December 01, 2003
Converged Devices: A Tale of Trade-offs
In a new article, Brighthand's Steve Bush says he has changed his ways. While he has long been a proponent of using two devices (a PDA and a phone), he is now a convert to using a smartphone. His new device, which I assume was a gift from Microsoft, is a Motorola MPx200 Smartphone.
The one task that Steve does not mention at all is entering text into the device. While the Microsoft Smartphone is a pretty nifty concept, since it has neither a touchscreen nor a thumb-keyboard, it doesn't allow for much, if any, text entry (short of the old-fashioned numpad-multiple-press approach). It has predictive word guessing, but if it's the same as on the Pocket PC, that's of minimal help.
So, my hunch is that Steve uses his phone/PDA as a phone first and a data-viewing device second. My personal use precludes this device since I enter a lot of data directly into the device (new contacts, appointments, to do lists, etc.). I just can't imagine having to tap out 2-2-8-8-9-9-9-0-2-2-7-7-7-3-3-2-3 just to get "buy bread" when 9 key pushes is all that's needed on a thumbboard.
This just goes back to illustrate (yet again) that we've yet to see the "perfect" device for a majority of users. Or have we? Perhaps such a device is merely just the simple cellular phone without any data stuff on it -- at least here in North America, that seems to be what the vast majority prefers.
As my recent experience of going the other way illustrates, there is no one perfect device. The key seems to me is integration (see my weekly Palmcorner column later today).
Posted by Ken at December 1, 2003 03:30 PMIt's a tough nut to crack -- ease of text input vs. form factor. Predictive text input is the worst (imho); I would rather go the keypad route (it may take more presses, but I know what I'm going to end up with). What I would _really_ like to see is a nice voice-operated interface...
Posted by Noah at December 1, 2003 04:08 PMWell. "at least here in North America" - that's the point. I live in Europe, Poland on here everyone, yes EVERYONE uses SMS messages. And the text input via phone keyboard is not a problaem at all. Belive me or not but I'm faster with keyboard on my Nokia 6310i then most of you with Graffiti :) So IMO it's only a matter of practice.
Posted by lkluj at December 2, 2003 04:01 AMActually in my T610, you only have to do 2-8-9 (buy) # (space) 2-7-3-2-3 (bread) # (space).
So, the T9 text entry system is much faster.
Posted by Ken at December 2, 2003 07:45 AMI want to take this opportunity to write a quick response to Steven's epiphany towards smartphone(MPx200). Similar to Steven I too bought a MPx200, got it unlocked, subscribed to T-Mobile service and used it for 3 days. Before I get into my "experience" with the MPx200, I want to note that I support convergent device 110%.
Ok, with that being said, my initial impression and experience with the MPx200 was "wow this is an awesome device, wow I love the compact size and sleek design." However, as the hours went on, I started to miss what Steven calls being a "two-piece guy".
I started to miss the basic functionalities and features of a pda. I found myself jotting notes on scratch papers, taking a much longer time just trying to peck a five word sms message, not to mention responding to a quick e-mail. When I was out and about, I was constantly concerned about how much battery was left on the device.
Steven stated that "Life is so much simpler, and lighter, with one device." There was a single question that kept eating at me, "is convenience truly convenient or is it an inconvenience?" Yes, having one device is much more convenient, given it still permits easy data entry, longer battery life, larger screen and less crashes. As a result, I did feel simpler and lighter but at the same time, I lost valuable time trying to do what once only took a couple of strokes using a stylus. As a result, I felt cramped and extremely restricted. So what am I using now you might ask? I am using a smartphone by Sony Ericsson T610 and connecting to my T3 via Bluetooth.
Smartphone technology is here to stay, and I look forward to the upcoming devices by various vendors.
Please share with us your experience and thoughts about smartphones.
Original post: http://www.smartfone.net
Personally, I'm the kind of guy who doesn't even need or WANT a cellphone on me at all times, so a convergant device is kind of pointless to me.
Posted by Ant at December 3, 2003 09:59 AMThe better ones have an "off" switch. ;-)
Posted by Craig at December 3, 2003 11:27 AMI've been a proponent of wireless PDAs for a long while now. I tried the Kyocera 6035 for the 14 day trial and returned it because I couldn't go back to B&W. Then I lived with a Samsung i300 for a year (my Sprint contract). It had various pros and cons (but too many cons). Then I got the Sprint Treo 300. At about $250 at the time with affordable unlimited data, this has been the best one so far.
I need real text input, not T9. But with Hawkins goal of making the Treo 600 "look more like a phone," he made too many compromises in usability/performance. The thumbboard on my Treo 300 is too small, IMO, so the Treo 600's is just awful. The Danger hiptop/Sidekick has a lot going for it, but also has its share of cons (no Outlook sync, T-Mobile only and poor signal reception, as well as poor usage for phone purposes). Everyone's dancing around the ideal convergence device, but they haven't gotten there yet. I've plugged this design in several places, so my apologies if you've already seen it. This is (basically) what I'd like to see someone make:
http://www.hipnetic.com/geek/treo_new2.gif
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