Comments on: Kyocera Planning Smartphone with MP3 Player, SD Slot (Updated)

On a related note, I bought into the early Treo hype and bought the 180. I turned in my Clie 760C and Nokia phone and went with the integrated product. It worked very well and was, surprisingly, better than advertised. Ultimately I must admit that I simply did not enjoy the union of the two devices. However, although I did not enjoy having my phone and pda combined, the form factor of the Treo was outstanding. I have since returned to a traditional cell phone and have picked up a Treo 90 to go with it. The Clie definately had the better screen and a few more options but, although I am an admitted graffiti loyalist, the Treo form factor is far more usable for me than any other pda I have owned. I guess I prefer to carry a pda, cell phone and mp3 player rather than have them all rolled up into one device.

Just my two cents worth....

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing these products. They are technological marvels and are all outstanding products. However, as Handspring seems to be finding out, just how ready is the general public for integrated products? The introduction of the Treo 90, at least in part, seems to imply that Handspring is learning a valauble lesson. While there exists a market for integrated products and they are the future, that future is still a long way off. Kyocera did a great job with this product, as Handspring and Samsung did with theirs, and I applaud their innovation. I simply wonder how long it will take for consumers, in the USA at least, to accept this type of product.

There is nothing that says this is 320x320. In fact, some people have speculated that since Kyocera isn't touting the actual resolution of the screen, what they really mean is that it is 160x160 - 'hi-res' compared to a standard cell-phone.

As of March the figures were

Asian Pacific 43,480,000
North America 52,890,000
Caribbean & Latin America 22,023,000
Europe, Middle East & Africa 120,218,000

I think that the Kyocera device is a Samsung Bluechip killer, not a Treo Killer. Unlike a Treo, you cannot use these smartphones all over the world.

Kyocera a Treo killer? Doubtful, but you never know. My tendancy is to believe that the only thing that will kill the Treo line is Handspring itself. For such a smart and innovative group of people they make some odd business decisions. As for the new phones from Kyocera and Samsung, as well as the Treo 270 & 300, I think they are great. Go Palm OS!

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russ@russb.fsnet.co.uk

As far as the USA goes, GSM's great for world travelers and people who only visit large cities. For the rest of us here, CDMA rules.

Bottom Line: every major service provider barring Sprint has started switching to GSM. This includes Verizon, who has it in test markets.

I'm also seeing some posters over at PalmBlvd who have put their AT&T GSM SIM cards in their Treos and gotten it to work, minus the GPRS (which makes it no different than what is available from Cingular and VoiceStream).

Therefore, everybody get ready to go over to GSM within 3 years. Period.

Oh, and Sprint's decision is purely based on people's view of the shaky ground they stand on. They're switching to 2.5G because it's cheaper, and will only involve a modification to their GSM system. Interesting choice. Can't say that I care. They don't have their sh*t together, period.

I wouldn't hold my breath for OS5. I don't even see why Palm bothers releasing it. What's important is what comes after OS5.

Scott

Yes, but a folding keyboard completely changes how the device would be used and significantly detracts from its portability. As for Graffiti -- I think most studies have shown that thumboarding is faster, and even the best Graffiti artist has to use a stylus, something not required with a thumboard.

Kyocera: Add a thumboard to this device.

I have used a thumboard -- and I was completely able to avoid the need for a stylus. The Blackberry didn't have one.

I've keep saying this over and over again. To whomever said that they were able to eliminate the need for a stylus, just what do you use your Treo for? Just dialing phone numbers and SMS messaging? If you're running even a small number of Palm OS apps, you will definitely need the stylus.

As was just stated, the Blackberry was designed from the ground up to be used with a thumbboard and scroll wheel. The Treo grafted a thumbboard onto the Palm OS and it doesn't work as well.

Scott

It's got a Graffiti area. Sure, you can live without it, but I personally like the ease and convenience of the command stroke to do many basic things, as well as the freedom to scribble out my thoughts.

Then there's the phone keypad. Maybe for all of us "Graffiti-vs-thumbpad" PDA-oriented users, it wouldn't be obvious, but to all the SMS-ers used to a phone keypad, that IS a thumboard. And, as my dad used to say, there are more of them than there are of us: I'd be willing to bet more people use, and are used to, cellphones than PDAs. Add all the international SMS users, and that's a lot of market base.

And finally, for those longer emails, word processing, or even those novels, Kyocera says there will be a full-size folding keyboard. (Of course, if Samsung plans to offer one too, then their device also covers all the input bases.)

