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Smartphone choices

I call upon the wisdom of the Intertubes: Help me decide on a smartphone. Our cell contract runs out this month, and I need to get a Smartphone of some type.

Needs:

  • Obviously, it needs to be a good phone
  • IM, SMS, and email must be solid and easy to use (bonus for gmail & outlook both working well)
  • View Word and PDF, edit would be nice
  • Must be a Cingular phone, due to coverage in our area

Here are the contenders:

I like the form factor of the Blackjack, but both it and the Treo lack 802.11 support, and I’d like to be able to browse/IM/Email via wifi if I’m somewhere with a signal. Hell, I’d love to be able to Skype with it if possible. The 8125 has wifi, but is the largest of the bunch…on the other hand, the slide out keyboard is pretty great. As much as I lust after the iPhone, Apple is not known for flawless first-gen products, and the $$ is a bit to drop in the foreseeable future. I like the Treo because I’ve always had a soft spot for Palm, and the secondary software support is huge, but Palm is, frankly, dead.

So I’m torn, Intertubes. Anyone use any of these phones? Got a recommendation for me for something I haven’t looked at?

By griffey

Jason Griffey is the Director of Strategic Initiatives at NISO, where he works to identify new areas of the information ecosystem where standards expertise is useful and needed. Prior to joining NISO in 2019, Jason ran his own technology consulting company for libraries, has been both an Affiliate at metaLAB and a Fellow and Affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, and was an academic librarian in roles ranging from reference and instruction to Head of IT at the University of TN at Chattanooga.

Jason has written extensively on technology and libraries, including multiple books and a series of full-periodical issues on technology topics, most recently AI & Machine Learning in Libraries and Library Spaces and Smart Buildings: Technology, Metrics, and Iterative Design from 2018. His newest book, co-authored with Jeffery Pomerantz, will be published by MIT Press in 2024.

He has spoken internationally on topics such as artificial intelligence & machine learning, the future of technology and libraries, decentralization and the Blockchain, privacy, copyright, and intellectual property. A full list of his publications and presentations can be found on his CV.
He is one of eight winners of the Knight Foundation News Challenge for Libraries for the Measure the Future project (http://measurethefuture.net), an open hardware project designed to provide actionable use metrics for library spaces. He is also the creator and director of The LibraryBox Project (http://librarybox.us), an open source portable digital file distribution system.

Jason can be stalked obsessively online, and spends his free time with his daughter Eliza, reading, obsessing over gadgets, and preparing for the inevitable zombie uprising.

7 replies on “Smartphone choices”

I have nothing to offer you other than to request a review of whatever you buy — I’ll be looking for a new smartphone, with similar requirements, in July…

Have you looked at the Treo 750?

Also, it’s weird to hear people say Palm is dead… when the alternative is that creepy Windows interface. Palm works fine for what it does; it integrates really well on a handheld device for your, you know, palm. 🙂 I’d say there’s a pretty big installed base for Palm so that whether Palm is dead or not by any industry standard is immaterial.

Ha! I specifically didn’t mention the Treo 750 because it runs MS Windows Mobile 5…if I’m going with a windows machine, might as well go all the way with the 8125. Plus, for some crazy reason the 750 is like $299 WITH a 2 year contract. Might as well go with the iPhone at that point. 🙂

Well, I can’t help you on the wifi front, but I’m a fan of Symbian and the Nokia smart phones. Cingular/AT&T has two right now if I recall (E62 and N75 I think). Tons of app support, good sync capabilities on Windows and Mac (don’t know about Linux), has Quickoffice, runs the Gmail mobile app. The built-in email program is only OK, but I think there are better ones out there.

Jason, As a Treo 700p owner, I can strongly recommend the Palm. I’ve been a Palm user since 2000, and I have loved their devices. The Palm OS has been criticized as being dated, but there are tons of 3rd party apps for the OS. I too, initially wanted something with WiFi, but with Sprint’s unlimited data plan (~$15/month), I don’t really need the wifi. I use my Treo for it’s calendar, contacts, and the usual stuff, including phone. I also have an IM client installed (mundu) which works really well. Chatteremail is an excellent app that connects to our campus imap server quite nicely. I was taken out of town unexpectedly all last week, and my Treo allowed me to check email, text, use IM, all from places where there was no wi-fi. When I get around to it, I’ll try to post something more substantial about the Treo on my blog.

Have you looked at the Treo 750?Also, it's weird to hear people say Palm is dead… when the alternative is that creepy Windows interface. Palm works fine for what it does; it integrates really well on a handheld device for your, you know, palm. 🙂 I'd say there's a pretty big installed base for Palm so that whether Palm is dead or not by any industry standard is immaterial.

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