Features
SMARTPHONE ROUNDUP '05
Your sleek cool smart email web GPS PDA phone
There
are many hundreds of millions of cellphones out there and only
a very small fraction of them are "smart." There are several reasons
for that. First, it's not easy to define what, exactly, makes
a phone "smart." Second, whatever goes "smart" generally costs
a bunch more. And third, devices sold as smartphones are almost
always larger, heavier and not as elegant as regular cellphones.
Finally, with sleek run-of-the-mill phones getting ever more features,
what's the purpose of paying extra for a bigger, bulkier smartphone?
A lot of people wouldn't consider that very smart, and one could
extend the pun by saying it also hasn't been very smart for smartphone
designers and the smartphone industry to make brainiac phones
that simply have very little visual and economic appeal to most
customers.
As
a result of the above, while millions buy (or trade for) the latest,
smallest, sleekest new phones by Samsung, Nokia, Motorola or Sony
Ericsson, few are inclined to shell out $500 for a Palm OS or
Windows Mobile based smartphone. With the possible exception of
Palm's Treo, few even have name recognition. Hewlett Packard is
now marketing a couple of smartphones under the prestigious iPAQ
name, but by and large smartphones fly well under the radar of
public perception. Most are actually made by just a couple of
Taiwanese or Korean companies and then marketed under different
names. The very first smartphone using Microsoft's Pocket PC platform
was simply called the "T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone." To this day,
smartphones are generally sold by wireless carriers and not by
handheld device makers. The carriers, in general, couldn't care
less how smart the phone is as long as it burns up a good number
of wireless minutes and entices customers to sign up for more
expensive calling plans and more options. Whether or not a smartphone
is a good handheld computer is irrelevant to them. After all,
people who compute don't make calls. On the other hand, people
who take crappy pictures and video clips with cheap little cellphones
and then send those to their 50 closest friends via some proprietary
extra-cost service, now those are the customers the telcos want.
All
of this is too bad as the current crop of smartphones is really
quite remarkable. They are based on the idea that combining the
full capabilities of a PDA with one of today's advanced mobile
operating systems and the full capabilities of a premium phone
would make a superior device. There's much to be said for this
idea. Adding phone capability to a PDA makes total sense because
it means you only have to carry around one device instead of two.
The phone part of the device benefits from a superior address
book, superior data entry and retrieval, and the kind of integration
between address book, calendar, to-do list and other PIM functions
that standard phones simply don't have. The phone part also benefits
from a screen that is not only substantially larger than the average
cellphone screen, but is also readable outdoors and can display
images in glorious 16-bit (or better) color. The PDA part, on
the other hand, benefits from the data communications capabilities
that come with phone service. Sure, WiFi hotspots are proliferating
at a rapid rate, but there will always be times when we want to
check our email on the road, away from WiFi or a modem connection.
With ever-faster wireless data services, checking email is a breeze,
and they even let you serve the web at a tolerable pace.
But
even that is not all. Smartphones, thanks to their larger size
and processing power, offer capabilities that go well beyond those
of a standard cellphone. The latest models, such as the HP iPAQ
hw6500 Mobile Messenger, not only have superior digital still
and video cameras with their own flashlights (well, sort of; they
are really just bright illumination LEDs for now), they may also
have fully integrated GPS receivers that allow them to function
as competent mapping and navigation systems.
The
following top smartphones listed below contain descriptions and
ratings for the Palm OS and Pocket PC-based "traditional" smartphones.
Note that these are all full Palm and Pocket PC devices. We did
not include Microsoft Windows Mobile smartphones that use a subset
of the full Pocket PC functionality (look for those in an upcoming
issue of Handheld Computing Magazine). Some of the models have
been around for a while and you may be able to get them cheap
on eBay. Others are brand-new. We rated them in three categories:
handiness, technology, and aesthetics. "Handiness" because even
smartphones shouldn't be bricks. "Technology" because a smartphone
should have plenty of it, and of the advanced kind. And "aesthetics"
because, alas, people buy phones based on how they look. A select
few connoisseurs may give an ugly phone a chance, but the rest
will drool over the sleek and pretty ones.
