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For a phone that beats this and will be available in the US in 60 days, check out the SonyEricsson P800. A REAL cell phone, with REAL PDA functionality (including size-reduced HTML rendering cia Opera browser). Already tested and getting rave reviews, too.

This is strikingly similar to the P800. I am not sure how they compare spec for spec, but the P800 is Microsoft free!. (It uses Symbian instead.) I was holding out for the P800 until I was able to get the T68i on Amazon for $25. Comparing just the looks, the P800 wins. Plus, it has a pad to flip over the screen so you can both protect it and dial with real buttons.

This is strikingly similar to the P800. I am not sure how they compare spec for spec, but the P800 is Microsoft free!. (It uses Symbian instead.) I was holding out for the P800 until I was able to get the T68i on Amazon for $25. Comparing just the looks, the P800 wins. Plus, it has a pad to flip over the screen so you can both protect it and dial with real buttons.

The Nokia 7650 is in my opinon, the best of the currently available smartphones. It has a stable, open OS, with a nice gui, 4mb ram, internal VGA camera, and a nice display(which is big enough for most PDA-uses while small enough to be economical power-wise). Nokia are even suplying a free Series 60 SDK.

The 3650, which internaly is a triband 7650 with an added MMC memory-expansion port, will be released early 2003, and are in my opinion the best approach for smartphones yet. Ofcourse, some ppl will argue that the Sony Ericson P800 is a better aproach, but in my opinion, it's a souped up PDA with phone functionality, not a true smartphone.

Reviews of the nokia 7650 here, and previews of the Nokia 3650 and the Sony Ericsson P800.

My phone already does this. I have AT&T's GSM service and I can find stuff reasonably close to where I am. Oh, there's a press release about it. My experience with the location service is pretty favorable, the "find-a-friend" feature is fun to show off too.

The automatic alarm feature on the PalmOS is incredible. I have some issues with UI, but overall I've loved using my Samsung I300. However, I just bought a Sony Ericsson T68i with Bluetooth, IR port, Calendar, and a camera. IMO, the PDA/Cell Phone convergence is most important. I HATE carrying around 2 separate devices when one will do. BTW, email me at if you are interested in purchasing my I300 :) --Joe

The Ericsson P800 is trying to be such a device. A moblie phone/PDA/MP3 Player. it has Java and Bluetooth. It has a headphone jack and uses mini-memorysticks (MemoryStick Duo) to hold mp3s or whatever. It runs the Symbian operating system. Its also not for sale yet, supposedly its coming out in January 2003.

I just bought a Sony Ericsson T300. It's a wonderful phone. Basically the only thing that the T68i does that this doesn't is Bluetooth. For my $149 (Only $99 after rebate) I got a triple-band GSM phone with great reception, incredible battery life (Lithium-Polymer; 7.5 hours of talk, 300 hours standby), GPRS acces, both POP3 and IMAP4 support, AIM, WAP, two-way SMS, MMS, a 640x480 color digital camera, headset (which I'll never use, but some people can't live without them), 256 color display, IR port that can communicate with other phones or handheld devices, 500 contact memory (8 fields per contact), four built-in games (you can download more for free), and the really important thing to me - it's small. I was going to go for a smaller Samsung or Motorola flip phone, but the combination of price, GPRS, and battery life made me get this model instead. I will probably get the USB cable and pray for iSync compatibility. Otherwise, I can always send emails with attached vCards to keep my laptop's address book in sync with the phone. Also, the menu is very easy to navigate on this phone.

A friend of mine bought a T68i last month and returned it within a week. He said that it works wonderfully with iSync, but the Bluetooth totally drained the battery, and he was getting about 1 hour of talk time, and at most 15 hours standby. A guy from T-Mobile said that he's heard of this issue on the original T68 and early T68is, so it's possible that AT&T Wireless just had older boxes sitting around, but it was enough to make me not want one. In the short time I've had the T300, it's been phenomenal. The sound quality is great, the reception is good, even indoors, and I really only have one complaint: the interchangable faceplates are not available yet, so for now I'm stuck with dark green when I really want blue.

Ericsson has already teamed-up with Sony for the mobil segment
sonyericsson

• Nokia 6650
• Sony Ericsson T68i
• Motorola Timeport 270c

Sony Ericsson P800 it kicks the llamas arse.

You're just a bit behind the times.

