Tired of carrying both a cell phone and a PDA. A newer sophisticated generation of smartphones have arrived that leverage PDA functionality and Internet connectivity with 2.5G networks. T-Mobile has joined with the Microsoft camp of smartphones to introduce its T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition product. The phone incorporates the feature rich environment of Pocket PC platform based on Windows CE.

The dilemma going forward with smartphone is the trade-off between small size and larger screen size. The T-Mobile device splits the difference going with a 320 x 240 screen size. The question is whether this is still to bulky to travel around with. Another measuring stick for the mobile device market is battery life. T-Mobile rates up there with up to 15 hours of usage with up to 3.5 of talk time. Recharge time of the Lithium Polymer battery wasn't available.

Microsoft's explosion on the smartphone market has seen a number of devices based on this platform come to market recently. Even though the platform supports other processors notably the TI OMAP, the smartphone is resembling the PDA in its support for Intel's XScale processors. The T-Mobile device supports the older Intel StrongARM chip running at 206 MHz. To support all the features of the Pocket PC environment the smartphone comes with 32 MB of memory and 32 MB of ROM which adds to the cost of the device. The display is a reflective TFT for better viewing outdoors and supports 4,096 colors. Optional SD/MMCard expansion ports allow the T-Mobile to add cards for increased functionality.

While not quite 3G the support for GPRS is a step above CDPD. The increased data rates will provide a much better browsing experience at a lower cost. The smartphone comes standard with Pocket IE and also supports Outlook for email and MSN Messenger for 2-way messaging (optional support form AOL Instant Messenger). It comes with Infrared and USB communication ports for synchronizing data and downloading additional software programs.

While the beefed up hardware adds to the cost of the device it allows the device to support software programs such as Word, Excel and File Explorer. Like all Pocket PC devices, T-Mobile has VPN support for a secure link back to the enterprise office for exchanging data. Microsoft's ActiveSync software allows the smartphone to synchronize contacts, email and data with other computers and servers.

Pricing and Availability

T-Mobile Pocket PC Edition can be purchased along with a GPRS connection plan from T-Mobile. The phone retails at a high end cost of $549.99.

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