I have previously expressed my frustration over the lack of phone choices provided by the only wireless carrier with usable service in my area. I had thought I researched their entire phone selection thoroughly and they offered no phones with bluetooth. Today, I stand corrected.
While reading Jason Fried's comments on the problem with comparison shopping sites, I was reminded of my desire to offer a better solution. Although I didn't reveal what I was shopping for at the time, I no longer need to keep it to myself because, as John Gales pointed out in the very first comment, it has already been done.
Phone Scoop provides a list of every possible feature and carrier and allows the user to set a preference from 'no preference' to 'required' for each and every feature. Hey, these people think like me! I quickly set my preferences as follows: carrier: Verizon - required; analog roaming - required; and bluetooth - required. All other features were set to no preference. While many of those features are of interest to me, the first two of the above three are absolutely necessary for me to use the phone in my area. As all other features are negotiable, I didn't want to unnecessarily eliminate any potential candidates.
Low and behold, there are three phones with bluetooth that will work for me. And as I mentioned previously, a fourth should be added in the next few months. The fourth, of course, includes a PDA, which I am not absolutely certain I want, but its nice to know I have options.
Update
After closer scrutiny, two of the phones are discontinued and the availability of the third is tentative for mid-2004. D'oh! Although, I would have to say, said phone would have been my choice of the three (small clamshell with many more features). And to confirm my findings, the description for said phone states that it is "likely to be the first phone with integrated Bluetooth for Verizon Wireless." I knew it!
