Touch Phones > Advantages and their Disadvantages :

Touch phones is a feature introduced in China a very long time ago. Various random brands have set foot into this field couple of years back, but it is only until recent few months, Popular Brands such as Apple, Samsung, HTC, Sony, Nokia, LG etc kave starting participating. I believe Apple i phone was the mother of all touch phones you see these days. It has set a sole example in creating a touch phone and the features a touch phone should possess. But, the price of Apple i phone is very expensive compared to the wide variety of models you see these days. One of the Popular brands in this Touch business is The Samsung Brand, as it happens to have majority of models compared to others and also that i happen to own one. Let me express my opinion on the basic advantages and dis advantages of a Basic model of a touch phone.

A._)  My Requirements >

• Sleek design : Apparently, i do not like touch phones with greater thickness as it spoils the whole feel of a touch phone. Nokia seems to fall under this category (most of the ordinary phones are also very thick if you think about it) but is making efforts in introducing new models with good design. Whereas, Samsung, Lg etc. have successfully manufactured thin bone structure. A touch phone, from my opinion shoud not be not more than 1.3 cm in its thickness. This should be very easy as there is no Keybad for touch phones and should not be a problem. The thickness is therefor based on the screen thickness and the battery size. Ofcourse, some models of touch phones that come with both Touch screen and Keypad as in Samsung Ultra Touch S8300 or models with Qwerty Keypad  as in Nokia N97 or Sony Xperia etc.

• Large Screen : I have been bored with the mini screens and it sometimes hurts my eyes to read my messages in the small screen. I always wanted a model with large screen,. When the touch phones were not interested, my eyes caught on the Flip phones. The size of screen on flip phones were larger compared to the Bar type phones as the Keypad was placed seperately below the screen. But, two reasons why i did not like them was > a.) The overall thickness of the phone is huge. But most importantly, the screen was too thin and the remaining body with keypad was too thick. This contrast made it look very awkward. One model  where the screen and body were proportionately placed was the Samsung Ultra Touch S8300 which was extremely good looking for a slide phone (but also too long for a slide phone). Note: Do not get fooled by the Size mentioned  and pictures shown in various sites. For example, if the length mentioned is 10.5 cm display size, this is not the display size but the overall length. Sometimes the actual size is greater than what is mentioned. It is so confusing and disappointing so just go to the showroom and view the dummies for accurate view.

• Qwerty Keypad : QWERTY keypad means keypad containg all alphabets from A to Z in the format available on an ordinary computer keyboard. My opinion is that why should i just convince myself with the basic features that are available in a normal phone? My budget was within Rs.10,000/- The optimum choice was between Samsung Star and Samsund Star 3G. Samsung star 3G does not come with Qwerty kepad but has 3G. 3G was not my requirements but i thought every touch phone must have a Qwerty. Same Qwerty feature was available in Rs.25,00/- Samsung Omnia and there were no other models with Qwerty feature between the Rs.10,000 to Rs. 25,000/- price range. Hence i opted for Samsung Star.

• Hand Writing recognition : This feature does not mean the touch phone can recognise different types of hand writings ! It simply means, that we can write on the screen and whatever is written is taken by the phone. I did not need this feature because it was very important to me, but i thought considering a Touch phone it should be available. This is not necessary as it is the slowest method of input compared to ordinary type and Qwerty type. Note : Do not get fooled by the designs. The ones shown in the sites or Television is different from the ones sold in various shops. Take for example samsung star, the actual location for placing the pen as shown in pictures is within the phone itself on its sides. But, in some shops they the same model where, you can not keep the pen inside the phone but should be carried seperately.

• Smooth movement : One thing i was afraid about a Touch phone is that, i might touch something by mistake and the data may be lost because of that. Whereas in an ordinary phone, you have control over the 'Enter' button as tou would be pressing it to confirm any action. Hence my requirement was that the movement should be rational and should not be effected by random touchs.

• Auto Rotate Sensor / Accelerator : Accelerator simply means the phone sensing the movement and performing the task allotted to it. Accelerator does not Necessarily mean Auto rotate sensor. Accelerator is usually available to move the pictures on its own, that is tilt the phone a little and the pictures move one by one as in a slide show due to the sensor. Autorotate means, whenever you rotate them at a 45 degree angle (just for understanding) the screen with the icons also rotate. This is useful as, if you have long list of icons in the menu or while playing the music, if the title is too long to read, tou can use it in the horizontal position to view them properly.

• User friendly : Since the whole idea of a Touch phone sounds fun, it shoud be user friendly. That is, it should be easy to download third party themes and games in the internet and used in the phone.a touch phone without this feature is No Fun.

• Basic Features : Just like any other normal phone, it should have Memory card slot to store music or pictures. For a Rs.10,000/- phone, It must have atleast a 3 mp camera. There should be a music player with equalizer and grouping the music should be possible. Bluetooth and especially USB connection is a Must to connect to the Computer or other phones to transfer files.

B._)  Advantages :

The touch phone with its large screen enables to view the messages clearly. The Qwerty Kepad can be used to type as in a normal keyboard with all the alphabets present in a single screen. The pictures taken are fun to watch in a large screen. Navigation is smooth when you move the page by just rolling your finger over the screen rather than using the button to press up for each movement (Very annoying). The Calender is good as the screen is big and all the events are visible properly. The typing on a touch screen is faster whereas in a keypad, you have to press the buttons harder. Since most of the touch phones come with Vibration effect, this enables us to confirm the typing and moving whether placed or not. Touch games are fun to play and feels different compared to ordinary games.

C._)  Disadvantages :

There is a very high possibility of typing incorrect letters as while clicking on one character, the other letter next to it is touched and selected. This might get irritating. The Accelerator is a good feature but the sensors can be too sensitive and the slightest tilt can take you to an image present after 30 images from the current. Many phones do not come with auto rotate and sometimes this feature is irritating as the screen can rotate when it is not necessary.Inspite of the lock button, there is a very high possibility of touching randomly by mistake for example like in a moving bus. Suppose this happens when the content folder is opened, there is a chance that the items can be deleted. Hope the Touch phones in Future become more flexible to use.