Call Me Call Me Any Anytime

Eat your heart out, Captain Kirk. Watching an episode of Star Trek the other day I realized that my cell phone far surpasses the communicators the original Enterprise crew used. While I may not be able to contact ships in orbit yet, I assume that is more a factor of there not being enough of them to make it a worthwhile feature. Rest assured that once Richard Branson has a fleet of interstellar rockets zipping about subspace your cell will be able to place that call.

We often take the pace of technological improvements for granted but every once and awhile I look back and am amazed. The first cell I used had the weight and aesthetic design of a large brick. I used to carry a camera bag, video cameras were best lugged on you shoulder and my Walkman hung from my side like a gunslinger. I now carry all three in my pocket – and it makes calls too.

The shiny toy I speak of is the Motorola KRZR, the latest version of the must-have gadget. Full disclosure, I received the phone as part of a Motorola and Hill & Knowlton promotional campaign. A group of Canadian bloggers were offered the phone with the only obligation being that you offer feedback on it. There was no requirement to post about it, but if you did they asked that reveal your participation in the program. Blogs are now being regularly tapped for their capacity to increase brand awareness and drive product word of mouth. Does it work? Not my concern. Am I now a shill? Perhaps. I’ve rarely had a job that hasn’t been supported by advertising, so why should my blog be any different?

I’ve tried out most of the functions and while I’ve been pleased I’m also aware that the only device it’s going to replace is my previous phone. Being able to snap pics on the fly is great, but it’s not going to beat out my digital camera. (See the original graffiti pic here) With no flash interior pics are a little dark and grainy, though some of the outside snaps have been great. I’m sure I could improve my technique, but how much time am I going to take perfecting the look of a quickie camera phone photo? It’s for spur-of-the-moment pictures and for that it works just fine.

Same goes for video – the shots are grainy and blurry, especially when blown up to YouTube – but I’m sure I could do better if I tried. I tested the camera the way I figured I’d use it – quickly and without much concern for quality and for that it worked just fine. I was able to download both pictures and video to my computer using the wireless Bluetooth connection, which was a bonus. Plus it makes calls and looks snazzy. Works for me.