öKirk
Linsky
HP
ipaq 6500
HP has high hopes for their new Mobile Messenger
With
everyone singing the Palm Treo 650's praises, did Hewlett Packard
deliberately assign the number 6500 to its new iPAQ phone, the
hw6500 Mobile Messenger? Is it ten times as good as the Treo,
or did they just take the next good number above the older iPAQ
6300 phone? It's likely the latter, but 650 versus 6500... hmmm.
They even look the same.
I've
been a fan of the Pocket PC Phone Edition ever since I got my
first T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone over three years ago. To me as
a PDA guy, there is something inherently appealing in a full Pocket
PC that's also a real phone. I know, I know· As of now, the market
apparently wants tiny little phones with tiny little screens,
and no one cares how user-friendly they are. Maybe that's because
relatively few people have ever seen or used a real Pocket PC
Phone. And, in all likelihood, it is also because phones are given
away for free these days (well, there is always the small matter
of that one or two year service contract) whereas Pocket PC Phones
are not. They are considered ultra-premium phones, and not many
people are willing to spend a lot of money for something that,
while supposedly more powerful, is also bigger and heavier instead
of smaller and sleeker.
In
all fairness, Pocket PC Phones have gone the same amazing shrinking
route as regular phones (and also as PDAs). While my first T-Mobile
Pocket PC Phone was a bit of a brick, and later versions from
Samsung and Hitachi were even larger, the brand-spanking new HP
iPAQ hw6500 Mobile Messenger is quite small. It measures just
4.65 x 2.8 inches and is 0.7 inches thick. It weighs 5.8 ounces.
It would make an old Palm V, once the pinnacle of miniaturized
sleekness and elegance, look like a boat. It even makes most current
PDAs look large, and it does that even though it includes a full
QWERTY thumb-type keyboard. Even HP cannot work miracles, of course,
and so something had to give: the hw3500 doesn't have the typical
240x320 Pocket PC display. Since the keyboard lessens the need
for a screen area to type or write, HP chose a square 240 x 240
pixel screen. Another compromise was made. Whereas the shortlived
HP 6300 Pocket PC Phone had built-in WiFi, the hw6500 passed on
that. We've pretty much come to expect WiFi in upper level Pocket
PCs, so would the lack of WiFi be an issue?
But
let's first take a look at HP's new PDA phone which in the US
will be sold exclusively through Cingular for use the Cingular
service. It's a nice looking device, dark-gray in the back and
silvery in the front. Even though the 6500 is made by HTC in Taiwan,
a company that has more experience in designing and making PDAs
than anyone, the current generation of iPAQs doesn't quite have
the elegance and panache of earlier models, and that perhaps goes
for the hw6500 as well. It's well designed, but it won't win any
industrial design awards.
Looking
at it from the front, there is the square display that measures
three inches diagonally. Above it sits the speaker, a couple of
status lights, and the on/off switch. Below it are the PDA-standard
four buttons, only here they have morphed into two phone buttons
and two application buttons. The phone buttons have illuminated
phone receiver symbols on it. Green to pick up, red to hang up.
The buttons aren't actually buttons. They have been sort of integrated
into a chrome assembly that looks like the wings of an airplane
or a bird. In the center sits a joystick. Below this command module
is the thumb-type keyboard that's comprised of 39 round keys,
each being able to issue two or three functions. The keys are
silver and the symbols on them light up in bright blue when the
phone is used. A numeric keypad is integrated, and its keys are
a darker gray. There is a function key as well as a Windows key
and a menu key. By now a lot of people are used to thumb-type
keyboards. They are not great, but they work far better than any
of those half-baked predictive or multiple-tap installations so
prevalent on phones today.
The
bottom features the iPAQ-standard connector that also supplies
power, a 2.5mm stereo headphone jack, and reset hole. On the left
is the IR port, a record button, and a loudness control. The top
is bare except for the stylus garage. On the right you'll find
an interesting surprise: the hw6500 doesn't only have a SD Card
slot, but also a Mini SD slot.
Flip
the hw6500 around and you find more good news on its back. The
battery is replaceable. And the little glass lens goes with the
integrated 1.3 megapixel digital camera. But what is the little
circle next to the lens? That would be a camera illumination light.
It's not quite a flash, but a very strong LED that helps seeing
in the dark and taking pictures under less than ideal lighting
conditions. HP will offer a version of the hw6500 without a camera
as an increasing number of companies and locations do not allow
camera-equipped devices on the premises.
