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Review of the Handspring Treo
axlrosen writes: "Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal reviews the new Handspring Treo, and loves it. 'For the past week, I have been carrying around a new hand-held, wireless device that is simultaneously the best personal digital assistant I have ever used and the most capable cellphone.'"
another pointless cell phone. how about making the networks better before trying to make kick-ass phones?
I think we have to work more on improving cellular and digital networks around the country/world before we get excited over some fancy new phone that can make a 5 course meal if you press *2211. What good is a phone like this if you don't have service? I live in Connecticut, and my StarTac doesn't work in my house, at my office, intermittently in NYC streets, and never in a subway train. Cool phones are great, but more service would be better.
My boss and I were looking at these this morning on handspring's site, and we came to the conclusion that they either look really good or really bad, depending on your point of view.
For PDA users, this is great because it's smaller than you're PDA and it's also a phone, so you don't have to carry another device.
Most phone users, though, don't have a PDA, so they won't get to carry fewer devices, and the form factor really sucks in comparison to the newer phones on the market. Plus, if a PDA was something they wanted to have, they'd have gotten one in addition to a phone already. Why carry something as bulky as my phone a year ago just to have a set of features I don't really want or need?
For me, this looks pretty cool. For most of the people I work with, it's just bulky and expensive.
Narrative
No metion of how well the PDA and native phone functions integrate. The Kyocera Palm OS phone is BAD at this, as you can't dial numbers out of synced contacts.
Anyone know how this unit handles this?
Note to Handspring (and whomever else):
Add voice recognition capability!
How many people have phones now that you can add voice tags to people's numbers? This should actually be rather easy to implement in the Treo, I'd imagine. (I didn't see it explicitly stated in the review.) Imagine just saying someone's name, and their business card comes up and it asks you if you want to dial their number. Sounds like a winning deal to me.
Other than that, add some Bluetooth or 802.11b capability in there. Then I can use this as an uplink for my laptop. Or I can beam business cards with RF instead of IR. Or imagine being able to zap someone your business card through SMS. That's another cool feature.
These devices are ALMOST there. We're almost to convergence, and I think I'll wait a generation or two and take another serious look at it.
Where the wind blows, the tumbleweed goes.
I only wish that companies like Handspring would consider the impact of their actions before unleashing something like this on innocent commuters.
I do agree that driving while distracted is a bad thing. I curse at more cellphone yakking drivers a day than anything else. But to say that the manufacturers of the device are to blame? I can't abide by that logic. The devices aren't to blame, it's the stupidity of the user. I tried talking on a cell phone and driving ONCE...and I realized how my driving suffered, so I never did it again. It seems some people are unable to make that logical jump, or they're unwilling to sacrifice that "convenience" to possibly save their life or someone else's.
Aside from that part of the argument, I don't see how a Treo makes the situation worse. Cell phones already exist, as do PDAs. Any of the above behavior is already out there, and I don't think the Treo's audience is Joe Blow. Most average folk won't pony up $400 for a phone when (insert phone company name here) is giving them away with service. Two handed dialing? Maybe that'll make em realize how stupid phone use and driving put together are when they can't dial without releasing the wheel.
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- While having a single standard is a good thing, having competition among multiple technologies is also a good thing
sPhMany US cell networks were built before GSM was created, and must provide legacy support for the older standards
In terms of voice quality, no system out there beats the original Motorola analog
While GSM is an impressive technical and political achievement, do remember that one of its unstated purposes was to prevent Motorola from dominating the EC mobile market the way it dominated the US, and to give Ericsson, Nokia, etc. a competitive edge. In this it succeeded, with assistance from poor management at Motorola of course
No state may have such laws, but many cities do.
And while I hate the idiots that are talking on the phone while they're driving, you also have to face the facts. Wish I could find a reference, but on the news around a year ago, I saw some statistics about the apparent causes of accidents. Number one cause was food, at 21%, I believe. Futzing with the radio was at 11%, methinks. Should there be laws against eating while driving, or having a stereo which has no on-wheel controls?
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
This, like many innovations, is just another step. Handsprings are slightly more modular than other forms of PDAs, while still having the minimal power consumption associated with palm pilots.
Many people, including myself, believe that the next frontier of technology is small, portable devices that communicate with each other wirelessly, though each device has a specialized function.
In order to make that happen, we need to start with devices such as handhelds - which CAN be easily specialized through software, and which have readily available wireless capability.
Its true that its "Just another handheld," similar to all of the other handhelds, but its more functional. Its not like another model car, which is exactly like the previous model, except that its "new and improved" (i.e. new and the current fashion); this is another piece of the puzzle.
And IT DOES MATTER that its slightly more functional. The advent of the 386 chipset allowed a whole new class of problems to be solvable that where previously too slow to do research - I know that this is the case for my field, which is computer vision. As time progresses, even more problems are being researched.
I'm looking forward to using technology such as this -perhaps even this model - in the near future (when it becomes pretty inexpensive - perhaps two or three years from now) as a module for home automation - it would be just about perfect for the purpose.
Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
... is simple. It's what people are used to, and what they expect. I know exactly where to find a "A", or an "R", on a QWERTY keyboard. I don't want to have to re-learn this just for my handheld.
what are you talking about? GSM 900 *IS* used pretty much everywhere in the world. The only GSM 1800 only networks are in scattered places in India, as I recall.
George W. Bush
President, United States of America
One thing you fail to realize, I (and others in the US, thus, partially, the lack of the option) don't want super-integrated, ultra-bitchin', mega-color, web-surfin' on a screen that is 2" by 2". What I really want is an easy way to hook my computer (whether that be a handheld, laptop, whatever) into my cell phone so that I can dial into any service I want, not just the distilled pablum that the cell-phone companies try to shove down my throat because someone paid them an ass-load of cash. I've seen the 'wireless web', and it's just ugly. I didn't even use it during the free trial period. God knows I'm not going to pay for it.
I don't want integrated everything because something always gets left out in the process. Whether it's ease of use, ability to expand, ability to use it on a plane ("sir, you'll have to turn off your phone," what then?), easy to find batteries, what have you.
Damn, where did all that vitreol come from. That was a little more brutal than I intended. The message is, however, clear. I don't care about having ready access to movies and audio and internet on my cell phone because I have much better means of accessing it already available virtually everywhere.
it's not from a lack of technology, it's a lack of interest. US residents is used to doing everything from their desktops, including surfing the web etc... Japanese and Europeans aren't used to this and that leads into...
Why are cell phones much more popular in Europe/Japan? Because land-lines are much less popular because of the per-minute rates etc... they don't have that unlimited local calls
which leads into the fancy-schmancy cell phones they have... they aren't used to using dial-up to reach the web... that's too expensive. so they *only* have internet access through their cell-phones...
these are generalities, of course... there are exceptions
Why are cell phones much more popular in Europe/Japan? Because land-lines are much less popular because of the per-minute rates etc... they don't have that unlimited local calls
Why are cell phones less popular in America? I've heard rumours that Americans have to pay to receive calls. I hope it's not true, but if it is, it's something that needs fixing.
which leads into the fancy-schmancy cell phones they have... they aren't used to using dial-up to reach the web... that's too expensive. so they *only* have internet access through their cell-phones...
That may be true for Japan, but it certainly isn't for Europe. By and large we don't access the internet on our mobiles, and we do by dialup.
I appreciate that you're talking mostly about Japan, of course. Just a European perspective. :)
1) learn to spell
2) realize that you look like a typical leftist fool, deciding that the things that you have are "necessary" whilst the things that others have are "unnecessary luxuries".
You people crack me up. Contrary to your idealistic view, the vast majority of cellphones have simple monochrome screens. And while color PDA's (like Sony's N610C) are starting to get cheap enough to be widely used by average consumers (as opposed to 'prosumers'), many people still use monochrome PDA's. I have both a cellphone and monochrome PDA; the Treo makes perfect sense for consolidating the number of devices I need to carry around. Also, instead of having two different address books, I'll have all my contacts in one unified book. What's not to love?
Oh, puh-lease.
The accidents that can be shown to have been caused by cellphone usage are still a tiny fraction of accidents. Most studies I've read say it's something like 2%, which is far below a lot of other distractions. If you're going to outlaw cellphone usage, how about:
- Talking to others in the car. (I see people so into a conversation they're all over the road).
- Eating/Drinking.
- Fiddling with the stereo.
- Putting on makeup
- Shaving.
- Driving while tired.
etc...
Hell, you can buy a car with a fucking TV in it these days! How screwed up is that? And don't tell me it's just for the kiddies in the back seat, I've seen plenty of models where the TV is far enough forward that it could easily be a distraction to the driver.
How about people start taking some responsibility for their actions for a change? If you can't handle a phone and drive at the same time, then don't do it. I know that I can, as long as it's a short conversation that doesn't require much thought (i.e. I'm going to the store, need anything?).
Cell phone usage in cars when related to accidents is getting a horrible rap for 2 reasons:
1. Yes, some buffoons can't handle the phone and drive... then again, there's a pretty damn high percentage of people on the road that can't drive worth a damn even without distractions. I'd rather get those people off the road before outlawing cellphones.
2. The cell phone users are the easiest to see in comparison to most other distractions. It's really easy to see them holding a phone up to their ear for minutes at a time.
- My favorite error message: xscreensaver, running on an old Sparc 5 w/ 8bit color: bsod: Couldn't allocate color Blue
One thing you fail to realize, I (and others in the US, thus, partially, the lack of the option) don't want super-integrated, ultra-bitchin', mega-color, web-surfin' on a screen that is 2" by 2". What I really want is an easy way to hook my computer (whether that be a handheld, laptop, whatever) into my cell phone so that I can dial into any service I want, not just the distilled pablum that the cell-phone companies try to shove down my throat because someone paid them an ass-load of cash. I've seen the 'wireless web', and it's just ugly. I didn't even use it during the free trial period. God knows I'm not going to pay for it.
