Kitty's Corner

Let me tell you right away: I love my phone. I never leave home without it, and the few times I've forgotten it, something like this happens:



Why is it that my phone is so important to me? Well, first of all, it's nice to be able to stay in touch with people. It has also got a GPS, which is very cool when you're as bad at finding your way around as I am. I also use it as a clock, and I occasionally take a picture or two with it.

These are all good reasons, but none of them is the real reason why I love my phone.

I use my phone for entertainment. That means that I'm playing a lot of little games on it, especially the little simple ones that can be interrupted whenever you feel like it.

Several people at work have been talking about the game "Angry Birds", so I wanted to try it out. But man, it wasn't easy to get my hands on. I tried to download it to my work phone, but I think I got the model with the first and therefore not up-to-date software on it. So I can visit the store and put the game into the cart, but when I want to pay, I can't. Denmark is not on the list of countries...

I also tried on my Nokia, but didn't succeed there either.

So - the other day I started my PSP up again, after the hacking of the Sony servers. I updated my account with the new credit card information, and went to the store to see what was new. And there was the "Angry Birds" for download for only 11DKK (1.5EUR)!! I downloaded it instantly, and started playing it. And seriously: It's highly addictive.

Basically it's about a bunch of birds that get their eggs stolen by some naughty pigs. The task is now to fling a bird with the slingshot to destroy the structure in front of you and attack the evil pigs living in and around said structure so you can get the eggs back. Get points, destroy stuff, and be entertained.

I've only completed the first and second "round" of birds, and got to know four different types of birds. There is the original red one, that just fly over and knock down stuff. There's the aggressive yellow one, that will become a little bird-torpedo when you push the X-button. And there are the little blue ones, that turn into three of them when pushing the X, and the black round bird, that explodes shortly after hitting the target.

It's getting harder and harder for each step you complete, but the cool thing about this game that it's simple, and you don't have to play it for hours before you can save.

One of the not so good things is the sound. I can only describe it with one word, and that's "annoying". After the second game, I muted it, and it has been muted since. Problem solved. Another thing is the graphics: It's a very simple game, and if you like fancy 3D graphics, then this game won't satisfy your need for that.

But as I said: I like simple games, so I don't think I'll be tired of The Angry Birds.

I'm already addicted!

I saw an article somewhere about weird looking phones, and that reminded me that I've had some weird looking phones too. I've always been a Nokia girl - and I've had quite a few.

The first weird looking phone I had was a Nokia 7110.

It was the first Mobile Phone to have a WAP Browser, and you may think that it doesn't look weird. But it did at the time. The one I had was annoyingly buggy. I couldn't hang up the usual way - I had to take the battery out to hang up.

The next one I remember was the Nokia N-Gage QD.

That is a combined handheld game console and mobile phone, but it never really became the big hit that Nokia hoped for. I don't really know why. It's a seriously cool phone, and I've played a lot of "Sims bustin' out" on it.

Then I had the Nokia 3650.

That was the first Symbian Series 60 smartphone to appear in American markets. It was also the first phone with an integrated camera delivered to North America. Some stated that the rotary style keypad made text messaging easier and faster. I can assure you that it's not the case. I text pretty fast on phones with regular keypads - but I never really became fast on this phone. I love the look of it though - and I had covers in all kinds of colours for it.

I've had my hands on a Nokia 7280 once too.

I knew someone who had one, and I borrowed it for a week.
The 7280 "lipstick" phone supports GSM, SMS, MMS, HSCSD, GPRS, and SyncML. It has a VGA camera. Its design features a slider end and a Navi-Spinner in the place of a keypad. As part of Nokia's "Fashion Phone" line, it has black, white and red styling, and a screen that fades to a mirror when inactive. Fortune Magazine listed it as one of the best products of 2004 while its design was praised by the jury in the iF product design awards for 2005.
I gave up on it. Writing a simple text message was almost impossible!

Right now I am looking at a new phone. The GPS in my Nokia has decided to die, and since I get lost everywhere, I really need a new one.

I've been looking at the Nokia 6760 Slide.

I fell in love with it the first time I laid eyes on it.


So... what do you say? Do I have a thing with weird looking phones?

It's common now that children have mobile phones so the parents can always get in touch with them. Kids down to 1st or 2nd grade have them, but there have been some cases recently that ought to make parents consider some things before they equip their youngsters with phones.

One of the cases I think of is about 13 year old Sandra, who recently managed to spend 6,000DKK (800Eur) in 3 months. Not on ringtones and wallpapers for the phone, but on virtual things for a virtual horse she kept online.
The family discovered it after the first month, but it took their phone provider 2 extra months to close down the service. And during that time, Sandra just kept on spending money.

Another case is about 10 year old Astrid, who spent 1,500DKK (200Eur) in 3 weeks, also on virtual gear for a virtual horse. In this case the company has a rule that says that you can only spend 150DKK (20Eur) a week if you're under 16 years old, 250DKK (35Eur) if you're between 16 and 18 years old, and there's no limits if you're over 18.

When the 10-year old made her profile, she wrote her real age. First time she bumped into the 150DKK-limit, she went in and changed her age to 19, and the limit was gone with a click of the mouse.

The parents have to pay the company in both these cases. I went to the website, which is Danish, but owned by a Swedish company. They have a sub-site for the parents, but honestly - it doesn't say much, and is not clear enough, and besides - the info box is cut off in the middle of a sentence. So perhaps it's all the interesting stuff that's missing, who knows.


Don't the companies who sell things that aren't really there, virtual things, have some kind of responsibility? I mean - I know it's business, but still, they're selling some stuff that doesn't really exists to minors!

I think the problem could be solved by refusing to let these companies charge for their services over the phone. I don't think many parents would just let their kids use their credit cards. Please let me hear what you think about this.