Smartphone Challengers Fail to Displace the Treo 650

Apparently, history in the smartphone business stopped in late2004. It's not that manufacturers haven't come out with anything newsince then. But none of these hybrids of cellphone and handheldorganizer has had the appeal of Palm's Treo 650.

You could call the 650 the iPod of phones, except that Apple'smusic players have evolved dramatically over the last year and a half-- while the Treo has not. So why have competitors had so muchtrouble hitting this stationary target?

Two new Treo rivals help explain why. One comes from Palm itself,while the other comes from Motorola, whose Razr phone has comeclosest to a Treo level of buzz.

Palm's 700p (available from Sprint and Verizon Wireless for $400with a two-year contract) might seem the obvious successor to the650, but it's not. Instead, it's an alternative for people who needfaster Internet access.

Aside from an unnecessarily rearranged layout of buttons, the 700plooks much like the 650 -- from its sharp color screen to itsingeniously condensed keyboard. But it adds support for Sprint andVerizon's fast "EV-DO" wireless data services. Where the 650, limitedto 50 to 70 kilobits per second, is best at grabbing discrete bits ofdata like weather forecasts, baseball scores or driving directions,the 700 can easily clock 500 kbps, allowing you to browse at length.

Palm upgraded the 700p's Web and e-mail software to do a betterjob of rendering pages and messages on the Treo's compact display. Italso added software to turn the 700p into an external modem for adesktop or laptop computer, connected with a USB cable or the 700p'sBluetooth wireless.

All that will cost you, however. Both Sprint and Verizon requirebuying an unlimited-use data package in addition to a voice plan toget a 700p at the advertised $400 price. Sprint's cheapest data/voice bundle is $45, while Verizon's is $80. Both charge extra formodem use -- $25 a month at Sprint (with a 40-megabyte data quota;removing that adds another $15), $15 a month at Verizon. The 700p'sSD Card expansion slot remains incompatible with WiFi adapters, soforget about using free WiFi.

The 700p also features a higher-resolution camera and a fewsoftware updates which mainly provide functions already availablewith third-party software. For instance, you can record a voice memo,answer an incoming call with a text message, and view PortableDocument Format files.

Unfortunately, the software on this handheld that most needed anupgrade -- the Palm operating system itself and the Palm Desktopsoftware that links the 700p to a desktop or laptop -- didn't getany.

The 700p's data capabilities expose the Palm OS's major weakness,its lack of multitasking. While it's easy enough to browse Web pageswritten for desktop computers and download attachment-laden e-mail,you can't flip over to another program while this data streams in;you have to sit and wait.

Palm Desktop, meanwhile, still doesn't tie into any e-mailprogram's address book, forcing users to keep separate contactslists.

If you run Windows and Microsoft's Outlook, the 700p can sync tothat program instead -- but then you'll have to put up withOutlook's far greater complexity. And in that case, devices runningMicrosoft's Windows Mobile software (for instance, Palm's Treo 700w)provide a closer match with Outlook.

On a Mac, Palm Desktop is even more useless -- Mac OS X includesgood address-book and calendar software, but Palm's software doesn'ttalk to those applications at all. Apple's free iSync software allowsonly limited synchronization to OS X's Address Book and iCal; Mark/Space's Missing Sync software works far better but costs $40.

Motorola's Q, unlike the 700p, isn't about to confused with anyearlier models. It's just half an inch thick and weighs a tad overfour ounces, with a color screen bigger than, though not as sharp as,the 700p's. It's the sleekest, lightest smartphone I've ever used; aTreo looks distinctly plump next to it.

Other smartphones also look pricey next to the Q: Verizon sells itfor just $200 with a two-year contract, even if its required voice-and-data plans start at $80 a month.

The Q connects to Verizon's EV-DO data service and includesBluetooth wireless for linking to nearby devices; Verizon says asoftware update later this year will allow the use of the Q as anexternal modem.

As a pocket-sized phone, Web browser, e-mail reader, camera,address book and calendar -- all the basic functions of asmartphone -- the Q worked quite well. (The Q's included, Windows-only ActiveSync software synchronizes it with Microsoft Outlook; ifyou don't own a copy, the ActiveSync CD includes Outlook 2002, notthe current Outlook 2003.)

The Q's talk time on battery wasn't as long as the 700p's -- 3hours and 41 minutes versus 4 hours and 12 minutes -- but was stillperfectly acceptable.

For anything more than basic use, however, the Q ranks as adisappointment.

First, the Q's limited, phone-oriented edition of Microsoft'sWindows Mobile 5 operating system doesn't allow for touch-screencontrol. You can only operate this device with its keyboard (marredby a backspace key inexplicably exiled above the rest of the keys), afive-way controller below the screen and a jog-dial switch on theright. That bogs down your Web browsing, since you can't just tap thelink you want and instead must tip-toe toward it by pressing buttonsor flicking the jog dial.

Second, the Q ships without any way to jot down your own thoughts.There isn't even a notepad here, much less the miniaturized versionsof Microsoft's Word, Excel and PowerPoint available on regularWindows Mobile devices. And because the Q can only run programsdesigned for the phone edition of Windows Mobile, you're going tohave a hard time finding third-party replacements for thoseapplications.

Motorola or Verizon could add a note-taking program with asoftware update. Ideally, that update would also silence thisdevice's loud start-up theme and could lock its keys automaticallyafter a set amount of idle time, instead of asking users to invokethe Q's key-lock function on their own.

That could very well happen -- the odds of it certainly seembetter than the chances of Palm providing a meaningful improvement toits software.

In the meantime, there's still the proven, widely available Treo650.

Living with technology, or trying to? E-mail Rob Pegoraro atrob@twp.com.