Tag Archive for: cell phones

Correction: When a PDA has a phone, it’s a smart phone.

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I always appreciate feedback, especially when it catches me making a mistake. The article, “RIM Passes PalmOne. Not True.” accurately points out that most of RIM’s lineup of PDA’s and “business phones” actually include phones. However, the Gartner report linked below apparently excludes these PDA’s with phones and just considers them PDA’s because the RIM web site calls them “handhelds.” Can they really be that lame? I have to agree with the respondee from Personal Tech Pipeline that these PDA-phones should be considered smart phones. Thanks for the correction.

(While we’re at it, can I help you to get a deal on a free cell phone? If interested, please use one of the links on that page to visit Media Mall’s partnership e-store with FonCentral. Just enter your zip code and check out the deals. And thanks for supporting this blog.)

PDA’s Are Alive & Well Thanks to Wireless Email. Windows CE and RIM New Leaders

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Despite techno-hype rumblings that smart phones are going to smash the PDA market, research analyists at Gartner reported that PDA’s had their best year-over-year quarter ever: “Worldwide PDA shipments increased 25 percent to 3.4 million in the first quarter of 2005 compared with a year ago — the best first quarter ever for PDA sales. The market was led by 84.3 percent growth in Western European PDA shipments. The U.S. market fell to 39.1 percent of worldwide shipments.”

The bad news for palmOne was that their market share got significantly smaller–shrinking over 26% from 30.5 to 18 percent–although they are still the leader in terms of total PDA units shipped. At the same time, RIM, the makers of Blackberry’s, grew over 75% to blow right by palmOne, increasing from 14.8 to 20.8 percent marketshare. Windows CE-based PDA makers like HP and Dell also saw significant growth making Microsoft the #1 PDA OS, with RIM now 2nd. (See chart).

Note: These stats do NOT include smart phones like the Treo 650 and others.

New iPod Photo as Digital Camera Backup

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Apple has significantly reduced the price of the iPod Photo and that event combined with an accessory that enables a direct connection between digital cameras and iPod Photos has a Washington Post reviewer explaining why this device has become more attractive to digital camera enthusiasts. Read the review.

Voice over IP Phones Expanding Rapidly

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Very few people realize how huge VoIP (voice over IP a.k.a. the Internet) is becoming. The quality is now totally viable. The costs are significantly less than from the traditional phone companies. All you need is a high speed Internet connection and some moxie. Soon you’ll easily be able to do this wirelessly as well. Personally, I haven’t made the move to VoIP, but when I do I’ll probably use Vonage. Meanwhile, perhaps this AOL announcement will open more eyes as to how significant this technology is becoming.

Skype Me! NYTimes & the New Phone Net

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Free phone service over the Net is not new, but the improvements in quality are apparently not only making it more popular, but more intimate as well.

In a piece in tomorrow’s New York Times, Internet free speech evangelist and Grateful Dead lyricist, John Perry Barlow is quoted as saying about the free Skype Internet phone service, “The combination of anonymity and intimacy creates a special kind of environment.”

I was even more amazed to learn that “Skype says that it has over 2.8 million users in the United States and 30.6 million worldwide and that it is adding users at a rate of 155,000 a day. Skype’s biggest competitor, Vonage, a paid VoIP service, has about 550,000 customers.”

Am I delusional or is the Internet hotter than ever? Oh yea, here’s the link to the NY Times article.