By James Booth
For years I've been searching for a device that would combine my handheld (a Palm), my cell phone (from Verizon), and still have multimedia capabilities. But I had always been reticent to dive into the world of Pocket PCs. My previous experiences found them to be difficult to set up, with a less than user-friendly interface. Not to mention all of the Palm software and accessories I've invested in.
But Verizon's new XV6700 Pocket PC phone in Figure A has changed all of my preconceived Pocket PC notions.
FIGURE A
The XV6700, Verizon's newest Pocket PC phone. (click for larger image)
Some of you may be wondering, "If he's so hot on the Palm format, why not just get a Treo?" A valid question. The answer is: I hate the Treos and everything about them.
Rectangular screens have been around way too long for the Treo to be shackled with a square one. I hate the thumb board, it takes up vital screen space and I want to "write" my input. And finally, they dropped Graffiti as an input method, which ranks right up there with selling off their software division as one of the most bone-headed things Palm has ever done.
Something in the air
I can smell a change in the air when it comes to the handheld market. Palm, the company that makes Palm devices, has released a Windows Mobile device and sold off their software division (the one that makes the Palm OS) all in one quarter. To me, it spells the demise of the Palm platform.
With this in mind, I realized it was unlikely I would ever see the Palm mobile phone that I wanted; one with a full-size screen, Graffiti input, Office compatibility, multimedia capability, and more storage than the local U-Store-It. It was clear to me that any converged device would have to be a Pocket PC, so I went looking.
Viva la Verizon
I've been a Verizon customer for a LONG time, going way back to when they were GTE. And it hasn't always been smooth sailing for us. There was a time a few years back when I had a love/hate relationship with Verizon. I loved to hate them. But no other service could match my plan, so I stuck it out.
I must not have been the only dissatisfied customer though, because their policies, service, and support did a 180, and I've been quite satisfied since. So naturally, Verizon was the first stop on my Pocket PC phone quest, where I found the XV6700.
The specs
The XV6700 from Verizon is a CDMA-enabled mobile phone running Windows Mobile 5, with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized or Evolution-Data Only) capability. Included in the XV6700 are a voice recorder, a slide out QWERTY keyboard, a miniSD expansion slot, and a 1.3 megapixel digital camera with flash. Additional specs are a 416 Mhz Intel processor, 64MB of RAM and 128MB of Flash ROM, a 2.8-inch QVGA (240x320) screen, and a removable and replaceable 1350mAh lithium-ion battery for power. As an advantage, the memory is persistent, meaning it will survive a power loss. Your battery can die, even be removed, and you won't lose your data like on many handhelds.
