Photo credit - Sprint I’ve been thinking about taking the step to get a more advanced phone for quite some time. As I’ve become more and more ingrained into new media, I have found and increasing desire to have my toolbox with me. That is, my connection to the internet. This is especially true now that the connections I’ve made via the Kansas City Weather Podcast have come to rely on me for weather information. I want to be able to provide that, and to answer questions as they come in. Unfortunately, I often do not have the means at my disposal at the time. I’ve wanted to have radar information at my fingertips for years, and with this increasing pull from the outside that desire has only increased.

So, here is what I am looking for:

  • I’m an active Twitter user, so I would like a phone that is built for text messaging. I can’t imagine trying to deal with the tiny keys of a Crackberry, so a full keyboard would be ideal.
  • I need a decent web browser. I don’t want to rely on a mobile browser that doesn’t properly scale a web page because it wasn’t designed for "mobile use." I want the ability to get the information I want quickly and easily so I can put down the phone and get back to regular life as soon as I can. This is especially important as my wife has had some bad experiences with friends who have become attached to their mobile phones. The easier the information is to process, the better. I control my phone, I don’t want the phone to control me because of clunky functionality.
  • I could care less about a mobile music store or TV on my phone. The media I consume is not available with these channels of distribution. If I could load some of my media onto a micro SD card for playback, then I might utilize my phone for media.
  • Ideally, I would like the ability to run third-party apps on the phone. Not a big thing, but a Twitter client, or possibly the Gmail mobile application would be nice to have. Like I said, it’s definatly not a big deal but functionality I can see myself utilizing.
  • I have a decent family plan with Sprint right now, and have been happy to support the company… especially with their world headquarters being right here in the KC metro. I would like to stay with Sprint.

Part of me would like to wait to see how the market progresses over the next several months. Like it or not, the iPhone has changed the mobile business and people’s ideas of what they can do with their phone. With Google Android coming out soon and manufacturers coming out with products to offer much of the same functionality as the iPhone, there are going to be huge changes very soon. I’d like to be on top of this so I can provide mobile users a decent experience with my own media entities. Do I wait to see what comes out? I don’t know. I’ve glanced at a few phones, including the HTC Mogol (thanks Lynette ), and I talked to a Sprint Store employee about the new Instinct (Sprint’s iPhone competitor due out next month).

So what are your thoughts?

What are some phones that you know of that could fit the bill? Would I be better served to simply wait and see what the market throws out this summer? In a way, I really like the idea of the Instinct, if for no other reason than it’s customizable and gets me to that "process my information as soon as possible" plateau I’d like to be at. It also comes with a "full keyboard" via a touchscreen and runs EVDO.
Is there anyone at Sprint that would like to help me out with this? I am a respected local podcaster, blogger, and social media guy that would be more than willing to help you spread the word about this device and how it could fill my needs.

ADDITION: Kudos to the folks at the Sprint Store for pointing me to YouTube for videos about the Instinct. I ALWAYS like to hear companies utilizing social media tools.