I bought an Ericsson T68i phone because of iSync and its connection to the phone via Bluetooth -- lets you also send SMS from the computer. Nothing sucks more about a cell phone than trying to use the keypad to enter phone book items. Plus the Ericsson T68 is pretty much a Palm killer with its Calendar and voice recorder.

Logitech isn't Anoto's only licensee. Sounds like you're talking about Sony Ericsson's Chatpen. It's suddenly hard to find on their website, though... makes you wonder whether they're having second thoughts about shipping it.

Apple iSync + Ericsson T68i = Heaven

"By all-in-one I mean I want a Digital Camera/Cell Phone/Pager/mp3 player/PDA with wireless networking all in one no bigger than palm-sized package."

Hmmm... the Sony Ericsson P800, will have a built in VGA-camera, MP3-player, 32bit OS(Symbian 7.0), bigger thouchscreen than most Palms(320x280x12bit), bluetooth(okay, not exactly WLan), and Sony Memorystick expansion slot. Ofcourse, it won't be released in a while, but it comes pretty close to what you want, doesn't it? :)

I am not familiar with these technologies, but BREW looks to me like the american competitor to the european Symbian OS (also open and targeting C++ and Java, and with ARM based terminals already available). I say that because current Symbian phones include the Sony-Ericsson P800 (coming soon) and the Nokia 7650, although these both have a built in camera. You can download the SDK for each of these phones from each manufacturer site too, but I haven't checked if a compiler is included.

Alex

Why would I spend $99 on a monochrome, no-backlight Palm when I can get:

o 256 Color screen
o Complete Calendar/Organizer/Todo/etc.
o Contact Management
o Wireless, always-on Internet access (GPRS)
o Built-in IMAP and POP3 support
o SMS, MMS, WAP
o T9 text input (far faster than I could ever get with Graffiti)
o Voice recorder
o Voice control
o Built-in Bluetooth and Infrared
o SyncML for synchronization with my desktop
o 4-5 days battery life
o 1/3 the size/weight of a Palm
o intuitive Joystick for menu navigation

Oh yeah, it's a cell phone, too. And I can use it anywhere in the world. And it was only $50 after various AT&T and Best Buy rebates.

T68i

There's at least one phone that will work in America which can do that (if the network supports picture transmission - otherwise, you could send it via email if you have GPRS).

It's the Sony Ericsson T68i and it'll work very happily on VoiceStream, because it's a tri-band GSM phone. Aside from the camera, it also has BlueTooth, POP3, and some elite easter eggs :-)

Perhaps the 6035 is in the same price range, but only because it's been discontinued for a few months now. The 6035 is also grayscale. You also cannot get unlimited data with the 6035. The Samsung i300 is color, but it's also over $350, isn't available with unlimited data, and Samsung has yet to release the SDK for it. The PalmOS devices that best compare to the Sidekick are the Treo's because they offer full-text keyboards. But, yet again, they don't come with unlimited data plans, and the only Treo that is in the same price-range as the Sidekick is grayscale. I've used several different combo phone/PDA units, and each is going to have several pros and a cons. I've yet to see even anything coming in the next year or so that will be the "killer" combo unit, although a few like the upcoming Samsung i500 and Kyocera 7135 "flip" Palm units as well as the Sony/Ericsson P800 unit are interesting.

compare to this, that smartphone looks like an old nanny.

You don't sound like a habitual cellphone user. I am one, and I can tell you that I have developed a scary reliance on a number of features (SMS messaging, the built in alarm clock, caller-ID-associative ringtones, tetris, etc) - all developed after your 10 number speed dial. There is nothing I wish for more than a completely integrated PDA/phone/camera/mp3 player/web browser, etc.

And guess what - it's coming soon (RSN ;-). Ericsson's P800 is due out early next year (revised date), with all those features - and MPEG4, Java, everything crammable into a 150mhz ARM processor with 16mb memory.

Check it out

I know it's what I've dreamed of, and I bet you that many other (geek and non-geek) people have dreamt of it too.

I work for a cellular equipment company. To help get our newbies/co-ops/etc up to speed, I put together a brief explanation of the standards and how they evolved into the current mess. You can read it here.

By the way, my company made one GSM1900/AMPS850 phone, the CF888. From what I can tell, it did not sell very well, and operator support was a little sketchy (there are a lot technical details to get inter-network roaming to work properly).

Sony Ericsson P800

Symbian

Tech people have been drooling over this one for a long time .. forget carrying two devices.

