Why Smartphone?

[Craig1959]

Smartphones: They don't seem very smart to me.

Consumers who buy cellphones, DVDs, HDTVs and home PCs don't - as a rule - buy PDA's or handhelds.

We add a PDA to a cell phone and assume these same consumers will now buy it.

They did not buy PDAs before. Why is PDA+phone so atrractive that consumers will pay for it - particularly when cell phones are more or less free?

[DesertWoman]

i think it is a crazy idea to combine a cell phone with a pda.

but, for many people i guess the pim capabilities are nice.

it's an example of one item trying to be everything and that just isn't possible.

i'll stay with my beautiful ipaq 2215 (falling more in love everyday) and my cell phone - separate entities!!

karen

[floepie]

Well, I think the old addage of keeping the devices separate from one another has faded a bit in light of new technology being squeezed into such small packages. We should be able to command more features/performance in smaller packages. I don't think it would be unreasonable to say that the majority of people who do indeed use their phone for their minimal PIM function and are loathe to port a PDA around will embrace smartphones with gusto. Sendo's new Series 60 is the first pocketable smartphone and will soon lead its respective pack as a full-featured synchronizable PDA with video/audio capabilitlies not yet matched by their more powerful PDA cousins but rapidly closing the gap.

[Ed Hardy]

I think the logic works like this: You already have a mobile phone. Why not add the ability to check your email to it? I think this is more persusive than convincing people to buy their first handheld, which is seen as something else they have to carry around.

[Craig1959]

Originally posted by Ed
I think the logic works like this: You already have a mobile phone. Why not add the ability to check your email to it? I think this is more persusive than convincing people to buy their first handheld, which is seen as something else they have to carry around.

What you are saying makes sense: A phone + PIM + (let's say) MP3 player is a good integration of functions.

Although most smartphones lack decent text input capabilities (numeric key pads!) and a pen/stylus is not very convenient (or not available) these limitations can be overcome with a slick PC sync'ing feature (where we use the PC or other keyboard/pen for big text entry jobs).

Where does that leave the PDA?

If Smartphone = Phone + PIM + audio

then PDA = ???

Do we really want PIMs on two devices? Without PIM, what is a PDA?

[Digitaldoc]

Originally posted by Ed
I think the logic works like this: You already have a mobile phone. Why not add the ability to check your email to it? I think this is more persusive than convincing people to buy their first handheld, which is seen as something else they have to carry around.

>>which is seen as something else they have to carry around.<<


There in is the logic: Multi-task on one piece of hardware. I'll take a beeper too. Just don't take away my Transcriber/Calligrapher ability.

[imported_fil]

I was playing with a friend's Kyocera 7135 over the weekend and text input worked well with my index fingernail. I never used the stylus.

The Graffiti screen is small but is surprisingly functional considering it's about half the size of a Palm M505 Graffiti area.

Ed's right, the mobile phone is the trojan horse to get into the consumer's hands. Just as long as the phone works, is simple to use, and has good reception. The extra features--camera, PIM, MP3 player, etc.--are the icing for people to shell out $400-$700 ($100-$300 with a new plan) for the combo.

[CBuchanon]

It's all about convergance...getting as many devices into one form-factor as possible. It's a good idea, but there are some bad points. One of the things that have turned me off is loss of expandability. Obviously to add a phone to a PDA (or vice-versa), you're expanding the size of the unit. So far, most companies have done that at the expense of CF slots and IR heads. If you're advertising the functionality of a PDA, I want the FULL magilla-gorilla. I've also wondered about real-world power consumption. I'd imagine these units are using larger power cells. How much time would a person get if say they hardly use the phone but use the PDA functions mostly?? And of course, you have the size/weight concious people. Although not udually one of my considerations, the average consumer doesn't seem to appreciate the extra bulkiness of 'SmartPhones'.

The two biggest things that have stopped me are the expandability issue and timing. W/O at least a CF slot, you basically have a phone with a bulked up PIM. No adding 802.11, GPS, HDs, etc. The one model that had me interested was the Audiovox Thera. The saving grace was that it still retained its SD slot...although it was not SDIO compatiable. The other issue is timing, and I can imagine that this is an issue for alot of people. When alot of these devices come out, most people either have a cell-phone, PDA, or both. It's a hard justification to get rid of the $300 PDA you just bought to spend another $700 and not even get all of the functionality. I need the ultimate smartphone (Phone, PDA, SDIO, CF....802.11 and/or BlueTooth wouldn't hurt) released when I'm ready to upgrade my PDA; not two weeks after I just purchased a new phone and PDA.

[pixelator]

Originally posted by Craig1959
Smartphones: They don't seem very smart to me.

Consumers who buy cellphones, DVDs, HDTVs and home PCs don't - as a rule - buy PDA's or handhelds.

We add a PDA to a cell phone and assume these same consumers will now buy it.

They did not buy PDAs before. Why is PDA+phone so atrractive that consumers will pay for it - particularly when cell phones are more or less free?

Here you go again with the funky statements. People who buy cellphones and DVDs don't buy PDAs or handhelds?? Says who? People more inclined to techno-gadgets are FAR more likely to be shopping for a PDA or Smartphone. If anything, the techno-purchasers are going to be the early adopters. If anything, I think you have that 'rule' backwards.

And, erm... Since when are cell phones free? Maybe for a cheap-o mono Nokia without any kind of net function, but last time I checked, the latest (non-Smartphone) camera and color phones weren't anywhere near 'free'. My Sanyo SCH-5300 was $400.

I don't understand why we can't have a Smartphone for some people --- and a PDA for others. What's the big confusion regarding 'logic'? Some people are more willing to sacrifice PDA specs to have theirs inside the cell phone. Some people are willing to carry around both devices to have more options on their PDA. It's not so odd a concept. I forsee both being around for some time, actually. Neither device has to exist alone in order to be a viable product.

[pixelator]

Originally posted by CBuchanon

The one model that had me interested was the Audiovox Thera. The saving grace was that it still retained its SD slot...although it was not SDIO compatiable.

The Thera was essentially a Maestro/e570 with a cell/GPRS antenna. That was great for surfing and general PPC use, bad for using it as a phone. Which is why I suspect Smartphones aren't going to replace PDAs anytime soon...