In
terms of peripherals and cables, you get a sleek black plastic
docking station, a belt clip carrier for the 6500, a set of earphones
with volume control and on/off switch, and a USB cable. The part
of the dock that holds the device can be removed. That's because
this is what HP calls a "common dock" that can accommodate different
inserts for different iPAQ devices. The power plug can go either
into the dock or into the backside of the device connector at
the end of the USB cable. The belt clip is a large black plastic
affair that has the backside of the 6500 facing out. It works
well, but is bulky and not very elegant.
Earlier
Pocket PC Phones always thrilled us with their overall concepts,
but left us wanting with relatively dated technology. The initial
T-Mobile Pocket PC, for example, used obsolete display and processor
technology, and its successors also didn't shine with state-of-the-art
technology. Maybe that's because phones have such a long governmental
approval process. In any case, the hw6500 sort of follows that
tradition with a 240x240 display when we really would have loved
to see a 480x480, and an only adequate 312MHz version of the Intel
PXA272 processor instead of one of the faster ones. And then there's
the missing WiFi. When I talked to HP's product manager for the
device, John Brandewie, he said that the screen and processor
were selected as a compromise between performance and cost (I
can accept that) whereas Bluetooth was selected over WiFi because
the hw6500's primary focus is mobile messaging and because European
and Asian operators require Bluetooth. Doesn't work for me.
On
the other hand, the hw6500 does have Bluetooth, does support not
only GPRS but also EDGE in addition to its basic GSM radio functionality,
and has a decent digital camera with a LED illuminator light.
But there's more: the 6500 also has a built-in GPS receiver. Yessir:
with this Mobile messenger you always know where you're going.
Though it will not be bundled, I had a chance to check out HP's
mapping application÷the iPAQ Navigation System÷for the 6500. It
is the same system you can buy, together with a Bluetooth puck,
for other iPAQs, but it is specially adapted for the 6500's 240x240
display. The system lets you load maps as large as your storage
card can hold. I picked southern and northern California, and
that added up to about 150MB. The data comes from NAVTEQ, the
leading mapping data service. The mapping application is quite
sophisticated and contains all the options and whistles and bells
we've come to expect from PDA-based navigation systems. During
an actual road test, it performed as well or better than even
some of the dedicated mapping systems. Voice prompts and directions
are loud (thanks to the 6500's excellent onboard sound) and clear,
and there are almost no mistakes. You can also use the joystick
to move between views (map, road listings, closeup) and to zoom
in and out. That is a lot simpler than doing it via tapping. If
you intend to frequently use the hw6500 as a navigation device
you'll need a car charger and a mounting arm. In any case, if
you get hw6500, I very highly recommend getting the mapping software.
In theory, almost any mapping software should work with the hw6500's
receiver. The problem is that most are designed for the 240x320
screen format, so make sure whatever you may pick supports the
6500's 240x240 screen.
Enough
firepower? So what we have here is a full Pocket PC
that is also a passable digital camera with its own light. It
also contains a GSM cellphone with advanced functions and excellent
integration between the phone and the PDA part. For email and
webbrowsing you can use either the GPRS or the EDGE (where available)
data service. It supports just about any messaging protocol out
there: SMS, MMS, IM, Exchange, POP3, IMAP4, and also Good Technology's
Good GoodLink client (requires the GoodLink server). It further
has Bluetooth so you can communicate with any closeby Bluetooth
devices. And then it also has that superb GPS receiver that lets
you use the device as a full-function mapping and navigation system.
And it has a keyboard in addition to several other data entry
methods. Not bad for a little thing that doesn't even weigh six
ounces. One possible concern is that it does so much that many
people will never even begin to use all of its functions, just
like 90% of the functions of most sophisticated audio/video systems
or calculators go unused. Then again, there are plenty of people
who use every conceivable function of even the most complex cellphone.
It all depends.
As
is, the hw6500 is as good as it gets in the convergent device
arena. Message to the Treo 650: prepare to fight.
The
scoop: Mobile messaging addicts will love the new iPAQ
Pocket PC phone with its integrated thumbtype keyboard. Gadget
lovers will appreciate the fairly high-res still and movie camera.
And it even has a fully integrated GPS receiver for mapping and
navigation.
HP
iPAQ hw6500
Cool:
Fairly small, very well integrated
Integrated GPS receiver for navigation
Both SD and min-SD card slots
1.3 megapixel still and movie camera
Uncool:
Non-standard 240 x 240 pixel display
No WiFi
Rating:
A
÷Conrad
H. Blickenstorfer
www.hp.com
Fed
up with cells?
