Will James Bond need the Pantech PG-6200?

The Pantech PG-6200 is your basic Tri-band (GSM 900/1800/1900) smart phone. It’s got Bluetooth, uses a TransFlash memory card, and lets you enable USB Mass Storage via a cable to move data between phone and PC. You can use it’s FM radio and it has a camera – 2 megapixels! It can record MPEG4 Video. And this phone can play MP3, AAC, AAC+, AMR, G-MIDI, SP-MIDI, C-MIDI, SMF, XMF, RTTL, IMelody files for you musical enjoyment.

It also uses a voice recognition system (I’ve written about this for the Samsung a920).

What caught my eye, however, is that it has a fingerprint scanner which is used to lock and unlock the phone. Now, this system has been used for flash drives – see my article on this topic.

But this is the first time I have seen it used for this kind of a phone. And it may be a good thing. People continue to debate the merits of such a system, but like putting a good lock on your front door, it will stop most opportunistic criminals. If your info is SO valuable that you would find this unsuitable, then you are working for MI6 and THEY will provide more effective means of security. At least I hope so.

The PG-6200 gives you 10 fingerprints to record. You can use a different finger for 10 very sensitive phone numbers. a swipe of that fingertip is needed to open that phone number. For you Lotharios out there this may be the perfect method for juggling your list of girlfriends (without them finding out about each other).

You can also use this system to block access to the phonebook, your messages, the calendar, your notes, your call list, the wap, the photo and video gallery. As long as you can remember which finger opens what item, you are doing fine. I can see myself forgetting which finger goes with what data. But then, I’m not a spy and don’t have sensative data.

Written by Cecilia