"Think about it, it doesn't make sense to spend time and effort syncing your PDA, your Phone, your iPod, and your desktop. It makes a lot more sense to start putting them into one device, and syncing that to your desktop."

Well, Sony Ericsson's soon-to-be-released P800, will have both PDA-functionality(using SymbianOS 7.0), big(320x208x12bit) color screen, a built in digital camera, a dedicated mp3-decoderchip, a memorystick slot, and triband cellular functionality all in one device.

"Think about it, it doesn't make sense to spend time and effort syncing your PDA, your Phone, your iPod, and your desktop. It makes a lot more sense to start putting them into one device, and syncing that to your desktop."

Well, Sony Ericsson's soon-to-be-released P800, will have both PDA-functionality(using SymbianOS 7.0), big(320x208x12bit) color screen, a built in digital camera, a dedicated mp3-decoderchip, a memorystick slot, and triband cellular functionality all in one device.

It seems as if they have come way to late to market with this phone , sure they might sell a few units, but compared to the tech Japan's 3G I-Mode and Europe's devices this all-in-one is a glorified calculator

Lets look at the competition

Nokia 7650
Integrated digital camera,
picture taking and sending, MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), photo album for storing pictures, GPRS, an advanced user interface, downloadable personal applications via Java(TM) technology, joystick navigation and a color display

Sony Ericcson T68i
Bluetooth(TM) ,Built-in modem ,Calendar,Contacts
E-mail (POP3 & IMAP4),Game, MMS (Multimedia Messaging Services) ,MMS templates, Mobile chat , Picture Phonebook ,Phonealbum ,Sync ML
Synchronization with PC,Vibrating Call Alert,Voice Dialling ,Wallpaper

Trium Mondo (mitsubishi)
WAP 1.1,Currency converter,Games,Handsfree built in,Web browser (Pocket Explorer),E-mail (Pocket Outlook),Touch screen with 16 grey levels,Voice recorder,MP3 reader,PDA compatible,Auto-adjust world clock,Document storage,GPRS (General Packet Radio Service),Fax and data capabilities

(these links are all 2.5g tech as well, i didnt dare link to japans 3g phones/pda's to save Danger the embarrasment.)

Now i can buy all these products right now in my high street and have been able to for 6 months , and Danger have a device that should of been marketed 2years ago and is sadly lacking, it might be ok for the USA market but in Japan and Europe where devices are seen not only for their features (video/color screens etc)but for their fashion appeal and asthetics this device is dead in the water before its even released.

In all i think Danger have some catching up to do or revise their target market before entering this domain

According to SonyEricsson filings to the FCC, the hardware of the T68i is identical to that of the T68 - it's just a new cover, new back, and different coloured LEDs behind the keypad.

The rest of the differences are in the software. In most markets that T68i is available in, SonyEricsson have made a software update available for the T68 - effectively transforming it into a T68i. The software upgrade has been available in most of Europe and Asia for a few months now. Down here in Australia, we're still waiting for it and the T68i to be officially released.

There are currently two different models of snap-on cameras ("CommuniCam") for these phones.

The original CommuniCam is the MCA-10, which works with the original T68 and a few of Ericsson's older phones.

The new model is the the MCA-20, which currently works only with the T68i, afaik.

The older model has an inbuilt viewfinder, and most of the 'brains' are within the camera itself - the phone is little more than a data device. The newer model has no inbuilt viewfinder - you do the viewfinding on the phone screen itself. More of the processing has been moved into the phone; so the phone now stores the images internally, and can use them for MMS (multimedia messaging), screen backgrounds, caller number presentation, etc.

According to SonyEricsson filings to the FCC, the hardware of the T68i is identical to that of the T68 - it's just a new cover, new back, and different coloured LEDs behind the keypad.

The rest of the differences are in the software. In most markets that T68i is available in, SonyEricsson have made a software update available for the T68 - effectively transforming it into a T68i. The software upgrade has been available in most of Europe and Asia for a few months now. Down here in Australia, we're still waiting for it and the T68i to be officially released.

There are currently two different models of snap-on cameras ("CommuniCam") for these phones.

The original CommuniCam is the MCA-10, which works with the original T68 and a few of Ericsson's older phones.

The new model is the the MCA-20, which currently works only with the T68i, afaik.