Try a wireless VoIP phone
At
first glance, and even at second, the ZyXEL Prestige W2000 looks
like your average cellphone of circa 2002. It is not as small
and elegant as today's latest and it only has a small monochrome
LCD screen. Interestingly, though, it's perhaps more advanced
and future-oriented that even the sleekest cellphone from Nokia,
Samsung, or Motorola. That's because it's not a cellphone at all.
It's a WiFi phone. And even though it looks like, and is, a wireless
device that you can take anywhere, you can only make phone calls
with it as long as you're within the range of a wireless access
point. That's because the ZyXEL uses a technology called "wireless
VoIP." Which stands for "wireless Voice over Internet Protocol."
In terms of the underlying technology, using VoIP to make a phone
call is closer to browsing the web or checking email than to using
a regular landline or cellphone. VoIP uses the internet for phone
calls.
This,
of course, is not exactly new technology. Here at the Handheld
Computing editorial office we hooked up handsets to our computers
several years ago and used them to make calls. But in those days
around the turn of the millennium it was just another interesting
technology demonstration. The sound really wasn't good enough
to replace a regular phone, and it didn't always work either.
This is changing now, and the VoIP technology is quickly gathering
steam, to the extent where the phone companies are starting to
get nervous. You can already get fairly reliable internet-based
phone service from companies like Vonage. Amazingly, their service
plans are remarkably similar to regular phone company service
plans, only less expensive. But this kind of internet phone is
still landline and works pretty much like a regular phone. The
ZyXEL Prestige, on the other hand, is wireless and communicates
with the internet via an 802.11 access point, the kind that is
now in millions of homes and in numerous public locations as well.
Theoretically, you can make calls with the ZyXEL phone whenever
you're within range of WiFi access point that is not locked and
will give you an IP number so you can connect to the internet.
If
this appears to be pretty simple, it's not. For example, while
internet connections can be blindingly fast, they can also be
agonizingly slow. Sometimes packets of data move quickly, other
times it's stop and go. That's no big deal when you're perusing
a webpage, but a very big deal if you're having a phone conversation.
That's why it takes a whole host of technologies to make the VoIP
experience acceptable. "Jitter buffers" smooth out delays. "Quality
of Service" systems try to facilitate better voice data flow by
tagging voice for preferential treatment on the network. Codecs
(coder/decoder) must do the best possible job in converting between
data and voice. And there are even little tricks that generate
a bit of noise so you don't think a call has been dropped when
neither side is speaking (technically, the call is dropped because
there really never is a call, just packets moving over the internet).
Finally, just like there are ISPs (Internet Service Providers)
that handle your internet access for a monthly fee, there are
now ITSPs (Internet Telephony Service Providers) that, for a monthly
fee, handle all the nitty-gritty work of internet telephony, like
seamlessly providing, though a call server, connections from and
to regular phones, VoIP phones, computer phones and standard cellphones.
You simple get a phone number and then dial someone else's number,
just as it has always been.
However,
wireless VoIP can do much more than that. You can, for example,
simply connect to another IP address without using a call server.
Or you can use a wireless VoIP phone as a wireless intercom between
two such phones, or even a phone and a computer.
If
you're starting to get the idea that using an wireless WiFi phone
may be a bit more involved than using a regular cellphone you
are right, but only in part. If you've ever set up a wireless
network in your home or office you know that it can be quite simple,
but you do need to know some wireless communication basics, and
things can get quite involved if you want to customize your wireless
network. However, once it is up and running, it's totally transparent.
All you do is crank up your computer and start browsing or checking
your email. It's a bit the same with the Prestige phone. When
you turn it on it starts looking for a wireless access point it
can use. Once it has found access to the internet, it checks in
with your Internet Telephony Service Provider and displays a "registered"
message. Now you can make calls. There are many ITSPs to choose
from. Our Prestige phone had an account with USA Datanet (www.usadatanet.com).
Our plan cost US$24.95 a month and included unlimited local and
long distance calling within the US and Canada. International
calls are billed depending on the country. Calling some foreign
countries can cost as much as a cellphone call. Calls to some
countries are up to ten times cheaper per minute than cellphone
calls. Switzerland, for example, cost 66 cents a minute cell,
but only 9 cents a minute with the wireless phone.
