MC35 Enterprise Digital Assistant from Symbol

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.symbol.com/mc35' target='_blank'>http://www.symbol.com/mc35</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Keep your on-the-move workers connected, responsive and productive with the little device that offers big business functionality. This single pocketable device puts the combined power of a mobile phone, laptop, camera and bar code scanner at the fingertips of your employees, in a durable device that offers a product life that well exceeds that of the traditional consumer smartphone or PDA. And the convergence of voice and data translates into one device for employees to carry and one device for IT to manage - simplifying your mobility architecture and your capital and operational costs."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/ekkie_symbol_mc35_200703.jpg" /><br /><br />As the name suggests, this might not be marketed to the consumer space though the projected price point of $640 to $750 (according to CTIA sources) would probably make it a viable option. Specs include XScale PXA270 416MHz processor, 2.8" QVGA screen, GPS, Edge GPRS, GSM, 802.11b/g, BT 1.2, SDIO slot, 2MP camera w/ macro focus. In addition, we also have a few snapshots from CTIA that can be found <a href="http://ctia2007.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!2B19213B4A187D9E!156.entry">here</a>. Comments?

[dh]

I had the chance to play with the MC35 a while ago and I'm seriously thinking of getting one to replace my HP6940.

The quality of the QVGA screen is great ( a huge improvement over the low res square screen on the HP) and the keyboard is also easier to use (for me anyway). Compared to the 69xx series, the MC35 is a little taller but not as wide. The thickness seemed to be about the same.

We were also told that the list price is about $700.00. Of course, being Symbol there will be extra cost for cables, cradle, power supply, etc.

If I get one it will be a camera free version - there is a part number for it in the Motorola system so it should be available.

This is the first Symbol device to not have a proper barcode scanner - you use the camera to take a snapshot of a barcode and it has some software to do the decoding. From my attempts this is a waste of time, get an MC50 or (better) MC70 for serious use.

[rookcnu]

So the specs say this has "push-to-talk capability"? I guess that means it is a Cingular phone?

When is Nextel going to come out with a pocket pc phone edition that also has the Direct Connect feature?

I am tired of carrying around a Blackberry for work and a ppc phone edition for everything else. The only reason I carry the Blackberry is for the Direct Connect feature - which I must have for work.

[dh]

Yes, the phone works with Cingular Point to Talk. I think the phone is unlocked though, the demo one I saw was using a T-Mobile sim card.

[MitchellO]

This actually isn't a bad looking device.