On the 54th anniversary of climbing Mt. Everest, it’s fitting to recognize another altitudinous accomplishment; the first cell phone call from that very summit eight days before the anniversary, from a height of 8.85 kilometers (29,035 feet for the metrically challenged). After two phone calls (one to his wife and kids; the other went into a Motorola voice mail box you can listen to), Briton Rod Baber also sent an SMS message (texting in mountain climbing gloves?) on this Symbian phone via a Chinese GSM network.

On the other hand, Blackberry’s plumbing new depths; RIM’s new color CDMA/GSM 8830 World Edition works on EDVO, 1xRTT and IS-95B for data and voice in North America, plus GPRS/GSM in the rest of the world; but, the phone was deliberately crippled. The GSM radio within can’t work on the 800MHz and 1900MHz North American cellular frequencies, even though the CDMA radio can, and does, a deliberate design ‘feature.’

If you’re in North America on Sprint, Verizon, Bell Mobility, or other CDMA providers, how much do you like having a phone you can’t use overseas? Join the discussion.