Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Cell-phones-plus have arrived

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 02 Dec 2002 14:25:22 -0500

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Posted on Thu, Nov. 28, 2002

Cell-phones-plus have arrived

By Matthew Ericson

Inquirer Staff Writer

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY PETER TOBIA

Who uses a cell phone only to make calls? Among the devices are (clockwise from upper left) the Samsung N400, the Sony Ericsson T68i, the T-Mobile Pocket PC, the Handspring Treo, the LG VX-10, and the Motorola T720.

They shouldn't even really be called cell phones anymore.

This holiday season, a new generation of cellular devices offers color screens, games, Web browsers, even built-in or clip-on digital cameras.

The gadgets are coming to market in droves now that wireless companies are upgrading to faster networks that make it possible to transmit and receive data such as Web pages, e-mail and photos easily and quickly via cell phone.

Transmission speed on the new networks typically ranges from 30 to 80 kilobits per second, which is about the speed of a home computer's dial-up modem. As a result, calling up basketball scores, stock quotes, or an e-mail message from the Internet on your cell phone's screen is no longer as much of a time-consuming annoyance as it was with the previous generation of Web-enabled phones.

I spent the last few weeks testing a half-dozen of the latest high-tech phones - taking photos of coworkers, playing the puzzle game Tetris, downloading ring tones of TV shows from the 1970s, checking my e-mail. Did I mention playing Tetris?

When choosing a phone, remember that phone companies' networks generally are not compatible with one another. So in most cases, picking a certain phone locks you into using a particular company.

I tried out phones available for use on four major cell-phone networks that have begun offering the quicker transmission speeds in the Philadelphia area (Cingular will not be upgrading its network here until next year):

Motorola's T720, available for AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless.

LG Electronics' VX-10 (Verizon Wireless).

Samsung's N400 (Sprint PCS).

Sony Ericsson's T68i (AT&T Wireless)

Handspring's Treo, which blends a full-fledged Palm personal digital assistant with a phone (Sprint PCS).

T-Mobile's Pocket PC, also a PDA/phone combo, but based on Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system (T-Mobile).

There was no significant difference in the performance of the companies' networks. Each delivered data reliably and at reasonable speeds, and voice quality was good.

The phones that drew the most oohs and aahs from friends and coworkers were the ones with big color displays - in particular, the Samsung N400 and the Motorola T720.

Not only do their bigger, sharper displays make it easier to read e-mail, surf the Web, and view images; they also make navigating through normal phone functions easier.

For example, it is easier to see who is in your address book when the screen is big enough to display eight entries on the screen at once, as the Motorola can.

And for folks who will be reading gobs of e-mail wirelessly, a large, clear screen is helpful.

Sending e-mail unfortunately remains a tedious exercise when using a phone's numeric keypad, forcing you to press a button up to three times to produce a single letter of the alphabet; for that reason, if you will need to compose a lot of messages, consider one of the PDA/phone combos, which let you tap out letters on a small on-screen (T-Mobile Pocket PC) or physical (Treo) keyboard.

If you seek maximum portability, check out the Sony Ericsson T68i - small enough and, at less than 3 ounces, light enough to slip into a shirt pocket. It also offers excellent battery life.

The two phone/PDA combos, though much larger, should interest anyone who regularly hauls around both devices.

Previous attempts to mix phones and PDAs together resulted in clunky devices that were less than the sum of their parts. But these two show signs of finally getting there.

Both do a nice job of integrating the PDA with cell-phone functionality. To call someone in your address book, for example, you simply tap on a phone number you have called up on the PDA's screen.

Both also feature Web browsers that let you go to any Web site, not just those optimized for cell phones - although they do not always do a pretty job of displaying pages at non-optimized sites. Regardless, this is where the higher data speeds of the new networks really pay off.

Now, about all the fancy add-ons available for this new generation of phones - the melodious ringers, the downloadable games, the digital cameras.

The ringers can be fun, ranging from basic digital rings to a woman's voice that politely announces: "You have an incoming call" on the Motorola T720 - yet another way to annoy the person in the next cubicle.

Because of the size of a cell phone's screen, games - a highly touted feature - work best when you keep them simple: Tetris was quite playable, and Solitare could threaten to consume as much time on a cell phone as it does on desktop computers.

Of the phones I tested, the Sony Ericsson T68i and Samsung N400 came with optional clip-on digital cameras - a big "wow" factor, though in practice the pictures left a lot to be desired. There is no flash, no zoom lens, and the resolution - one-third of a megapixel - is a fraction of what you get in even low-end digital cameras.

For taking the occasional snapshot, they were adequate, but I suggest waiting for the next generation of devices if an integrated phone/camera is important to you. (Already, I have seen a demonstration of the Sanyo 5300 from Sprint PCS, a tiny flip-phone that includes a digital camera with flash.)

Of course, the true bottom line for any new cell phone must include the cost of service. Some company-specific numbers:

Sprint PCS took the first step last month in simplifying pricing by offering unlimited data transfer, Web browsing and e-mail for $10 per month, on top of voice service that starts at $30.

Verizon Wireless charges $6.95 per month for MobileWeb, which enables Web browsing and e-mail, on top of voice plans starting at $35. Time that you spend on the Web, checking e-mail or downloading counts against the voice minutes in your plan. (Downloading of "Get It Now" games and ring tones is available without a MobileWeb subscription.)

AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile both charge by the amount of data that you download each month, offering plans beginning at 1 megabyte of data.

AT&T Wireless, which calls its data service mMode, charges $12.99 per month for up to 4 megabytes, which allows for a moderate amount of reading e-mail and Web browsing. Voice plans start at $19.99.

T-Mobile charges $9.99 for 2 megabytes or $19.99 for 10 megabytes. Voice plans start at $19.99.

AT&T's Web site has a calculator to project your typical data usage at www.attws.com/mmode/popups/quiz.html.

Besides the monthly fees, downloading games, ringers and screen savers incurs an additional charge - usually ranging from $1 to $5 per item. For example, downloading Tetris from Sprint PCS cost $3. Ringers cost about $1 each.

A final piece of advice: After buying a new phone, test it out in the locations where you are likely to use it to make sure you get adequate coverage. The carriers all offer return policies for a limited period of time.

Contact Matthew Ericson at 215-854-4467 or [email-masked].

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