That is exactly why the iMode concept isn't going to fly in the USA. Who wants a screen that is essentially a tiny cartoon-like color display that is not that useful? For American cellphone users, they'd rather wait for larger displays with full Palm OS functionality on their 3G phones so at least the cellphone have some real functionality for a change. The other thing Americans will probably want is the cdma2000 digital cellular format so high-speed data transfers over cellullar connections (read at least 256 kilobits per second bi-directional) becomes useful for laptop users.
I'll bite. What makes the Kyocera 6035 so terrible? My girlfriend and I were looking at getting one for Christmas. Personally, we think the Treo is butt-ugly, and the Kyocera looks much sleeker and easier to work with. The VisorPhone is practically right out, unless you use the headset exclusively. But please - Tell me what's wrong with the Kyocera.
"Mod, mod, mod...and another troll bites the dust."
Had you read the article, you'd know that a headset is included.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
I'm going to have to disagree that it's the same as having a conversation with somebody next to you in the car.
Phone conversations are traditionally continuous and uninterrupted. We've all been trained to use them that way, and the people on the other side of the conversation expect it as well. Phone conversations take up higher priorities (re-nice'd if you will) in our brain than conversations with other passengers.
Other passengers are far more likely to accept and expect breaks in the conversation due to traffic and driving issues. They often will break the conversation themselves to warn of impending dangers. You don't feel bad about not answering for a while if something needs attention while talking to a passenger, as usually they know what caused the delay.
Phone conversations are inherently more dangerous because we're expected to and pretty much always do devote more of our attention to them.
"No, no, no. Don't tug on that. You never know what it might be attached to."
I agree, the future isn't in the handsets, its in the wearables.
:)
But I disagree that the size should matter.
Size doesn't matter, usage and implementation does.
I believe we will see even smaller devices that will succeed, but not just for any application or in any environment.
In the US and many other places you can forget about any 'real' data communication using a pda device until the service issue has been sorted out. But in Europe where GSM is good and you can almost smell the 3G networks, and Japan where the networks are extraordinaire, its the other way around. The service is there. We scream for devices that are not just a mobile phone with a game and some SMS features. Here the market are ripe, so if the American manufacturers wants some business, all they need to do is deliver the advances products and launch it here with the same initiatives they would have done in the States. But mark my words if they are not going for keeps they should rather stay away and leave it up to japs and eurotrash such as yours truely
Here we have the service and even if the device is the size of a wristwatch, if only implemented with the right applications to suit the environment, it will rock the blueeyed danish and swedish blondes panties off.
my favourite fantasy, should I have the opportunity, would be my own personal modified version of the wristwatch from IBM labs in Zurich which are equipped with microphone, bluetoothed earplugs, linux, sandisc flashcard, 1.3inches color display and camera combined with webservices applications for advanced management (and later on blessed with a projector or visor and 'virtual keyboard'). Even without the wishware in the parantheses you would have a client device that in collaboration with web services would give you so many new advantages to make you daily life simpler and more organized, that leaves you with more time for real fun.
imagine the applications with the programmable device connected to the internet utilizing administration and communication software that sorts and organize all the information and makes it available to and for you, on your command.
when the IBM wristwatch with linux was covered here on slashdot a while back I posted some of my fantasies as well and I made a small note about if IBM, Nokia, Ericsson should be interested, I would be happy to cooperate. Amazingly some good IBM professor from Zurich wrote me an email encouraging me to take contact. Greetings to you, if you should read this again. I would love to at least initiate some sort of communication regarding the subject. Unfortunately I lost your address when my thinkpad's harddrive suddenly said: NO MORE. so just to leave it up to mr. chance here is my address again: caspera@sophistic.com
Why did I just write all this again?
I agree. I would much rather be able to hook my laptop or PDA up to my cell phone and use that.
My current phone is a Samsung SCH-3500 on Sprint's network. I bought it because I read it got good reception and did everything I wanted it to - voice dialing, and Caller-ID I can see without flipping the phone open. It is also small enough that I can keep it in my pocket during the day.
There is going to be a struggle to figure out what size screen everyone wants. If it is such a useful product (phone, PDA, etc.) that I am going to keep it on my person every hour of the day, it had better be small enough that I can do so comfortably. At the same time, if it is going to do everything, I want to do those things (browse the web, check contact information, and take notes) in comfort. This generally means a large enough screen and a decent input device.
These two things are always going to be at odds with each other. About the only soultion I can come up with is either a highly-foldable screen or some sort of projection device (the hologram-type imaging you see in SciFi movies).
I have my Samsung phone and my Handspring Visor Neo. Until someone comes up with a device integrating those those with the form-factor of the phone (or even smaller) and with the screen size of the Visor, I will stick with the seperate parts.
- (c) 2018 Hank Zimmerman