Kyocera Rings In a New Marriage of Convenience
The Kyocera QCP 6035 Smartphone attempts to marry the functions of a Palm-based hand-held computer with those of a wireless phone using the same network favored by popular carriers such as Sprint PCS and Verizon.
Due out in March, the device will compete against hand-held accessories such as Handspring Inc.’s VisorPhone. About the size and thickness of a pocket diary, the Smartphone can fit in a shirt pocket like a Palm or hang from a belt like a mobile phone.
It handles the functions of both well. Kyocera’s phone-making skills are well known--it owns Qualcomm’s former digital phone unit. I’ve used a Qualcomm-made phone for more than two years without hassle. And the Palm operating system has proved itself to millions of users.
Contrasted with the VisorPhone, the differences are clear. For one, the display screen, though larger than most cell phones’, is smaller than that of the average Palm or Handspring Visor. Because it’s narrower than the typical PDA, viewing some elements can be a problem, particularly when larger fonts are specified. By contrast, the VisorPhone clips directly onto the Visor, which means there is no shortage of screen real estate.
The integration of the Palm-based Address Book with the Smartphone also is different. On the Visor, the address book is accessible with one button--locate and highlight an address and you get a range of dialing choices. But on the Smartphone you can dial from the address book or use the phone keypad to spell out a last name and invoke a search.
On both devices, the procedure is a two-handed task not suited for the road. Kyocera, unlike Visor, offers a voice-activated dialing option that can be accessed hands-free when the phone is in a charging cradle, or with a press of a button when the phone is being carried. To program the voice dial--which can hold as many as 30 names--you select the names and numbers and then train the phone to recognize your voice.
This is an improvement over other mobile phones, and it offers great potential. Power users, however, probably will be frustrated at having only 30 listings available for voice dialing. As with many cell phones, speed dialing is available by programming numbers into the dial pad. The Smartphone offers 199 of these speed-dial options.
Like the Palm VII--but using the CDMA network instead of BellSouth Corp.’s wireless data net--the Smartphone offers various forms of Web browsing, mostly the Web clipping applications common to Palms, as well as versions of the Eudora e-mail and Web-browsing clients.
There are some things I’d like to see on this device, such as the ability to attach a separate keyboard such as the Stowaway from Targus Inc. I’d also like to be able to change the display’s orientation to read more of a given file. Rounding out the wish list, having more than just 8 megabytes of memory would make sense, particularly for those who live on their mobile phones.
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Mark A. Kellner is editor at large for Government Computer News and hosts “Mark Kellner on Computers” at https://www.adrenalineradio.com from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursdays.
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The Skinny
Kyocera QCP 6035 Smartphone
What it does: Marries the Palm with a mobile phone
Price: Unavailable, on sale in March
Manufacturer: Kyocera
The good: Full-function PDA and phone
The bad: Tough to expand with keyboard
Bottom line: A tidy package
