Are You Between a Rock and a Cell Phone?

Rapidly establishing themselves as a Road-Warrior’s rites of passage, there was a time when every traveling businessman had to have their PIM’s. Hardly a month went by before the technological cry went out for GIVE US MORE! The memory in the PIM’s was too limited and didn’t completely fulfill our out-of-office requirements. The cut-down versions of documents and spreadsheets were hard to manipulate with the small PIM screens and infinitely smaller key-buttons. So the technology fairy waved her magic wand and lo and behold – the sub-notebook!

That was what we had been waiting for! This was the answer to our prayers. – But it still meant we had to carry around our cell phones.

Enter the PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) from Palm Computing. The first two generations of this device were called PalmPilots They had everything the PIM’s had AND you could make a phone call. With their touch sensitive screens, they were an overnight sensation. More significantly they recognized the market was getting tired of having to regularly change devices as they outgrew their designed potential. In recognizing this, Palm Computing introduced the idea of future-proofing – by having upgrade modules that would replace internal hardware components as the market developed. This proved to be a highly successful campaign and virtually cornered the market in office mobility devices (OMD). The original modest device has now evolved into the Palm Treo. This device integrates a mobile phone, e-mail, SMS (Short Message Service) and instant messaging – all with an internal hard drive. The PIM has now cut its apron strings away from the home/office computer mothership.

In response to the success of the PalmPilots, Research In Motion (RIM) produced the Blackberry. The success of this QWERTY keyboarded mini-office-on-steroids has lead to the word Blackberry becoming a generic term that has nothing to do with any sweet tasting fruit. The latest embodiment of this technology is the Blackberry Peal, so named because of the central track ball used to navigate the system options. Even though track balls have long been replaced by mice and joysticks as control devices, RIM have chosen the comfort factor of the small track ball for their diminutive techno-warrior. Since cell phones are small, RIM have come out with yet another innovation for the QWERTY keyboard. Each key ‘shares’ an alpha-numeric position. This could easily lead to total frustration when entering data – having to choose between two options on a single key. RIM have overcome this potential landmine by creating an integral artificial Intelligence software package called SureType. This anticipates the word you are typing and offers the most likely key choice for selection. There is a short learning curve until you get the feel of the road, then you will find it is in fact as fast as using a full keyboard. This is a very clever solution to providing more desk-real-estate on a limited lot.

In response to the Blackberry, Motorola brought out the “Q”. This is a very thin, full-function, smartphone with Microsoft Windows Mobile 5. The “Q” is very light to carry. It really does fit in a shirt pocket without you having to lean forward to support it. The screen is extra-sharp with a 320×240 pixel resolution. A useful feature is the inbuilt speakerphone which may not sound too practical, but when you have your hands full – trying to locate necessary documents to support your calling customer, this feature is an ace. The QWERTY keyboard is generous and finger-friendly.

So where does the BlackJack come in? It comes from Samsung – and its shadow looms large on the horizon. Like the Motorola “Q” it is very thin, uses Windows Mobile 5 platform with pocket versions of Microsoft’s popular office suites. However it has GSM quad-band and UMTS dual-band technologies – to ensure wherever you are in the world, you will be able to communicate with your home or office. The screen is a high-res QVGA to accommodate all the web-based media players and entertainment you need. It also has integral HSDPA technology for FAST data transmission. This is an important consideration if you are traveling, because of the cost of distant airtime. Did I mention it also has a MicroSD slot? This device is an ultra-small removable flash memory card (up to 4GB) that will ensure that all your documents or multi-media programs will be portable and safe.

So if I was stranded on a desert island and could only have one mobile resource with me – what would I choose? I think I would choose NONE. With all the choices available, it is too much pressure trying to determine which one is going to be around in six months. At least you now have all the necessary information here to make your informed choice.