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I change cell phones about once every 5 or 6 years per line. I really don't think there can be much in the way of new features in cell phones, only small incremental improvements. IMO there has not been a new feature in the past year and a half. The last significant new feature was streaming TV/video that came out in the middle of 2004.
I change my mobile phone every three to four months, there's usually enough improvements to make it worthwhile.
John
i used a palm for a while (not for a long time it was a friend's) . it had a anatomy book, and a few basic medical books. i tought its great to have them with you all the time. but searched some software sites, i see that every other software i find is somewhat insufficient. there isnt much high quality medical software (or i didnt see any)
But for this purpose where you do little input , but lots of data to read a keyboard isnt necessary. nor you need a full winxp computer. i think a screen at minimum 4' is a must. it must have a very very fast boot time . so that if you want to check one work in an medical encyclopedia you can turn on , look at it , shutdown.
Have you looked a electronic book readers?
PDAs, by themselves, are dead nowadays because we are so dependent on connectivity and networking when working with our data. The future of PDA OS'es are in PDA phones. And the two killer apps for PDA phones are email and GPS (although GPS will operate just fine on a regular PDA).
Why would I buy and carry a PDA + Cell Phone, when I can just carry a smart phone that does them both?
Because the smartphone is potentially bigger than both a cellphone and equivalent PDA put together, yet not as good a the phone or the PDA.
John
Nobody buys a smartphone just because they want a cell phone, or just because they want a PDA, for the reason that you cite: It's too bulky. What you forget is that people nowadays typically buy a smartphone to get email on the go. And that is a function that can only be achieved when you combine PDA + Cell Phone.
PDAs still pack a lot of options not available on phones or smartphones - if I use my GPS on a smartphone, I lose storage capabilities but on my X50V I can still use the vacant CF slot for large storage plus the high resolution screen and beefy processor make for a much better sat nav experience. It will be good when HTC can get the size of the Universal (XDA Exec, Imate Jasjar, SPV M5000 etc) down to current standalone PDA size/weight.
John
Lots have phones have as much storage as a PDA. Even my small Motorola V635 has over 1GB of usable storage for any knid of files - email, mp3, video, photos, games, etc.
All major cell phone manufacturers are currently working on phones with 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB HDDs. Some are supposed to be out by the end of the year.
It's only January, so the end of the year might as well be next year. Either way, it's a lifetime in the world of technology.
John: The reason the x50v seems slow from time to time has more to do with the VGA screen than the processor/OS. I have the iPaq 2795 which has the same processor and it doesn't slow down very often. Reviews online seem to back this up. PPCs aren't designed for VGA acceleration, so despite the fact that your "video card" is better than mine, it's not being taken advantage of.
Windows Mobile 5.0 is the biggest step I've seen in PPC development for a long time. You finally don't lose all your friggin data when the battery dies. The trade-off is speed, which should get better as higher speed EEPROM chips become available.
I for one am not a fan of having everything in one unit. It's just more things to be offline when the unit breaks. Get a PDA/Cell/mp3 unit and you can't do any of those things when the screen breaks, as it probably will since everyone I've ever known with a smartphone has cracked the screen at least once.
Then again I may be the only person around who still runs separate router/access point instead of buying one of the magical combo units. I'd wager that no matter where you look, separate components are still better than combination units, be it stereos, networking equipment, pdas/cell phones, etc.
That's one aspect of convergence that concerns me on the whole MP3/Phone/PDA issue. Everything improves, and having an all-in-one device makes it that much more expensive when you want to upgrade or if it breaks.
kp, how is that 3250 treating you? I've been having an eye on it, since it has a similar size as my 6230i, but is much more capable. How is the OS? S60 has been a mixed bag for me so far. Depending on the phone, performance has been anywhere from decent to godawful. Where does the 3250 fit in.
Also, is the music player better? Left -> 2 -> up/down is alright for browsing my music, but I'd rather have something better.