What
are the limitations? The same as with wirelessly browsing the
web or checking your email. As long as you are within the vicinity
of your access point, you're fine. If you're within the vicinity
of a free public access point, you're fine. If there is no access
point, or only one that won't let you in, you can't call. It gets
iffy when you're in a wireless HotSpot. They are almost everywhere
now, but you generally have to have a service contract to use
them. With a computer, you can log into such HotSpots via the
browser. A wireless WiFi phone, however, doesn't have a browser.
÷Conrad
H. Blickenstorfer
www.usadatanet.com
www.zyxel.com
HELLO
MOTO!
Ballad of the gorgeous black RAZR
Okay,
settle down. I realize I am a bit behind the curve writing about
this stunning little unit, but I hope I've made up for it by digging
it so much that I switched mobile carriers to buy one.
This
isn't the first time Moto has driven me temporarily insane. You
may recall that back the mid-1990's, they stunned everyone with
their Star TAC flip phone. It was the epitome of cool ÷ elegant,
full-featured, hard to find, and quite expensive. I could not
afford one then. By the time I could two years later, the Star
TAC was old news. I bought one anyway but it just wasn't the same
÷ call me shallow, but coolness matters.
Last
year Moto announced the RAZR v3, the quad-band, half-inch thin,
Bluetoothed, metal bodied flip with the 2.2-inch, 176 x 220 pixel,
200K-color screen and the 22Khz polyphonic audio, it was deja
vu all over again. I had to have it, but my carrier T-Mobile didn't
offer it and unlocked versions cost over $500. I cursed the unbearable
lightness of my wallet and decided to wait ÷ again.
Then
Cingular has the gall to announce their exclusive offering of
a limited edition matte black RAZR. Friends, that was the proverbial
straw. T-Mobile had been disappointing me with their spotty coverage
and miserably slow data rates for some time, os perhaps I was
just looking for an excuse to jump ship. T-Mobile had just announced
their SIM-locked version of the RAZR ÷ the very pretty but rather
common silver variety ÷ but they were a day late and a color short.
I bailed.
My
black RAZR does exactly what I want it to and makes me feel good.
It's a technological tour de force that presages what all phones
will look like a few years hence, just as the Star TAC did.
Razr-Sharp
Impressions
Forget about cases, belt clips, and the rest. This is the perfect
phone to carry in your pants pocket. Set it to Vibrate Then Ring
and you'll always feel it on your leg before it makes a racket.
Button placement is as good as it can be considering the tiny
dimensions of this thing. The
backlit keys are gloriously Tron-like, with electric blue lines
running all over the thing.
The battery runs forever. Right now, mine's going strong after
three days, but I'm not all that chatty ÷ your mileage may vary.
The Moto-developed user interface is very good, on a par with
anything from Nokia. I can always find what I'm looking for in
a few clicks. Most buttons and menus are user configurable.
The Java implementation is fast and clean. Gameplay is excellent
and look fabulous on that lovely display.
The tiny external status display is perfect for use as a dim flashlight
in bedrooms, theaters, and other places where bright lights are
not welcome.
The voice recorder is easy to use without looking and sounds better
than most others I've used. The RAZR also has the best speakerphone
I've ever used on any mobile.
This device has a standard mini-USB port for power and syncing,
so you can trickle-charge it from your laptop if you run low while
away from your charger.
The contacts and datebook applications work well and sync flawlessly
with my Mac, and I'm told it works equally well under Windows.
I use Bluetooth to sync and have zero problems to report ÷ it
just works.
MOTO
RAZR V3
Dimensions: 13.9 x 55 x 98 millimeters
Weight: 95 grams
External color display
Picture caller ID
Nickel-plated copper-alloy chemically-etched keypad
Internal display: 2.2 inch 176 x 220 pixel 64K color TFT display
External display: 96x80 pixels 4k color CSTN CLI
EL keypad illumination panel
Internal quad-band antenna
Integrated VGA camera with 4x zoom
Integrated Class 1 Bluetooth¨ wireless technology
22kHz polyphonic speaker with MP3 ringer support
MPEG4 video Playback
3D Graphics Engine
Java MIDP 2.0
Dedicated Messaging & Browser keys
--David
MacNeill
$199 (with 2-year service contract) www.cingular.com
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