This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Smartphones
palmOne Treo 650
A smartphone is a mobile phone that adds PDA functionality. That is, it's a cell phone you can use like a PDA—or a PDA you can use like a phone.
My favorite smartphone is the Treo 650, the latest update of my last year's Leo's Pick, the venerable Treo 600. The nice thing about the Treo 650, like its predecessor, is that it does both things well—it's a good phone and a good Palm OS PDA, no compromises on either side.
Design-wise, the Treo 650 looks like a PDA with a miniature QWERTY keyboard at the bottom. While it's a little bigger than a standard cell phone, it's still small enough to fit nicely in your hand—and, when you're talking, against your ear.
As you might expect, the Treo 650 functions both as a cell phone and as a Palm OS PDA. That means you can use it to manage all your appointments and contacts—and dial directly from your Palm address book.
But, as the carnival barker used to say, that's not all, folks. The Treo 650 also has a built-in camera, complete with picture caller ID on the big touch-screen display. You can also use the touch-screen to display an onscreen dial pad for push-button dialing.
And there's more. The Treo 650 has an integrated speaker phone, a built-in MP3 player, an SD/MMC expansion slot, and Bluetooth wireless connectivity. You also get all the applications that come with the Palm OS operating system, as well as Internet email, SMS text messaging, and MMS multimedia messaging. It's Internet-enabled with a color Web browser. Lots of features in a handy all-in-one device; pretty smart, eh?
Model: Treo 650 Manufacturer: palmOne (http://www.palmone.com) Operating system: Palm OS 5.4 Display: 320 x 320 touchscreen Cellular operation: 850/900/1800/1900MHz (GSM/GPRS model), 800/1900MHz (CDMA model) Dimensions: 4.4'' (h) x 2.3'' (w) x 0.9'' (d) Weight: 6.3 oz. Price: $449
Blackberry 7100T
Here's another PDA/smartphone from the folks who make those cool little BlackBerry email/pager devices. This gadget comes with a high-resolution 65,000-color touchscreen display, as well as a mini-QWERTY keyboard, in a non-flip form factor. And it's a little smaller and a lot lighter than the competing Treo, so it feels a little more like a standard cell phone in your hand.
Model: 7100T Manufacturer: Blackberry (http://www.blackberry.com) Cellular operation: 850/900/1800/1900MHz GSM/GPRS Dimensions: 4.7'' (h) x 2.3'' (w) x 0.8'' (d) Weight: 4.2 oz. Price: $249.95
Sony Ericsson P910a
The Sony Ericsson P910a is a cell phone that's also a PDA that's also a digital camera that's also a game playing machine, all in a flip-phone form factor. When closed, the flip portion contains the dialing keypad. Flip it open to get access to the full 65,000-color touchscreen display and QWERTY keyboard. Turn the unit sideways to play games, including the preinstalled V-Rally racing game. You also get a digital still/video camera and the ability to save photos and video clips to Memory Stick media.
Model: P910a Manufacturer: Sony Ericsson (http://www.sonyericsson.com) Display: 208 x 320 touchscreen Cellular operation: 850/1800/1900MHz GSM/GPRS Dimensions: 4.5'' (h) x 2.3'' (w) x 1'' (d) Weight: 5.5 oz. Price: $649
Siemens SX66
What I like about the Siemens SX66 smartphone is the slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Push the keyboard in, and you have a fairly compact candy bar design—with a big 3.5'' color screen, of course. Pull it out, and you can enter text and other data. Feature-wise, check out the dual WiFi/Bluetooth wireless, as well as USB connectivity. The SX66 also has a built-in speakerphone, and the ability to play MP3, WMA, and WAV audio files.
Model: SX66 Manufacturer: Siemens (http://www.siemens-mobile.com) Display: 240 x 320 Operating system: Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition Cellular service: 850/1800/1900MHz GSM/GPRS Dimensions: 4.92'' (h) x 2.82'' (w) x 0.74'' (d) Weight: 7.4 oz. Price: $549.99
Motorola A630
This is a different-looking smartphone, kind of like a little candy bar that flips open horizontally to reveal a bigger-than-normal QWERTY keyboard and decent-sized color display. Keep it closed to use it like a normal (and normal-sized) cell phone. It's heavily feature-laden, as you might expect, including a built-in speaker phone. Stylish, practical, and well-designed—it's worth a look-see.
Model: A630 Manufacturer: Motorola (http://www.motorola.com) Display: 176 x 200 Cellular service: 850/1800/1900 or 900/1800/1900 GSM/GPRS Dimensions: 3.74'' (h) x 1.91'' (w) x 0.93'' (d) Weight: 3.95 oz. Price: $299.99