Next step in evolution of handhelds is communication
Competition grows with consumer model of RIM BlackBerry on the horizon
BY JON FORTT
Mercury News
There's nothing special anymore about a handheld computer that organizes your life. They all do that.
To stand out from the crowd, handhelds have to take it to the next level. And as we approach the end of the year, it's increasingly clear that the next level is communication.
There will be no shortage of competition for the communication spotlight. Soon -- possibly within the next two months -- America Online and Earthlink both plan to sell versions of Research in Motion's BlackBerry two-way messaging handheld, a product that is now targeted toward businesses. The consumer version of the RIM BlackBerry will give customers constant access to their e-mail accounts and instant messenger buddy lists.
In that same time period, Handspring plans to offer an attachment that will turn its Visor handheld into a phone capable of sending short text messages, and Omnisky will introduce modems that link the Visor and Hewlett-Packard's Jornada to the Internet. Basically, handheld-makers are scrambling to get wireless.
``The next great wave of what you need when you're mobile is, you need to stay connected,'' said Brant Jones, Compaq marketing manager for wireless handheld products. Compaq recently introduced a wireless attachment for its iPaq handheld. ``We're really talking about a quantum leap in capabilities, where you're actually able to appear as if you're in your office when you're roaming nationwide or worldwide.''
Until recently, being connected and able to communicate wasn't nearly as important as just being organized. The smart, intuitive feel of Palm Inc.'s address book, calendar and to-do list functions were a hit among professional users, who made Palm the top-selling handheld manufacturer. The organizer function became the standard by which all other handhelds were judged: If it wasn't as good at managing information as a Palm, it was a second-class device.
Other handhelds, including the Visor and Sony's new Clié, use the Palm operating system.
Now there are signs of change: most notably, the rise of RIM's BlackBerry, a device that sells for $350 to $500, plus a $40 monthly charge for wireless service. Unlike Palm devices, BlackBerrys have keypads instead of touch screens, a factor that puts them at a disadvantage as organizers. But the BlackBerry's primary purpose is to be a messaging device, not an organizer. In that capacity it has its own wireless connection to the network, and is therefore less dependent on a PC than other handhelds.
And that capability has made Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM's BlackBerry a trendsetter -- Palm CEO Carl Yankowski has talked to financial analysts about his plans for ``Out RIM-ing RIM,'' but those plans aren't slated to come to fruition in the form of a device until late next year.
Meanwhile, the BlackBerry is inspiring something of a cult following among business users, many of whom still use a Palm device for calendars and contacts.
``I love it. I honestly can't do without it. I own a Palm V with an Omnisky modem, and I love the BlackBerry better than the Omnisky,'' said Nicolas Seet, chief technology officer at Sivi.com, a Los Angeles-based Internet incubator. ``I'm in the strangest of places and it's genuinely nationwide coverage, and it's fast.
``The final reason that I like it a lot better is that I can type a lot faster on the device,'' Seet said. ``It's a lot like using a Nintendo Gameboy. With my BlackBerry I can type almost as fast as I can on a full keyboard with two fingers.''
Getting devices wirelessly connected and ready to talk to each other is tougher than it sounds. Unlike their European counterparts, U.S. cell phone carriers use so many incompatible standards that sending a text message from one phone to another is like trying to small-talk at the Tower of Babel -- impossible. RIM's solution, which uses the BellSouth Wireless Data network, sometimes gets better coverage than cell phones in metropolitan areas.
Unlike pager devices like Motorola's Talkabout, the Blackberry connects to a user's existing messaging accounts. Handheld makers and Internet service providers both have visions of consumers using always-connected wireless devices like RIMs to take pieces of the Internet experience with them, and thus feel more closely connected. And there's a chance the wireless devices will begin to do that.
``I wouldn't use it myself, but my daughter would,'' said Tom Gentile, an AOL user from Morgan Hill. ``She's 18, and it seems like all she does is use e-mail and her pager.''
Then there's the example of Finland, a small country with one of the world's largest concentrations of mobile phone users. When school lets out each day there, traffic spikes on the cell phone network. But teenage Finns aren't calling each other -- they're using their cell phones to pass notes using Short Message Service or SMS, which is like a mobile version of the instant messenger services offered here.
Jim Balsillie, chairman of RIM, hinted that ISPs will heavily discount the services to make them attractive to a similar crowd in the United States, and their parents.
``Will we become the proverbial tool of the soccer mom?'' Balsillie said. ``We'll know by Christmas.'' |
