This remind me of Tom Lehrer's introduction to "Who's Next?", a song about nuclear proliferation: "One of the big news items of the past year (i.e. 1965 -Ed.) concerned the fact that China, which we call 'Red China', exploded a nuclear bomb, which we called a 'device'."
In other words, he's pointing out the dangers of the media's tendency to downplay the severity of new nations acquiring nuclear weapons.
Of course, mobile phones are nowhere near as dangerous as nukes. But when a mobile phone acquires a description as generic as 'device' ... I mean, 'device' can mean anything. My keyboard is a device. So's my mouse, blender, microwave, grill, and TV. *shrug*
That sounds like it could work, as long as nothing else is referred to as a "device". If it is, maybe consider shortening "handheld communications device"? Maybe one of these:
1. Comms device / comms unit
2. Unit (hey, if 'device' works...)
3. HCD (acronym for "handheld communications device")
4. Battery-operated device (BOD for short)
Or, since you use your hands (or your fingers) to operate this device:
5. Hand-operated device / finger-operated device (HOD / FOD for short)
... which brings up a question: character A calls character B. B answers by pressing the "Answer" button with his finger. Does that mean B gave A the finger?
Anyway, I hope you find this useful. Or even just food for thought.
