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This story was printed from Anchordesk,
located at http://review.zdnet.com/AnchorDesk/.
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The best of business-class smartphones
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| By Patrick Houston: Editorial Director, AnchorDesk |
| Wednesday, August 27, 2003 |
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Buying a cell phone has never been more consternating, especially if you want a business-class handset that offers more than basic voice services.
OH YES, by now, thanks to the marketing efforts of the mobile carriers, device makers, and software kingpins like Microsoft and Palm, we're all aware of the promise: Get your corporate e-mail, connect to your calendar, surf the Web, exchange instant text messages, and send pictures--all with a single device.
Sounds great! Until it comes time to commit and you have to confront some complex, confusing questions: Which carrier? Which network? Which device? Which OS?
And we haven't even started to think about anytime minutes, evenings and weekends, roaming, long distance, and all the other blah, blah, blahs.
A few weeks ago, I told you about my own delirium-inducing foray into this crazy, mixed-up wonderland. Perhaps, like Alice, I was a bit too naïve. All I wanted was a device that would free me from carrying both a cell phone and a PDA, one that would also keep me connected to my corporate e-mail. I was ready to purchase--but, as I explained in that column, I just couldn't pull the trigger.
Instead, I resolved to step back and take a more methodical approach to finding a phone that will serve as an essential work tool. That means looking not only at the hardware, but at the services and software, too--at the network technology, the plans, and the means by which you gain access to the treasures in your corporate e-mail servers from wherever you happen to be.
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The Clydesdale of smartphones? ZDNet's David Berlind looks at the upcoming Hitachi G1000.
 Watch now
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To begin my search, I've been collecting hardware from the major carriers, which I'll be using to assess their services. These smartphones fall into three basic categories, depending on OS: Palm phones, Microsoft's Pocket PC phones, and then all the rest. Here's what our ZDNet reviewers have to say about specific phones in each of those three categories:
Palm phones
I've always been impressed with the Handspring Treo, which I think strikes just about the right balance between phone and PDA. Our reviewers lauded the Treo 300 as the most appealing Treo yet. And no single carrier has a lock on Treos: You can get the 300 from Sprint, and the 270 is available from both AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile.
Some impressive Palm phones have started to show up from other makers, too. Our reviewers described the Samsung SPH-i500 from Sprint as one of the most "civil" combinations between phone and PDA yet. I've had my hands on one, and I agree. The i500 is a phone first, PDA second. It has a small display, and (like the similar Kyocera 7135 from Verizon) has only a number keypad, not the mini-keyboard characteristic of the Treo.
Pocket PC phones
These are the workhorses of the combo devices, putting the power, and familiarity, of a desktop in the palm of your hand. Our reviewers called the Siemens SX56, available from AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile, a "decent" combo device. I've handled several Pocket PC devices, and, if the SX56 were a horse, I'd call it a thoroughbred. It's thin and light, with a curvy, phone-like feel to it.
By contrast, the Hitachi G1000 is a Clydesdale. It's huge. I've been trying one out, and my friends gave me a ribbing when they saw it hanging from my belt. But then again, there's an awful lot to the device; it comes with a keyboard, a camera, and speech recognition--to name but a few of its features. The horsepower is put to good use on Sprint's 3G network.
The others
I'm not a BlackBerry fan. But that says more about me than it does about BlackBerry devices. Those who love them will no doubt be even more taken with the new color version, the RIM BlackBerry 7230. If there's a device that epitomizes the term smartphone, it's Sony Ericsson P800, which is designed every bit like a phone yet has all the brains of a PDA. Finally, the new color display version of the T-Mobile Sidekick isn't on my short list, but it's so innovative that it at least deserves a mention.
As I said, I'll be looking closer at many of these devices, as I look at the services that use them. I'll also be taking into account the carriers, their networks, and their plans. Meanwhile, if you have any experience with any of the smartphones I've mentioned here--or others I haven't--please respond in TalkBack.
What do you think? Which smartphones would you recommend or steer me away from? TalkBack to me.
