Wireless gadgets get serious

Walk around the office. Does anyone actually work at his or her desk anymore?

Why should they, when all the new devices and wireless access options make it easy to work from anywhere? Here's a quick look at how the market's developing and what to expect in coming months.

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Walk around the office. Does anyone actually work at his or her desk anymore?

Why should they, when all the new devices and wireless access options make it easy to work from anywhere? Here's a quick look at how the market's developing and what to expect in coming months.

One device for all

2002 was a big year for converged devices that offer data and voice features. First up, Kyocera Wireless and Samsung released the first Palm OS PDAs with cell phone capability. Unfortunately, the products were too big and heavy to be able to hold the phone up to your ear comfortably. Battery life was also an issue because the phone must be powered on continuously to accept incoming calls, which drains more power than simply checking the calendar.

Even so, more vendors jumped on the wagon. Microsoft released its Pocket PC Phone Edition operating system, soon to be followed by the Smartphone OS, and phone carriers such as AT&T Wireless, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile began offering voice-capable Pocket PCs. Handspring launched its Treo Communicators, devices that more closely resembled a cell phone (although still larger compared to cell phones, which keep shrinking). The devices include an embedded keyboard on some models, to allow for easier text input, a la the RIM BlackBerry. Over the summer, Handspring launched with Sprint PCS the Treo 300, which includes the embedded keyboard, a color screen and access to the Sprint PCS Vision (Code Division Multiple Access [CDMA] 1xRTT) high-speed wireless network.

Next, Nokia chimed in with a Symbian OS-based device, the 9290 Communicator. Touted as a 'mobile office,' the device includes word processing, spreadsheet and presentation applications in addition to a cell phone. At first glance, the phone looks like an extended Nokia model, but it opens up on its side like a clamshell to reveal a larger color screen and keyboard for easier text input.

To round out the year, Kyocera Wireless is gearing up to launch the 7135 Smartphone, its 3G smart phone device. Smaller than earlier models, the Smartphone runs on a CDMA 1xRTT network, but a carrier has not yet been named.

Despite a healthy showing from vendors, it's unclear whether mobile professionals will warm up to converged devices. Battery life remains an issue, and if the device fails, users are out both their cell phone and PDA. Because most still carry a laptop on the road, the concept of a handheld 'mobile office' could be a bit ahead of its time.

PDA update

It was pretty quiet on the PDA front this year, as most vendors concentrated on device connectivity, whether it be via wireless LANs, Bluetooth or the new high-speed wireless WANs. (See "Wireless outside" for details.)

With the launch of Microsoft's Pocket PC 2002 operating system last year, several vendors (Hewlett-Packard, Compaq, Toshiba) launched new devices that boasted faster processors, more memory and added security features such as VPN access to make them more appealing to companies.