Career savvy

Kyocera Smartphone: Clever-call your office

November 29, 2000
Web posted at: 4:15 p.m. EST (2115 GMT)

With Ed Curran, Technogadgets

(CNN) -- It's your Palm organizer and your wireless phone all in one handy little unit.

Kyocera has unveiled its QCP 6035 Smartphone, which has a built-in personal digital assistant (PDA) that operates using the Palm OS (operating system). This means that anywhere you have your phone, you also have your Palm organizer.

Since a lot of business people carry both units with them, this makes a lot of sense. We've seen a number of phone-PDA products -- including the VisorPhone that turns your Handspring Visor into a phone; Ericsson’s PDA phone; a new Nokia model; and Motorola's Accompli.

Putting the Palm into a wireless phone isn't a new idea. The Qualcomm PDQ Smartphone did it back in 1998. And since Kyocera purchased Qualcomm's handset business, the latest phone is a new twist on a good idea. The company has licensed the Palm operating system for a variety of wireless products.

The Kyocera Smartphone gives you two communications tools in one neat little package.

QUICK VOTE
	Are such PDA-phone combos as the Kyocera Smartphone really workable as career tools? Totally. These multi-functional devices are keeping my biz on track. I'm still punching in some variables. Not sure that Smartphones and others like it are really effective. Nope. Too little hardware trying to handle too many tasks. They're not there yet. View Results

•   First, the phone. It's a CDMA Tri-mode unit that has a built-in speakerphone as well as an earphone jack. A jog-dial on the side of the phone lets you easily scroll and choose from your list of contacts, messages, memos and phone settings.

It features voice-activated dialing, 199-number speed dialing and the ability to adjust the volume during a call, based on environmental noise levels.

•   Then, the PDA. It's a no-brainer for anyone who already uses a Palm, or any of the Palm OS devices. This includes the Handspring Visor; IBM WorkPad; or Sony Clié.

The Kyocera phone incorporates Version 3.5 of the Palm OS, the latest available. The 8MB PDA does everything you'd expect, including storing contact info, to-do items, memos and appointments. It syncs to your computer and can beam info to other Palm OS units.

The clever part comes when you combine the phone with the PDA. The touch-screen is revealed by opening the Kyocera Smartphone's fold-away keypad. Bring up your contact list and dial with just one touch.

Wireless Web access makes a lot more sense on a PDA, than just a wireless phone, and you can use HTML browsers, Web clipping applications or WAP browsers. You can access your e-mail and you can even use the Smartphone as a modem for your laptop to access the Web.

DIALING FOR SUCCESS
	Technogadgets' Ed Curran shows CNN viewers what a Kyocera Smartphone can do. Ring him up. (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

Imagine the possibilities. Open the touch pad on your Kyocera Smartphone. Bring up a contact name on the PDA and touch it to dial. Turn on the speakerphone feature so you can take notes on the screen while you talk -- or access notes stored in your PDA or schedule an appointment.

When you're done with the call you can use the PDA to make notes, wirelessly access the Web, and check your e-mail.

The Kyocera Smartphone is to become available in the first quarter of 2001 at a price of about $500.

Ed Curran has covered the world of high-tech for more than a dozen years and is the publisher of Technogadgets® -- www.technogadgets.com In addition to his weekly column here at CNN.com/career, watch for Curran's reports on CNN television.

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