BROADBAND TO GO...
South Koreans and Japanese may scoff at this, but we finally have the FIRST wireless broadband PDA/phone available in the US. The device is Verizon's version of the Audiovox XV 6600, which has been available through other carriers in the US. What makes the Verizon version notable is that it runs on the carrier's broadband EV-DO network, which can translate into speeds above 500 kbps, in over 30 metropolitan 
markets. Although Verizon has a more phone-like device that also runs on the EV-DO network, this is the first PDA device, that is also a phone, on the wireless broadband network. PC Magazine gave both the broadband service, available at around $50/month, and the Audiovox it's Editor's Choice awards.
I've been a satisfied user of Verizon's EV-DO network since it was introduced last year, but available only as a PC Card for laptops, and at a relatively pricey $75/month. What I'd been waiting for was a PDA/phone device that would provide on the go wireless web surfing. Most of the carriers are in the process of rolling out their networks, including Sprint, which is up next with its EV-DO network. However, Verizon wireless had been the first up and running to date.
I've been using the XV 6600 above for a few days now, and it's a relatively feature packed device. It was reviewed by Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal back in December, and is just being rolled out by Verizon as of a few weeks ago. It runs Windows Pocket PC 2003 OS, has a camera, mp3 player, fast processor, expandable memory, voice recorder, Bluetooth, and a built-in keyboard.
First the negatives from my perspective:
1. The device's screen, although big relative to cell phones, still does not provide VGA resolution, thus making Internet surfing a scrolling exercise. The full web page does not display at this resolution. There are workarounds with alternative browsers like Thunderhawk, etc., but not as satisfactory as full page surfing out of the box. I knew this before I got the device, so it was not a surprise.
2. Unlike the Blackberry, which works beautifully with just the keyboard, scroll wheel and esc key, you need both the stylus and the keyboard to navigate around the applications and device. It needs both hands to operate.
Since I use a Blackberry device for email, that is not a focus for me on this device. Having said that, wireless email, through POP3 and Microsoft Exchange server is available on the device, with wireless sync from Verizon, but it's pull rather than the push based architecture on the Blackberry.
Also, for those hooked on Microsoft Office applications like Word, Excel, Outlook etc., software services from providers like Goodlink can provide on the go Office functionality on the xv 6600, along with other devices like the Treo. Additionally, broadband wireless devices like this also make possible fast software and music/video downloads through Over the Air (OTA) transfers, which is cool, and am looking forward to more parties making software and content available like this as wireless broadband becomes more available.
However, to be able to experience fairly robust broadband wireless Internet surfing, even through a smallish browser, is a very satisfying and neat experience. It's much better than web surfing through the smaller screen of the Treo or worse, a regular cell phone. A positive surprise has been that Verizon HAS NOT, so far anyway, created a walled garden approach to accessing the Internet. This means that the full web is at your finger tips with this device.
There's been a lot of discussion amongst observers of this space on the demise of PDAs and the ascendancy of phones with PDA like functions. Certainly, the success of the Palm Treo 600/650 has heightened that impression. Both PalmOne and Blackberry are increasingly focused on phone like devices that also have PDA capability.
My personal view is that that PDA devices that have wireless broadband will also have a resurgent role in the market. A device that allows PC/laptop like web surfing through wireless broadband, but has the portability of a PDA has tremendous applications in a world that is increasingly dependent on the web for day to day livability.
Already, there are manufacturers attempting to create a handtop PC market, Windows PCs in as miniature a form factor possible, to address this need. The flaw with some of the pioneering products like Paul Allen's Flipstart and OQO's 01 handtop PCs, is that they do not YET have EV-DO radios. Since they're too small to have PC card slots, one can't just plug in broadband cards from Verizon or other carriers when they start to offer the service. Also, their batteries aren't powerful enough for prolonged broadband wireless use.
But they're almost perfect. They run regular Windows XP...they have built-in keyboards...they have lots of storage with miniature drives like in the iPod...and most important, they have large enough screens with resolution enough to provide PC like web surfing without compromises. They JUST don't have broadband radio modems and more powerful batteries...YET.
In a world where every wireless carrier here and abroad is scrambling to build out their wireless networks, we're not far from a time when horizontal competition amongst networks starts offering true choice in devices that have wireless broadband ubiquity. Just like Wi-fi has been built into almost every conceivable device in the last 3-5 years, wireless broadband, be it of the carriers' EV-DO, or 3G flavors, or from altogether different competing technologies like Wimax are likely to force the market to open up the networks to all device comers.
Once we have that landscape, and it's likely only 2-3 years away, then we will start to see a plethora of devices that offer mobile Internet connectivity and VOIP Internet telephony. In that world, Apple could introduce an iPod with a phone/PDA on their own, rather than through partnerships with hand-set manufacturers like Motorola (Can you say "higher margins"?). In that world, a Dell or a Sony could provide a myriad of devices that offer choice of wireless data carriers, much like how PC companies offered a choice of Internet Service Providers in the nineties. To remember just how crazy that got, take a road down memory lane with this article from CNET. We're likely to repeat that experience when a multiple of wireless ISPs start competing for customers with the help of device vendors.
And by the way, let's not forget the minor point that the only software OS company really comprehensively competing on the software platform side is Microsoft. Palm spun off its software arm to compete better on the hardware side, and RIMM/Blackberry is focused on ubiquity on cell phones. Neither have any capabilities in Internet browsers per se, whereas Microsoft has Windows XP and Longhorn for desktop/laptops, Windows XP Tablet Edition 2005 for tablet PCs, Windows XP Media Center 2005 for multimedia devices, Windows Mobile Pocket PC for PDA/phones, Windows Mobile Smartphone for phone/PDA devices, Windows CE for consumer electronics, and Windows Embedded for devices. Now that's a lot of ways to say "we've got you surrounded...err, covered".
But most important, we would have a world where technology and market forces start to drive vertical carriers providers like Verizon Wireless, Cingular, Vodaphone, etc., to focus on being able to better compete horizontally. Carriers can go back to focus on network availability and reliability, rather than trying to figure out what applications and ring tones to allow and offer via their relatively barren walled gardens. Also in the fray will be today's wireless handset providers, who will increasingly be pressured to upset their cosy relationships with the cellcos, to compete better with the PC and consumer electronics industries. Folks like Motorola, Nokia, Samsung et al, will be forced to dramatically increase their OEM customer base. It's only a matter of time.
Until then, you'll see me surfing on my Verizon/Audiovox XV 6600 in the back of a New York taxi.
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