Connectivity in the palm of your hand

Net Results:  I know some people will scoff - you know who you are, you killjoys - but there are times when you're on the move and you just really, really need to get or send an email, writes Karlin Lillington

Maybe it's for business reasons - you are stuck in traffic and realise you won't have time to get back to the office before a client meeting but really need to pick up an email from a supplier before you arrive there.

Maybe it's personal - you tend to be out and about most of the day and want to keep on top of messages. Maybe you are in business for yourself and could get far more done if you could carry about a mobile office in your pocket.

Or perhaps you just cannot stand lugging around a laptop when all you need is some basic connectivity - the ability to manage a few documents and access email, maybe the internet too.

You can use a mobile phone for some of these tasks - collecting email, as well as a bit of web surfing, albeit on a very tiny screen. But you'll get a lot more functionality by opting for a handheld device that will manage your calendar, contacts and email, and also synchronise with your PC.

I've been test-driving a couple of options from mobile operator 0₂ for several months now - the Blackberry handheld, from Canadian company RIM (Research in Motion), and the XDA, a PocketPC device that has a GPRS and GSM mobile phone embedded inside.

O2 has been driving the wireless space in the Republic for some time, not necessarily to its financial benefit, but it remains the only choice for out-of-the-box solutions for businesses or individuals in the wireless device market.

Vodafone doesn't offer anything similar in devices, although it does have a service called Vodafone Connect Me - you go to the vodafone.ie website, download some software into your GPRS-enabled handheld (such as a PocketPC device), and you are then billed for your GPRS usage through the device. Alternatively, its Email Anywhere service is a business offering that allows the same kind of access.

Either way, be aware that this State remains an expensive market for such services. Individuals will need to weigh up whether they want to pay the monthly GPRS charge plus extra if large amounts of data are sent and received. On the business side, the devices are pricy as are the packages for using them. However, a business may well feel the extra productivity and connectivity is worth the price, especially for executives and salespeople.

The Blackberry, available only as a corporate solution in a package of software and devices plus monthly service charge, was introduced about a year ago. The devices cost €249+VAT plus a €60 flat service fee per month, and a company must set up the Blackberry Enterprise Server software product as well, which O2 provides without charge.

Blackberries will synchronise with key corporate email and calendar packages, with new entries reflected both on the handheld and the user's desktop machine simultaneously. The device has a tiny inbuilt keyboard, best operated by thumbs and works surprisingly well considering its minute design. Reportedly, the device - so addictive that it is known as the Crackberry in America - has not exactly taken the Irish market by storm.

One industry observer thinks it's because we don't have a tradition of using pagers and other small handhelds, and can't quite figure out why we'd want always-on email connectivity.

The XDA, in contrast, is a handheld computer that runs Microsoft's PocketPC operating system and, therefore, can display, create and edit Word and Excel documents, as well as play media files.

It synchs with Microsoft's widely used Outlook email and calendar program and also has a cut-down Internet Explorer web browser.

With a touch-sensitive screen, the XDA has no built-in keyboard. Instead, users tap out letters with a small stylus, and it has a reasonable handwriting recognition option.

The phone utilises a touchscreen dialler, which some may find awkward. The XDA costs €629+VAT and users need a GPRS account with O2.

Because it has a flat monthly fee per device, the Blackberry package allows businesses to control costs more tightly than the XDA, which lets users roam the internet and download email at will. But the XDA has far more functionality, especially the ability to send, receive and edit documents.

I found the Blackberry to be the far more intuitive device. RIM has done its research well and the device almost always brings up the command you'd want next onscreen when you are checking or sending email or using the calendar.

The whole design is extremely clever.

But for my own purposes, I've found the XDA to be indispensable. I can send and receive email on the go - getting plenty of work done on trains or in the back of cabs and while on trips abroad (the XDA will work in Britain, the Netherlands and Germany, and in all the markets where O2 has GPRS roaming agreements). However, the phone interface is clumsy and might well drive heavy mobile phone users crazy.

I am also trying out an optional folding keyboard (about €200 and must be specially ordered from O2 shops), which collapses to the size of the XDA and gets plenty of attention from people sitting next to you in public places.

Plug the XDA onto the keyboard and you can comfortably write and edit documents and send emails. I also use it to file entries remotely to my weblog and it works like a breeze. For me, the XDA/keyboard combo rids me of the need to carry a laptop most of the time, while fitting easily into a handbag or even a large pocket.

With your own GPRS-enabled device and a keyboard, you could get the same functionality via Vodafone.

I've found many businesses don't seem to have much awareness of either the Blackberry and XDA, or the Vodafone GPRS package for handhelds. But given the growing use of handhelds, which they're paying for anyway, businesses really should consider the productivity benefits of keeping executives and salespeople connected through such small devices.

Karlin's tech weblog: http://radio.weblogs.com/0103966/