Jeanette has been wanting a new phone for a while.  She's had her eye on my iPaq phone since it has everything including a mini keyboard, which makes sending SMS messages easier.  Her current phone was a Motorola V500 that the government gave her to use here.  So, when you've got me looking for a new device to work with, you get state of the art technology.  I did some research, talked with Jeanette about her needs and picked the best device out there.  And no, it wasn't an iPhone.

She now has an AT&T Tilt.  Its also known as the HTC TyTN II.  Its a smartphone.  It runs Windows Mobile 6, has a quad band GSM radio to work worldwide (a requirement for us), 3G data service, GPS navigation, and its unlocked to use any SIM card in the world (another requirement for us).  The device will replace both her Motorola cellphone as well as her older iPaq PDA, converging the two into one handy device.  One of the unique features of the phone is that if you slide the screen up, you can then tilt it out a little so when it sits on a desk, or even in your hands, its easier to see the screen.

We both got upgraded to business class on the transatlantic flight!  What's even better, this flight was one of the upgraded planes in United's fleet.  Business class now has 180-degree layflat seat-beds, a 15-inch widescreen LCD with movies and TV shows on demand, 110V power at the seat and more.  These included:

110V power with universal plug input
USB power jack with eventual upgrade to iPod control via 15-inch LCD
RJ-45 Ethernet jack (not operational but will be later for Internet access)
Over 3 dozen movies on demand (just like our Media Center)
Over 2 dozen TV shows on demand
Several albums of music (I didn't count them)
Various games including an educational one that teaches foreign languages (20 of them)
Some games can be played against other passengers on the plane (Such as 6 player Poker)

These were truly great seats.  Ours happened to be facing the back of the plane (some alternate) so that was a little unusual but it didn't feel different.  Jeanette was so excited she said that 8 hours wasn't enough time to try everything out.  The only glitch in the system was an overzealous screensaver timeout that would sometimes occur during a movie..

See more in the photo galleries.

Almost there!  We now continue our journey from Frankfurt, Germany to Washington, DC.  This will be the longest part of our trip - 8 hours.  Jeanette's father will meet us at the airport for the final drive back to their place.