04-13-2004, 01:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Smart Phones Will Not Mean the End of Handhelds
http://brighthand.com/article/Will_Smart_Phones_Replace_Handhelds
"I wish I had a dollar for every article I've read lately on how handhelds are doomed because they are going to be replaced by smart phones. Saying that makes no sense to me, because, at its root, a smart phone is a handheld."
I think Ed Hardy is talking about semantics, as he later gets into. "Why we've decided to call handhelds with mobile phone capabilities "smart phones" isn't particularly clear to me. And any time you want to start an argument, try to get a couple of people to agree on what a smart phone is. Just about everyone has a different idea of where cellular-wireless handhelds leave off and where smart phones begin."
I think handhelds as we know them, typically disconnected devices and with no voice capabilities will be replaced with converged devices and those we typically call smart phones will dominate. Smart phones are devices that are more phone than PDA, though there will, for the foreseeable future, be room for larger PDA-like devices that have phones built in. I think we'll see more compact devices like the Motorola MPx rather than the large screens seen in the XDA formfactor.
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04-13-2004, 02:11 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 740
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Re: Smart Phones Will Not Mean the End of Handhelds
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
Smart phones are devices that are more phone than PDA, though there will, for the foreseeable future, be room for larger PDA-like devices that have phones built in. I think we'll see more compact devices like the Motorola MPx rather than the large screens seen in the XDA formfactor.
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I agree with you, Ed, provided that the MPx is a device that has long term staying power. The honeymoon with my i700 is over. Its a good device...for a non-power user. It simply doesn't have enough power, punch or expandability for my purposes. The only way I could TRULY find this out was to live with it for 3 or so months...
I'm pretty certain the same will have to happen with the MPx. Power users are going to have to get past the honeymoon period before realistic day-to-day performance commentary will filter through to the masses. While the device looks really good, I wonder if its smaller screen is going to make any sort of difference in the long run? Will the dual hinged design give us any problems? What will battery life be like when more than 1 (read 2-3) of its radios are active? Will I be able to use BT (for say, GPS) and be on the phone at the same time, without having to worry about the phone's battery dieing on me after I say, "hello?" Unfortunately, only time will tell...
BUT, I agree with you. I think that converged devices, similar to the MPx, will eventually win out over non-connected devices.
Kind Regards,
Christopher Spera
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Kind Regards,
Christopher Spera
Gear Diary Review Team
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04-13-2004, 02:17 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 194
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Well, this discussion is not alone. I also wish I had a dollar for every time I read that Tablet PCs will kill PDAs... so will someone decide if the PDA will be killed by the smaller or the bigger device?
I agree with the view that in the future will be replaced by converged devices, and that the Smartphone, with the smaller format and the more phone-like operation will prevail, but I would say that this will be mostly on account of the simple traditional mobile phone that we mostly see today. I fully believe that mostly the Smartphone will substitute a tradicional phone, and the converged-PDA will substitute the traditional PDA, and probably keep its bigger touch-screen and expandability options.
I guess that this whole conceptual mess was caused by the fact that in the beginning MS decided to call their OS for Smartphone as "Smartphone 2002", tying the OS to the format factor. Now that they have separated the OS name from the device name, it is already quite difficult to deal with the confusion that was created during this first year.
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04-13-2004, 02:27 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 194
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Re: Smart Phones Will Not Mean the End of Handhelds
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Originally Posted by Chris Spera
I agree with you, Ed, provided that the MPx is a device that has long term staying power. The honeymoon with my i700 is over. Its a good device...for a non-power user. It simply doesn't have enough power, punch or expandability for my purposes. The only way I could TRULY find this out was to live with it for 3 or so months...
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Well, I must say that, after 4 months of use, I am very happy with the power in my iMate (/XDA2/MDA2 or whatever you guys want to call it). I use it as a phone 24 hours a day, and as a PDA during the whole day. My use of Bluetooth is for about 3-4 hours a day (except when I want to use the GPS, which increases the number of hours) and includes my headset for phone calls when driving and Bluetooth connection with my computer at work. And even this way, I get to the end of the day with 35-40% of my battery still available.
The only problem is still Wifi, which drains the power quite faster.
BTW, regarding the use of GPS, I solved that by buying a car charger, so I can use my Bluetooth GPS with the iMate as much as I want.
NOTE: I must say that when I visited Seattle last week for the Summit, the poor GSM coverage of the city caused my iMate to use much more battery than it uses regularly here in Israel. This is caused by the way these devices (mobile phones) are built: they change the power usage according to the strength of the signal, so the lowest the signal, the more power the device will consume. So in this case, I blame the local networks in Seattle, not the device.
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04-13-2004, 02:28 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 559
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I think non-connected devices are doomed, but that's all. I doubt that even the large screen XDA style PPC Phones will be phased out. I use my PPC Phone for Internet access as well as phone calls. I use PDA functions more than phone functions, so I'd prefer a larger screen. This along with its high price tag is what will keep me away from the MPx.
I know a lot of people who would agree with me. A "normal" shaped PPC with phone capibilities is better than a phone with PDA capibilities. :wink:
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04-13-2004, 02:31 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 194
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by ryaninc
I think non-connected devices are doomed, but that's all. I doubt that even the large screen XDA style PPC Phones will be phased out. I use my PPC Phone for Internet access as well as phone calls. I use PDA functions more than phone functions, so I'd prefer a larger screen. This along with its high price tag is what will keep me away from the MPx.
I know a lot of people who would agree with me. A "normal" shaped PPC with phone capibilities is better than a phone with PDA capibilities. :wink:
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04-13-2004, 02:36 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 99
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i gotta say, i like my mpx200 and all, but other than syncing to outlook and playing bust'em it wouldn't last a day as my main pda.. if you saw my today screen you'd be surprised my iPaq even starts up...
i will say this, the user interface on an ms smartphone is GREAT, makes me wish pocket pc's had a numeric keypad...
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04-13-2004, 02:40 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 22
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Quote:
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However, devices like this won't satisfy everyone. There's no way there's ever going to be a smart phone with a 4-inch or larger screen. It would simply be too big to hold up to your ear to talk.
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That is a bizarre comment:
I am quite surprized that Ed Hardy isn't aware that most Phone PDA (to the notable exception of Palm OS' Treo 600 or Tungsten W) are Bluetooth enabled, and that you don't need to hold the device to your ear to talk!!
It will be even more so in the future as even PalmOne announced a revised Bluettoth-enabled version of its Treo 600 for next Falls!
Unfortunately, by forgetting that Bluetooth allows a 'bigger' device to be used as a phone makes Ed' reasonning not totally valid...
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04-13-2004, 02:45 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 43
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Slightly offtopic:
Could someone explain the difference between Windows Mobile/PPC Phone Edition/Smartphone??
I have my sights on the upcoming MPx, and having owned an Axim previously I'd like to know what the MPx will be running that allows it to "be a phone" while at the same time it has full "traditional" PPC functionality?
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04-13-2004, 02:56 PM
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Editorial Contributor
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 5,411
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Other than the obvious size differences, the biggest distinction between MS Smartphone and PPC Phone Edition is in the physical user interface. The PPCPE has a touch screen and uses that for interacting with the device predominantely. The Smartphone does not have a touch screen and the user interacts purely through the key pad, and hardware buttons. There are 'soft keys' like most cell phones have, that vary the function of specific buttons depending on context, but it is still buttons.
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