The older model has an inbuilt viewfinder, and most of the 'brains' are within the camera itself - the phone is little more than a data device. The newer model has no inbuilt viewfinder - you do the viewfinding on the phone screen itself. More of the processing has been moved into the phone; so the phone now stores the images internally, and can use them for MMS (multimedia messaging), screen backgrounds, caller number presentation, etc.

and go Ericsson P800 :)

http://www.sonyericsson.com/cebit/p800.htm

I am suprised no one has mentioned this yet as this appears to be the first truly killer integrated solution to come along. Phone sized, with a decent display, bluetooth, java, gprs, camera, memory expansion and lots more rolled up in a symbian (psion) os.

And I'm not even Trolling! I am really jealouse, I have been dreaming about a setup like that for a while now! I think possibly the only thing that would be more cooler(not necessarliy more usefull) would be a cellphone/bluetooth card that would alow you to just have a palmpilot, and a bluetooth headset. Possibly the addition of voice dialing like on that stupid ('pet-za' comercial, they work better than advertised btw) that and a bluetooth home phone and car phone, that would switch you between the different phones based on location.

I hear that. I too was dreaming of a setup like this, not even realizing that it existed until I finally decided to join the 20th century and get a cell phone. :) I've got an Ericsson T60d (possibly the phone fubar104 has?) for which I can purchase a bluetooth module and a bluetooth headset. The phone also comes with voice dialing and, when using a handsfree setup, a more full voice command system allowing you to do most of your basic features such as answer and reject calls, etc. I haven't used much more than the voice dialing features yet, as I haven't purchased a headset yet. Also, the bluetooth module and headset are unfortunately pretty expensive for a poor college student. On the plus side, however, this phone does come with a standard 2.5mm headset jack, unlike a lot of other phones, so any old $15 headset will work with it. Still, it's nice to be able to dream and imagine that if I somehow came into a lot of money, I would be able to afford the bluetooth module and headset. :)

One thing the parent didn't mention, is that using bluetooth, the phone can be used as a wireless modem for your laptop. (OK, so I think it can, but I'll admit to not knowing a whole lot about bluetooth, so somebody please correct me if I'm wrong on this.)

I have had an Ericsson T39m mobile phone, that can talk to the PC (software included) through cables, infrared and bluetooth for over a year. I do this Apple trick all the time. What is all the fuzz about?

I agree, geewhiz tech gizmos suck, especially if they don't show up. Here's the kicker though: most of the stuff that Steve Jobs showed off exists! It's called iSync (to be released later around 10.2), combined with the features of 10.2 and bluetooth. You can buy a DLink DWB-120M USB Adapter to get the bluetooth connectivity. You can buy the Palm Bluetooh SD Card to get your palm working. You can buy a Sony Ericsson T68 phone to get the actual phone part of it working. They even have a MacWorld link embellishing both Apple and Sony on bluetooth. For Apple, this Bluetooth stuff is demonstratable *and* purchaseable.

I agree, geewhiz tech gizmos suck, especially if they don't show up. Here's the kicker though: most of the stuff that Steve Jobs showed off exists! It's called iSync (to be released later around 10.2), combined with the features of 10.2 and bluetooth. You can buy a DLink DWB-120M USB Adapter to get the bluetooth connectivity. You can buy the Palm Bluetooh SD Card to get your palm working. You can buy a Sony Ericsson T68 phone to get the actual phone part of it working. They even have a MacWorld link embellishing both Apple and Sony on bluetooth. For Apple, this Bluetooth stuff is demonstratable *and* purchaseable.

• Full calendar which can synchronise with the desktop
• Pervasive T9 throughout its interface
• It's an open platform, so apps will be written to play MP3s and Ogg Vorbis (though it doesn't come with them as standard)
• 100-150hrs standby
• Speakerphone & good quality audio
• Full colour screen
• Notepad, voice recorder (and voice dialling)
• GPRS, HSCSD, and Bluetooth

For example, someone's already written a MPEG 4 video recorder for the phone, which I frankly find amazing.

Oh, PS... it won't work in the US. But you could wait a few months for the Sony Ericsson P800, which will do.

Check it out here.

Yes, I think Sony is often cleverer than people realise. Everybody sees Microsoft attempting to muscle in on Sony's territory with the X-Box, but what few can see is that Sony is actually in a very good position to own the future of the what we call "personal computing".