The upshot: More or less, and certainly by the lights of most cell-phone users, it's GOT a thumboard. And, unlike the Treo (non-g), it's got Graffiti too. Depending on size comparisons and plan offerings, this makes it very competitve to the Treo, in my opinion.

The above comment on this device having all three input options was mine, and I logged in prior to posting it. But apparently using the "back" button to get back to the "post comment" screen invalidates this.

Could login boxes be included on the same screen where you post your comments? When I'm reading a thread and I'm suddenly motivated to post, having to go to another screen to do that and then having to start from scratch to get back to where I was almost makes it not worth posting at all. The sites where this is an option are much easier to post on.

Pardon my aggravation.... :)

I couldn't agree less. One Treo is enough. The thing I find most exciting about this device is that it is a quality color, communications Palm OS device with graffiti-entry. Although other Palm phones have used graffiti, they have not had as good a screen as this one puports to have. It is the perfect combination and I am glad somebody finally got it right.

Its OS 4.1 - so i would think that this isn't likely.

-James.

>and who told you this?

Simple common sense: if it were a true "Hi-res", they would have touted it a million times.

( I am not the original author though)

OS 5 = OS 4.1 + hi-res/sound API + improved networking & security. But OS 5 runs on ARM - i beleive for PalmSource to provide their OS 5 hi-res API to Kyocera would require a port to 68k - no?

FWIW

DLM

You are somewhat outdated if you still think made in china = bad. If what you said is true, then I think no one will buy pentium 4 from now on.

It would be better to look at this page, particularly under the heading "Our History":

www.kyocera-wireless.com/info/about_us.htm

I'm not sure, but I don't think that the parent company has much to do with the day-to-day operation of this purchased subsidary. Lots of large corporations around the world have been expanding by purchasing other companies. Kyocera, a contraction of "Kyoto Ceramics", started out making industrial ceramic cutting tools. They have grown considerably, purchasing companies around the world, including several operations in the United States.

Its controversial for obvious reasons. However, I think that the phones are required to allow you to control whether the GPS info is available to any app or only to 911 operators. There are reasons why you might want to reveal your location, too: "I'm from out of town--how do I get to your business from where I presently am?" or "Give me a map of all the restaurants in my vicinity." It could also be useful to people who run dispatched services (couriers, taxicabs, etc) in keeping track of the current location of all of their people, so that they know who's closest to a new call.

Uhhh... I'm kinda surprised at this blooper.

1. Verizon's got it in nine major multi-market interstate areas
<www.verizonwireless.com/express_network/availability_us.html>

2. Centennial's got it in Puerto Rico.

3. It's available in all of South Korea with over a million-two subscribers last time I looked.

--

John Bartley
http://celdata.cjb.net
http://palmwireless.cjb.net

Scarborough, Ontario, June 3, 2002 - TELUS Mobility today announced the launch both of its national next generation 1X wireless network and of a new 1X mobile computing solution called Velocity Wireless

...TELUS Mobility 1X service is now available in major cities across Canada, including Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Montréal, Ottawa, Québec City, Toronto and Southern Ontario, Vancouver, Victoria and Winnipeg, with service expansion across Canada and into the U.S. through a roaming agreement with partner Verizon planned throughout 2002.

Compare to that, Samsung I300 claims 4 hours of talk time and 100 hours of standby. From my experience, my I300 battery hardly last two days. Most of the times, I'd have to recharge it (or replace the battery) every day.

featurewise it is good, but the price... $500 !? what's great about sony's PDA is they price it right, I am not gonna pay $500 so that I could have features that could beat Palm IIIc.

This could be a tero killer though

But fact for fact, alot of people predicted the end of springboard, that my friend it came true.

"It must have industry-standard expansion" "it can't be a brick" "it must have 16-bit hi-res" "it must have better battery life than the T615" "it better have 16MB internal" "the buttons should be big" and so on.

On paper, it appeared to satisfy (notice the past tense) all the detractors from both camps. Say it did really have hi-res, what else would any of you realistically want in a OS4 PDA other than the 66MHz Dragon?

Maybe not spreadsheets, but how many people use their PDAs for that? I've carried a PDA since the Pilot Pro was introduced and I've never done anything more than the above with it.

It all depends on your visual accuity. I always run my 21" PC display at 1600x1200 and use fairly small fonts. I don't think that this display would bug me.

i dunno.. thats just my 3 cents.