Since it doesn't use a nokia port, I would assume the radio is builtin?
Finally, most important, is the twisting thingy actually worth anything, or is it just another gimmick?
so i guess buying a slightly cheaper PDA with 640x480 display is better.Faster cpus doesnt make much difference since there arent many software that will make use of it.no need to buy a hp4700. right?
That's fairly pathetic compared to a PDA, which can offer up to 30GB storage.Quote:
Originally Posted by ua549
John
It is a tiny phone that uses microSD. There are phones that can use a hard drive with PDA equivilent capacity.
The reality is that the PDA, DAP, and cell phone are merging.
What I'd really like to see is another Apple MessagePad. The Apple MessagePad 2000 was awesome.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ImaNihilist
Never heard of it
Get a Treo 700W from Verizon running Windows Mobile 5.0. I'm honestly blown away by it. I've got mine syncing directly with our Exchange server over the air to give me my entire mailbox. I'm talking contacts, calendars, Inbox, all mail folders, my task list, sent items, junk mail. Everything completely synced with Exchange. And this is directly to Exchange, no desktop software required. You also don't need to buy an expensive server like BlackBerry Enterprise Server. It works fantastic with Exhcange 2003 SP2.
And in a about a month or so when the "Messaging and Security Feature Pack" is released, you'll be able to issue a remote wipe command, or enforce security policies on the phone. Right from Exchange.
The voice command works flawlessly. I've got instant access to anyone in my outlook contacts in realtime by just saying "Call so and so, mobile, or work" with no voice training.
Having IE, Pocket word and Excel, and other apps is awesome. I've only got to carry 1 device and it's everything for me. Phone, email, web browser, everything. I get about 90kbps nationwide and about 500kbps in big cities.
I honestly don't have 1 bad thing to say about this phone. I'm moving all the guys in my company over to them. Everyone can't wait to get one as I'm the only with 1 so far.
Check it out.....BTW did I say it F'in rocked?:D:D:D
You can install certs to it. I installed the certs for our servers on it so I can encrypt all of the Outlook Mobile Access and ActiveSync traffic. Hell you can VPN from it. It's even got a Terminal Services client, it's awesome.
I sync with my 2795 via Wifi. My boss has an HP hw6515 on Cingular and he syncs with Exchange OTA and it works like a champ. So no matter how you cut it, PPCs are the bomb.
I don't mind not being able to sync continuously in order to have a minimum size cell phone. In today's world hotspots are common enough that I can sync in enough places without issue. I would say that within 4 years the entire US (or at least the urban areas) will be covered in Wifi so needing a cellular connection will be pointless.
Annoyingly, they've removed wi-fi syncing in the newer versions of Activesync which you have to use for Wm 5.0 devices.
I've just picked up an HTC Wizard and Tornado (my variant has no wi-fi) - the keyboard on the Wizard is very nice and WM 5.0 seems surprisingly responsive, I find web browsing much better than on the X50V. Missing the 640x480 screen and 624Mhz processor but given the size and weight that's understandable. Only thing is the wi-fi slaughters the battery, has to be used very sparingly when you're away from the mains although USB charging is nice, especially since it uses a standard mini usb cable.
John
Which phones have 30GB onboard storage?Quote:
Originally Posted by ua549
John
Check out the XV6700 from Verizon (Also the PPC-6700 from Sprint)
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/s...edPhoneId=2200
Uses EVDO where available for high-speed broadband, 1X everywhere else cellular service is available.
Direct syncing to Exchange server, and once the update is released for the device, push e-mail will be unabled (When using Exchange 2003)
It's not a perfect phone/PDA, but it's about as close as there is right now.
I used to use my Pocket PC to syncronize with Outlook, view Excel Spreadsheets and play MP3's. But my new office doesn't allow us to install our own software, so I can't link up to Outlook. I hardly use it anymore. I do like the ability to browse the internet were Wifi is located and the touch screen is a nice feature.