After bouncing around between a number of different cell phones (and cell phone companies), looking for that elusive “perfect phone/pda/awesome device”, I’ve finally figured out what it is that I actually want in my “always with me” device.

It’s not an Android phone.  It’s not an iPhone.  Nor is it a Palm Pre, a Blackberry, a Sidekick or a Windows Mobile phone.

In fact, it’s not a phone at all.

Here’s what I want (and how I’m planning to achieve it) :

Goal: I don’t want to be bugged by phone calls.  But I still want to be able to make (and receive) them when I want to.  I’d also like to have this be super cheap if possible.

Solution: Skype

Rates are cheap, flexibility is high.  In the US you can get a phone number and a subscription (that includes unlimited calls to any US number) for a little over $100.  Per year.  No limits on calls or calling time.

By comparison: The cheapest plan AT&T offers (in my area) is $40 per month.  $480 per year.  And that’s limited to 450 minutes.  $380 dollars saved per year?  That’s a brand new netbook or game console thank you very much.

Plus with Skype the calls can be made from any computer or device with skype support.  Kinda rad.

Goal: Voice mail transcripts.

Solution: Google Voice

Google Voice is free.  You get a number.  People call that number.  Google then forwards the call to any other number you like (if you have one).  If you don’t answer that number?  Google Voice takes a voice mail.

And then auto-transcribes it for you so you can quickly read your voice mails and find the important ones.  Super handy.  In a big meeting and get a voice mail?  No problem!  Just glance down at your device and you know if the call was important or not!

Plus, if I give people my Google Voice number I have complete number portability.  If I stop using Skype I can just point Google Voice to a new number.  No biggy!

Goal: Always-on Data and Instant Messaging.

Solution: 3G or WiMax

Pretty flexible here.  Just need some form of always on data service that is fast enough for Skype voice calls.  And 3G or WiMax will both work dandy.

The always on instant messaging here is key.  Most people that want to get ahold of me have one IM service or another available to them at all times (or close to it).  This would replace text messaging for me nicely (and would be free… as opposed to the ridiculous rates we normally pay for text messaging).

Goal: Multitasking is a must.  I need my IM client running along with Skype and a web browser.

Solution: Maemo, Android, WebOS, Windows Mobile

This one is straight forward.  Basically it just rules out the iPhone as a possible candidate.

Result:

So where do that leave me?  I need an always on, 24×7 data-service device that fits in my pocket, has a good Skype client, a good (multi service) IM client and a good web browser (with flash preferably).  Ideally I’d also like a physical keyboard (I’m not a huge touch screen keyboard guy).

This brings me to only a few options.  Android is out of the running (no full Skype client).  As is WebOS (Palm Pre).

Really, there are only two actual options: Windows Mobile and Maemo (Nokia N810/N900).

Both will do the job that I’m looking for.

Nothing against Windows Mobile… but I’m going to go with a Maemo powered device.

Now the real question is this:

Do I shell out for an N900 (with no voice cell phone plan and only a 3G data plan mind you) or go for the older N810 WiMax edition (perhaps getting one used off eBay)?

Both look like fully valid options.  The nerd in me loves the idea of getting the newer N900… but it’ll likely be far cheaper to go the N810WiMax route.

Of course, by going this route, I’ll save a substantial amount of money each year on cell voice plans.

Anyone have any experience doing what I’ve described here?  Good or bad?

It’s no secret.  I’ve been a big fan of Maemo devices (like the Nokia N810 internet tablet) for some time now.  Heck, good odds you’ve had to endure me rambling (seemingly without end) about how great these devices are.

Today I want to take a moment and point you towards two examples of just how awesome some of the software projects on these internet tablets are.

These two examples are not particularly practical at the moment.  But the work behind them is impressive… and, almost more importantly, what they represent… well it’s damned exciting.

First up, I want to talk about liqbase.

The author, Gary Birkett, describes liqbase as “a graphical playground”.  And, well it is.  But the ideas and execution behind what he is doing is absolutely fantastic.  The potential here for how portable devices could work…

You really need a video to do this justice.

Then I highly recommend heading over to his site and looking through some of the info.

Then there’s this rather cool dude who is working to provide KDE 4.2 packages for Maemo powered devices.

KDE 4.x is a very cool project.  Maemo powered devices are very cool.  Put them together… well I don’t know what the result is.  But it seems awesome.

What we have here are two, very different, projects that provide very different user interface possibilities for hand held devices.  And both are pretty exciting and worth while.

It’s not in the usual repo’s yet, but I wanted to point all the fellow maemo users over to UKMP.

Take a look at the video. It’s just a nice, simple music player for the Nokia internet tablets… but, man, it’s a very cool simple music player.

You can grab the latest builde over here in the Maem Garage.