Is your cell phone truly useful as an email client?
At the recent Microsoft Exchange Conference (MEC) in Dallas, many companies promoted Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)-based solutions that let you use a cell phone to access Microsoft Exchange Server. But when the Windows 2000 Magazine Lab tested products that provide wireless links to Exchange Server, our results were mixed. (Look for these reviews in upcoming issues.) The products worked well; however, we found that most cell phones' physical limitations make them poor email clients.
For example, my Samsung Electronics SCH-8500 phone's screen size is typical of comparable products. But I began returning email messages with voice calls rather than using the phone's keypad for limited text entry. Even receiving email messages was difficult. When I activated the phone's browser and pointed it to an Exchange server equipped with one of the products we tested, message headers usually exceeded the bounds of the phone's 5-line by 15-character screen. Moving the cursor to a specific header caused the header to scroll across the screen, but selecting which message to read first was still a cumbersome process, especially when I received many messages. Reading anything but the shortest message was also a chore.
Palm and Pocket PC devices are obviously more practical email clients than cell phones are; Research In Motion's (RIM's) BlackBerry wireless handhelds are probably the best wireless email solutions we've seen. (For a review of BlackBerry, see Anneliese Walsh, "BlackBerry," page 93.) However, many people already carry a cell phone and don't want an additional wireless device.
Cell-phone and Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) vendors alike recognize the potential of a product that combines the positive attributes of both devices, and several companies are developing convergence products. For example, Palm and Motorola are collaborating to develop a new line of cell phones that will likely feature a large color screen, the Palm OS, and Palm's Web clipping technology. The first models should be available in early 2002. Microsoft is developing a new cell-phone platform based on a version of Windows CE 3.0, with support for HTML, WAP, and XML. The product will feature a large display and will probably be available from Samsung and possibly other hardware OEMs later this year.
Just as the Lab was about to conclude that we'd need to wait for these products to find practical cell-phone email clients, a Sprint PCS representative dropped by with a new Touchpoint 3000 (TP3000) phone. Made by LG InfoComm USA for Sprint PCS, the phone provides typical PDA functionality and has an unusually large touch-screen LCD panel—I could use the product's browser software to view 9 lines of text with 19 to 22 characters per line. This capacity made reading messages and message headers much easier than with most cell phones. Text entry was also easier thanks to the TP3000's stylus and touch-screen QWERTY keyboard. Weighing in at 6.2 ounces and measuring 5.3" long, the product is slightly heavier and larger than other phones; at $399, the device is also a bit expensive. However, if you're serious about carrying one device for phone, email, pager, and PDA functions, the TP3000 might be the best device available today.
If your users demand just one wireless device, take a look at the TP3000 or wait a few months for other new phone products. But be prepared to reevaluate your decision next year—this market is changing too quickly to consider any choice permanent.