Convergence in mobile phones with the SE K800i

Back in May I made the comment that Mobile device convergence is not nirvana, yet if you'd read the post on my personal blog, Choosing a phone based on its case, you would have seen I'd chosen the K800i.

The phone does, of course, blow my arguments against convergence out of the water. It provides a wide combination of features that I used to use separate components for, but which, now, I can just get by with one unit that I'm always going to take with me.

First up, it's a mobile phone - a strange piece of functionality for a mobile phone, I know - with support for all the various frequencies and standards I am likely to need. It syncs with Mac OS X, so I've got my address, calendar and other entries all combined into a single unit (something I used to use a PDA for), provides secure ID storage (again, a purpose I used to abuse a PDA with).

It also supports music playback, and with the 1GB M2 card, it neatly replaces the functionality of my iPod shuffle, which I use when walking and training. There's even a built-in radio, and a built-in loudspeaker that means I can use it to listen to music without hving to use the headphones.

Finally, it's got a 3.2 megapixel camera (with zoom and a flash). This won't, exactly, take the place of the 7.2M camera I use, but the 3.2M is the same as the first digital camera I ever bought. I'll still use the larger camera, but this will be a convenient (and comparatively good quality) camera when I need to take a shot and haven't thought to bring the full camera kit.

As if all of that wasn't enough, it also provides email (POP/IMAP) and Internet access, so I can use it for the vast majority of the simple needs while out without my laptop. Is it nirvana? It's had less than 24 hours of use (and it's yet to leave the house), but so far all my inside tests show that it will indeed simplify and lighten my pockets.