripes? Probably not. They’re too busy trying to outdo each other by cramming ever more gizmology into ever shrinking handsets.
Maybe mobile phone manufacturers should follow the example of the motor industry: offer us five or six variants on a model. That way, the user could specify a device with sensible buttons for easy texting and, say, a voice recorder, camera, organiser, Bluetooth and the ability to open Office-type documents and PDFs. No clunky video technology, please, and no baseball game.
And listen: if I want to go fishing, I’ll head for the Scottish Highlands in search of an experienced ghillie who knows a mayfly nymph from a large damsel. You can keep your dreary digital fly-fishing, thanks very much.
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