Finally! Microsoft's Stinger gets the phone/PDA combo right

AnchorDesk

Finally! Microsoft's Stinger gets the phone/PDA combo right

John Morris and Josh Taylor
Contributing Editors, AnchorDesk
Monday, March 12, 2001

Add your opinion

Forward in

Format for

Last week we told you why we were skeptical that wireless handhelds and phones would replace notebook computing anytime soon. But that doesn't mean we're not excited about all the advances in these smaller devices.

For a couple of years now, companies have been trying to come up with the right combination of phone and PDA, but none have really gotten it right. As a result, most of us are forced to carry around two or more gadgets (OK, forced is a bit of a stretch).

BUT A COUPLE OF new products are at least showing some promising signs.

The Handspring VisorPhone, a Springboard expansion module for the Visor handheld, now offers near-nationwide GSM coverage. And Kyocera has been spending big bucks advertising its Smartphone (QCP-6035), a remake of the Palm OS-based Qualcomm pdQ Smartphone that is due out in April.

But the smartphones that are likely to garner the most attention this year are those based on Microsoft Stinger, a version of the same Windows CE 3.0 operating system found in Pocket PCs.

MICROSOFT RECENTLY DROPPED BY to give us an update on the Stinger project, which has been in the works for some time, as well as to show us prototypes of some of the phones that should be available starting around year-end from manufacturers such as Mitsubishi, Samsung, and Sendo. Though the product demo didn't go quite as planned--we warned them that ZDNet's New York office was notorious for poor wireless reception--we saw enough to get a good idea of the strengths and weaknesses of Stinger.

The key design philosophy behind Stinger seems to have been preserving the one-handed operation of a typical cell phone. Unlike current smartphone designs, these phones will have no stylus, no flip-cover, and no touchscreen. Aside from a tiny joystick and two extra buttons for navigation, the Stinger-based phones look pretty much like ordinary phones, except a little wider and taller. This means you can access all of the phone's features while trudging through the airport with a bag in one hand.

Like other smartphones, the Stinger phones can synchronize the contents of your inbox, contacts, and appointments with a PC or server. But Microsoft has added a twist by letting wireless service providers (currently VoiceStream) use SMS to automatically push--anyone remember that '90s buzzword?--user settings, e-mail, and PIM data down to the phone when you activate it.

THE STINGER PLATFORM uses the same customizable, graphical interface (code-named Luna) found in Windows XP, so we can all look forward to our wireless providers hitting us up for monthly surcharges to have a picture of the kids as the background on the phone's display.

When Microsoft first came out with Windows CE, they were criticized for cramming the Windows OS onto a palm-size device. Three versions and several years later, Microsoft is finally just now making inroads in the PDA market with Pocket PC.

Based on what we've seen of Stinger so far, it appears that Microsoft learned some lessons from the experience. While the thought of thousands checking their MoneyCentral portfolios with one hand while driving 70 MPH with the other still sounds to us like a recipe for disaster, Stinger is nevertheless the most intelligent smartphone design we've seen to date and it should be a hit right out of the gate.

Do you prefer to keep your voice separate from your data? Or is an all-in-one smartphone in your near future? TalkBack to us.

Special sponsor stores

Dell Home