The New Pocket PCs

With these talented smartphones, talking is only part of the picture. Here's how to choose the right network and platform, along with the perfect device to keep you productive and entertained on the go.

by Sascha Segan
One of the Editors' Choice–winning products in this story has a 400-MHz processor and 256MB of memory, and it runs a version of Microsoft Windows. We could very well be talking about one of the top PCs in our blockbuster issue circa 1998—full-fledged desktop computers that generally cost more than $2,000. Or we could be talking about today's multitasking smartphones. Call them pocket PCs if you like, because they've gone way beyond just making calls.

It's an exciting time to be buying a network-connected handheld computer, a pocket PC, a smartphone, or whatever we've decided to call it. Three well-established operating systems are fighting for dominance, and there are two new contenders waiting in the wings. You can choose between dozens of models, in a bevy of form factors. When we counted all the offerings from the four major carriers, Nokia's direct sales, and the two biggest independent stores—Dynamism and Expansys USA—we came up with a dizzying total of 72 options. During the first three quarters of last year, more than 12 million smartphones were sold in the U.S., according to IDC analyst Ramon Llamas, and that number is expected to rise.

Although the U.S. lags behind Europe and Asia in the number of consumers buying advanced handhelds, 2008 may be the year smartphone sales really take off Stateside, says Avi Greengart, research director for mobile devices at Current Analysis.

"I think we hit the inflection point with the $99 smartphone," Greengart says, observing that smart devices are now affordable enough to be seen as alternatives to simpler phones and that U.S. consumers are starting to demand richer experiences from their handhelds.

"The smartphone gives the handset vendor the ability to tap into different types of applications, whether that's the Web, imaging, video, or music. You can provide a better experience faster with a smartphone than you can with a feature phone," Greengart says.

In the U.S., the majority of today's handhelds come with one of five operating systems, according to IDC's Llamas. During the first three quarters of 2007, Research In Motion's BlackBerrys dominated U.S. sales with a 44.7 percent market share, followed by Windows Mobile gadgets, which owned 29.2 percent of the market pie. Palm and Apple ran neck and neck with about 11 percent each, and Symbian came in fifth with 2.8 percent. Worldwide, however, Symbian is a big player; in Europe it is actually dominant.

The Apple, BlackBerry, and Windows Mobile operating systems are all getting major updates. Windows Mobile's latest iteration, 6.1, was released back in February. Blackberry promises version 4.5 of their OS is coming soon, and Apple's iPhone will soon have the ability to run third-party applications, which will make it a true handheld PC.

We've chosen to narrow our focus to the BlackBerry, Symbian, and Windows Mobile operating systems here because they offer the most hardware options and have the most promising futures (at least they did when we went to press). We didn't include Palm, since the company has announced it will be abandoning the Palm OS eventually. And because Apple sells only one device, on one carrier, we left the iPhone out, too.

To pick the perfect smartphone, think about where you want to start. Each of the major players brings a particular set of features to the game. Windows Mobile started out as a PDA operating system, and it shows. Microsoft is still wondering whether or not to shake its focus on contacts, calendar, and add-in applications. Windows Mobile devices may feel the most like PCs, but they can also be a little intimidating to use. BlackBerrys started out primarily as e-mail gadgets, but now they're much, much more. These wildly popular handhelds play music and video, surf the Web, and make generally excellent-sounding calls. But speedy, bullet-proof push e-mail is still the BlackBerry's greatest selling point.

Symbian is the most phone-focused of the big three contenders. Its handsets often have high-end multimedia features like high-resolution cameras, and Symbian has a strong, thriving open-source community that creates thousands of add-on apps.

Hippiest new gadget--Bell+Howell Genie III keychain camera

The Bell+Howell Genie III, a keychain camera, first surfaced in Hong Kong last month on the local tech forums and immediately took the town by storm. Measuring 60 x 38 x 20mm and weighing just 15g, the Genie III is the size of a matchbox, features a 2-megapixel CCD and 4GB storage.

It is capable of taking high-resolution pictures (1,600 x 1,200) or 60-second videos (8mm video at 320 x 240 with no audio). Because of its LOMO characteristics, i.e. over-saturated colors, off-kilter exposure, blurring and "happy accidents", the Genie III had great success in Taiwan, Japan and Korea before making its way to Hong Kong. In the past week, ShoppeRite, the sales arm of Bell+Howell, even had to take the product off its catalog due to product shortage. The going price on Yahoo Auction had gone past the HK$450 (US$57.7) mark this week, almost double the last listed price of US$24.95 on Sho

Report: Preinstalled Viruses Infect New Tech Gadgets

The Associated Press culled together three previously reported news stories of preinstalled viruses found on new iPods, TomTom GPS navigation gear, and digital picture frames sold by major retailers and aptly points this is a disturbing trend.

I couldn't agree more. PC World ran a report in November 2007 that Seagate had inadvertently sold new hard drives infected with the Virus.Win32.AutoRun.ah password-stealing virus.

What's very interesting about the report is that the AP traces problems back to Chinese factories where it says the devices in question were made. The problem, it's stated, stems from lax quality control. The AP reports viruses get onto hardware when workers plug gear into factory-floor PCs for testing purposes. Those test PCs, through negligence (not malicious intent), are infected with viruses. Lax quality control in Chinese factories was also to blame in the Seagate case as well.

It goes without saying quality control is very important. The AP report reminds me of another incident where, perhaps, quality control comes into play. On Wednesday it was reported some iPod Nano models when charging sparked due to a faulty lithium-ion battery used in some model Nanos. As far as I can tell the faulty iPod Nano has not been traced back to China.

Granted the gadget market is a cutthroat one for businesses where margins are razor thin and competition fierce. Are companies pressed so hard to keep costs down they can't be bothered with topnotch quality control processes? I don't know. But loss of consumer confidence in your brand and products will likely cost businesses more money if they don't get their acts together. After all, look at the damage control the toy industry has had to engage in after dozens of high-profile toy recalls.