The time has come at last to snap on the dog-collar and leash and join the rest of you cell-phone toters out there. I have a list of features that I know I need, and this MeFi thread includes links to a number of resources. I think I recall seeing a more recent AskMe thread recently too.

Features wanted:

Single number, multiple phones, covers my land line as well as my and Viv’s phone. Ideally, the land line phone number rings the land line as well as the cells.

Palm OS, desktop synching. Mac-friendly. I don’t care about bluetooth because I don’t have a bluetooth adapter. I suppose I don’t mind if the phone has it but it’s not a big deal, and I would resist paying more.

Audio recording: ideally up to an hour and a half, but forty-five minutes is acceptable. Needs to be able to operate to record conversations directly and as a note recorder for interview situations. High-quality music recording is not a requirement, but again it would be pretty nice.

A camera, I guess. I don’t really care about this but I know that I have been leaving my camera at home because it’s too big, so it may make more sense to put the camera into the phone.

The ability to communicate to Viv’s phone even if we share the same number.

Handsfree features. Headset adapter with standard eighth-inch plugs.

I know that PDAs are holding back on implementing WiFi as a feature-segmenting marketing device, and assume that will be the case in phone land as well. But that would surely be an excellent feature.

Research links:

Phone Scoop.

Howard Forums.

Wireless Advisor.

MyRatePlan.com.

I call upon a certain gadgeteer to set me up the bomb.