I think the reason people can't see it is that they expect there to be an evolution of the desktop. However, mobile devices are increasingly where it's at, and it's an area in which Microsoft are much weaker than the desktop. I believe Sony's partnership with Ericsson points to the future, and it's a future that doesn't include MS.

With Sony's strengths in electronics and global distribution, the PlayStation, their partnership with Ericsson in the mobile world, the fact that they are also a massive content provider, their strong Vaio laptop range - Microsoft have a lot to worry about with Sony. It wouldn't really suprise me at all if Sony's ten year plan involves small and neat laptop style communication devices which don't include any MS software. If I had to place bets on the future of computing, my money's with Sony, not Microsoft.

You already can...

I have two phones, and between them they are everything I need. When I'm working, I carry a Nokia 9210, and when I'm out chilling with friends or clubbing, I carry a Sony Ericsson T66.

The 9210 is a real powerhouse of a phone, with a word processor, spreadsheet, internet access, excellent messaging facilities, massive contact database, etc - but it's a bit much to carry around. The T66 is tiny, and yet fully functional as a phone - it weighs in at around 60g (2oz).

I have all but given up on finding the perfect phone for all occasions, I listed what I thought might be my perfect PDA on slashdot a while back, but I can't see it happening any time soon. The only solution to me is to vary my device depending on the circumstances - each device does what it's designed for very well indeed, but one device trying to do everything invariably fails completely.

-- Pete.

Look at Pluetooth handsfree kits: HBH-20 Headset HBH-30

SonyEricsson P800? The only hangup seems to be the relatively small hard drive. But it's got a digital camera, color screen, stylus, cell phone, xhtml-compatible web browser, PDA, etc... Check out the 3D animations, if you can get the plugin.

I would like to point out the SonyEricsson P800 though (look in the products->coming soon). It is another phone running the Symbian OS, but a newer version. It will use the new UIQ interface, so it will have a touch screen and a stylus! It is also smaller than the 9290. It supports GPRS, and bluetooth as well. Oh ya, it has a digital camera built in too...:) It "should" be around $600-700 as well. It is also a world phone. Too bad it isn't coming out till this fall (probably later this year I'm guessing though).

One thing I would like to know about the 9290: Does it support Mac OS X? I don't know if the P800 will yet either. SonyEricsson said they won't know till later if the P800 will.

Another phone that has been on slashdot is the HipTop over a Danger This phone should be out really soon. They told me end of May begining of June...but that is now. So we will see...:)

Hope that is some intresting news for everyone! If anyone has any power at sonyericsson, I would LOVE to test a P800...:)

serff

My employer was nice enough to supply me with an Ericsson R380e. It is also Symbian based, with a (in my eyes) nicer design than the Nokia.
It has a flipable keypad which reveals a tapscreen. What I like about it is the stylus, the "inbox", voicecontrol (answering calls and calling "voicemarks") and the size.
Downsides are batterytime which Nokia are superior in and it's a bit sluggy in the menus.
The built in email client has pop3 and IMAP support.
It also has WAP support (altho, I consider WAP generally useless, unless someone can direct me to where I can read /. in my WAP browser).

>Can anyone point to any actual useful uses it's been put to so far?

yep. sonyericsson t68 plus any bluetooth laptop or palmtop means you can do sync/ Net/ data stuff with no cable, line of sight, etc.

yeah 802 is cool, but yeck it's expensive plus new Europe cellphones don't come with it as standard.

You don't need to worry about getting your 802 connected, you can roam with no worries about local datacentres..It's not competing, just different.

it suck's

I cant sync it with my linux box
it uses old mcore like cpu (non arm/mips)
and it looks silly

get a

Nokia 7650

or take alook at how GUI should be done (looks nice like java swing done right)
symbian interface

and see it on a small phone

look for p800 photo's

regards

john jones

Actually, according to the 3D display on their website, the keypad is supposed to snap off.

I have forgotten to lock my phone, but I've also forgotten to shut off my Palm when looking up phone numbers:
Johnkallllqllql: R

The official page is a bit on the lean side, but the "3d animation" (win only) allows you to get a good look at it.

The T28 sold in the US is 1900/900Mhz whereas the T29 sold in Europe is 1800/900Mhz.

As most Europeans have no clue about the US market (and vice-versa) the mistake is often made.

The T28 sold in the US is 1900/900Mhz whereas the T29 sold in Europe is 1800/900Mhz.

As most Europeans have no clue about the US market (and vice-versa) the mistake is often made.