Future Gear: Seeking the Handheld Holy Grail
High-speed wireless networking is key to future handheld devices.Sean Captain, PCWorld.com
I long resisted buying a PDA and a mobile phone--until I found both in one device. In Kyocera's QCP 6035 Smartphone, I discovered a handheld with benefits that outweigh its weight. However, the Kyocera device, introduced in November 2000, is already looking long in the tooth and wide around the middle compared to lithe new PDA-mobile phone convergence devices such as the Samsung I300 and the Handspring Treo. And these are just the beginning of the combo products we'll be seeing in the future.
Quest for Convergence
The buzzword convergence has often been applied to bizarre electronic hybrids, like music-playing cameras, that recall an old Saturday Night Live spoof: "New Shimmer is both a floor wax and a dessert topping!" But the appeal of convergence done right is obvious in all-in-one devices from the Swiss Army knife to the PC itself--a general-purpose machine that can be anything from a typewriter to a VCR. Finding an equally successful formula for handheld gadgets is the high-tech industry's equivalent of finding the Holy Grail, and combining computing and communications is a key first step.
Microsoft joined the quest recently by announcing two new handheld operating systems: SmartPhone 2002 incorporates elements of Microsoft's Pocket PC software into cell phones, and Pocket PC Phone Edition adds mobile phone and beefed-up Internet access functions to PDAs. Several hardware makers, including Hewlett-Packard, recently unveiled devices running the new OSs.
Such pocket communicators are growing more appealing thanks to the higher data speeds promised by emerging third-generation, or 3G, wireless networks. (Analog networking is considered the first generation, and today's digital networking is the second generation.)
HipTop: A Glimpse of the Future
One interesting product on the horizon is the Danger HipTop, a
5-ounce device that includes a cell phone, a Web browser, an instant messenger,
and an e-mail client. It should be available sometime this spring from a
yet-to-be-named wireless carrier. I looked at a late prototype recently and
found a lot to like.
This is a handheld I can actually enter data into. While I've grudgingly learned Palm's Graffiti system, I can't say that I love it. And while the "thumb boards" on the BlackBerry and the Handspring Treo are a promising step, even a hobbit would find the keys rather small. The HipTop beats the competition with a keyboard that's more than twice as large, yet stays out of the way until you need it.
When you pull the HipTop out of your pocket, you don't see a keyboard at all. A clever jog wheel (borrowed from the Sony Clie) and a back button allow you to jump among applications and choose menu items. When you want to type an e-mail message or enter a phone number, you rotate the gray-scale screen out 180 degrees to reveal the roomy keyboard. The screen automatically reorients when you flip it.
The HipTop also flips around handheld economics. According to Danger, it should sell for about $200--half what you pay for a Kyocera Smartphone or Handspring Treo. Danger won't make money on the device, according to company "evangelist" Mark Harlan. Instead, it will cash in on services. For instance, Danger's servers will simplify Web pages you request and format them for the HipTop before sending them to the handheld.
And while you can back up your HipTop's data to a PC via a USB cable, Harlan hopes you won't have to. Instead, the HipTop will wirelessly and automatically sync data with Danger's servers. (Wireless synchronization via a corporate network is a key element of Microsoft's new handheld OSs, as well.) So if anything happens to your HipTop, all you've lost is the hardware. However, Danger will have to reassure customers that they won't lose their privacy to the company that archives scads of their personal information.
High-Speed Wireless Networking on the Way
The HipTop can sync data wirelessly and surf the Web tolerably because it will run on networks using general packet radio service. GPRS is a so-called 2.5G technology with a theoretical maximum speed of 115 kilobits per second--almost ten times the speed of today's 2G networks. Real-world speeds may be only a fraction of that, however, and Danger expects to achieve speeds in the 30-kbps to 40-kbps range. Currently, AT&T, Cingular, and VoiceStream are bringing out GPRS services.
Meanwhile, Sprint and Verizon are rolling out early 3G networks, called 1XRTT. Using a PC Card from Sierra Wireless, we clocked Verizon's San Francisco service at 60 kbps, which is much better than the 9.6 kbps we typically see on 2G networks. Also available in Salt Lake City and the northeast coast of the United States, Verizon's 3G service should come to the rest of the country by midyear. Sprint expects to switch on its own nationwide 3G network around then as well.
In two or three years 3G networks may offer speeds from 384 kbps to 2 megabits per second, which is fast enough to transmit live video. By then, handhelds may look something like the Origami, a concept device built by National Semiconductor. The Origami twists and folds to become any one of eight devices, including a PDA, an MP3 player, a telephone, and a camcorder. But its crown jewel is the videophone.
Just as we take mobile phones for granted today, videophones may become de rigueur in a decade. This will certainly change our concept of "reality TV." And we can all imagine what it's like to be a movie star, who must always look their best. I'm not sure I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.
Future Gear is a new monthly column that previews upcoming products and technologies. Please send us your feedback and suggestions.