Fujitsu FOMA F801i

At last, a phone I like. Anything that comes in day-glo orange and has a 100db alarm that makes the phone flash the word, “help” in bright orange letters on it has got to be worth buying. It almost reminds me of what I would expect the Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy to look like. A nice friendly orange and the helpful word, HELP plastered on it.

For one thing it’s big – I like big in a phone. A range of colors to satisfy just about any one, built-in GPS and “high waterproof efficiency.” I am not quite sure exactly what that means – is it waterproof or not? In the promo photos, the phones are scattered with a few genteel drops of water rather than submerged in a bucket, so I’m guessing it means, “water resistant.”

Anyway, it looks as though the designers actually had some fun with this one and I especially like the enormous rubber ring that triggers the alarm and is billed as a “crime prevention buzzer.” Love it.

Other features include a 2.7-inch color display, a four-level brightness LED, and a 1.3 megapixel CMOS camera with auto focus. This is going to be the go-to phone next year, mark my words.