Thought for the day. Which would you prefer? An ID card or 60,000 extra policemen? Which would be the most likely to reduce crime, and even the semi-mythical threat of terrorism? Not a hard question, but that's what the ID card is likely to cost you the tax payer.

Put like that the ID card only makes sense if you're a crook, terrorist, EDS employee or shareholder...

Yeah, I know what you're thinking, the SX1 is sublime and the N-Gage ridiculous, well actually they both fit into each category!

A few weeks ago I got to play with Ewan's SX1 and I have to admit it's far beyond any of the other Series 60 devices in terms of beauty, it's a gorgeous jewel of a device, pictures really don't do justice to its look and feel. But this beauty comes at a price.

The main cost seems to be usability, the much muttered about keys either side of the display are not a problem conceptually, in fact like the 3650's keypad this form of layout appears to have a big advantage over the traditional grid keypad for double thumbed usage. Siemens even provide a game on the phone which encourages you to learn the keypad in a fun way.

The usablity downsides are that I was perhaps expecting the keys to press in sideways a little, or even arc slightly like a piano key, but they are strictly push in, which feels a little unnatural. Also all of the surfaces are very shiny and slick, greasy or sweaty fingers will slide over the keys, and the small chromed joystick would be greatly improved by being bigger and rougher surfaced.

Siemens appear to be aiming the SX1 into a number of niches, first with motorsport and the glorious rossa corse coloured Mille Miglia and the dark and brooding McLaren models, what next a grossly tacky white and bling Beckham model because of their Real Madrid sponsorship? Or is a smartphone entirely the wrong device for David? :-)

As for the N-Gage, well one does initially feel self concious using it in Taco mode, but with the supplied headset this is often a rare event. I'm tempted to get a Bluetooth headset, but I'll not be able to use that to listen to the radio or MP3 player. Otherwise the N-Gage is a very capable and usable phone, my only real concerns being the lack of camera, and it being rather awkward to text with one hand.