Rick Cooper, The PDA Pro

Go Mobile with SCOTTEVEST

I saw a great new product last night while watching The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. The witty and irreverent host was interviewing Scott Jordan from SCOTTEVEST. Scott, an attorney turned entrepreneur,  created a vest to hold all of your mobile devices including PDAs and smartphones. What a great idea!

Scott has a great story. Here's a quick excerpt from his website.

"I’m Scott Jordan, and I created the SeV to solve a very basic problem: I needed an easy way to carry AND use all my gadgets and gear. All too often, juggling my gear was a losing battle. I wanted to carry all of my favorite gadgets, but had to leave most at home, or convince my wife to carry some for me. My favorite gear consists of: iPod®, PocketPC/Palm Pilot, a cell phone, the car/remote keys, a digital camera, water bottle, and a magazine.

Clothes simply weren’t designed to hold this much stuff. Before long, I needed a bag just to carry my gadgets, and that defeats the purpose of being mobile and the perfect “man-purse” just doesn’t exist. Believe me, I tried to find something on the market that addressed my needs, but there wasn’t anything available that was fashionable, functional and affordable. So, in 2001, I decided to solve the problem myself, and the idea of designing clothing as a Gear Management Solution™ came to me. I then quit my day job- practicing law at a mega-law firm, and SCOTTEVEST/SeV® and the Technology Enabled Clothing-TEC® system were born."

Wow! What a great story. It just goes to show what can happen when someone makes a decision to become an entrepreneur. And what a great product too!

Scott Jordan, Founder and CEO of SCOTTEVEST, Inc., is pictured here wearing the vest. Mobile devices are actually stored in the liner of the vest and not visible to onlookers. Very cool! And handy too!

Future Trends in PDAs

What can you expect over the next year in PDAs? Great question! Well, for one, expect the trend toward smartphones to continue. People are beginning to appreciate the value of connecting to the internet from their mobile device and viewing websites or checking email. The YouTube generation now expects to be able to view video clips from their mobile device.

The iPhone is a perfect example of the media based mobile device. And expect to be able to use the iPhone with other carriers, according to Engadget. But, what about someone who justs wants to look at their calendar, select a contact or check their task list? The options will grow slimmer for the non-connected PDA. The market just isn't there. Smartphones represent a much higher value to telecom companies. Not only can they sell you a phone plan, they can also charge you on bandwidth for audio and video downloads. Plus, they can also potentially make money on ads through mobile marketing.

Even The PDA Guy, Anthony Caruana, has questioned whether Palm has a future on Hydrapinion. Of course , Palm has already been bought and sold a few times. So, that's probably what will happen again. I still like the Treo as an all around PDA/smartphone. But, it doesn't appeal to younger consumers who are addicted to text messaging and IM and live their lives on MySpace. Smartphones based on the Helio platform appeal to them and will grow in appeal. It's social networking on steriods.

There will always be a market for standalone, handheld devices. Not everyone wants to be connected. And some people just can't afford it. But, whatever device you select, I encourage you to think first about productivity. Yes, being able to view a funny clip from YouTube can help you while away the hours. But, remember that your time is valuable. Limit your consumption of media. Set meaningful goals that will challenge you. Leverage technology to do more in less time. Yes, relax and enjoy yourself. But, strike a balance in your life. Take control of your destiny.

Whether you pick a PDA or smartphone, take time to evaluate the options to determine what you need. Determine what will make YOU more productive. If time is not an issue, wait till January. That's when the big Consumer Electronics Show is held. Most new models for the year are released or announced then. For more information on selecting a PDA or smartphone, visit http://www.thepdapro.com/FindaPDA.asp.

New BlackBerry 8703e Features Full QWERTY Keyboard

The new BlackBerry 8703e returns to a full size QWERTY keyboard after recently models have featured a more compressed keyboard. With models like the Blackberry Pearl, a single key shared two letters. For instance, Q and W were on the same key. The Pearl uses a technology called SureType which predicts what word you're going to type. It's not for everyone.

So now the BlackBerry 8703e offers a slimmer model than the wider classic style Blackberry, but not as slim as the Pearl. The Pearl introduced a trackball on the phone. I had the opportunity to try it recently and I was impressed. But, it looks like Research in Motion (RIM) is going back to a trackwheel format.

At any rate, this may be a good option for people who prefer the classic features of the Blackberry. The BlackBerry 8703e is being promoted by Verizon.

Microsoft Launches Windows Mobile 6

Following on the heels of launching Vista, Microsoft is rolling out Windows Mobile 6. Can the world survive this much change at once? We'll see!

As always, I would be cautious about making an immediate change to a newer operating system, whether for computers or PDAs. Unless you enjoy living on the bleeding edge of technology, the safe bet is to wait and see what happens.

I'll follow up with some updates from what more tech-oriented sites are saying. In the meantime, Chris Ziegler from Engadget recently wrote:

"Some of us are still trying to keep straight in our brains the difference between Windows Mobile Smartphone, Pocket PC, and Pocket PC Phone Edition devices, but with the impending arrival of Crossbow, that ship has apparently sailed. In the realm of new Windows releases, Vista has obviously been garnering the lion's share of the attention, but Windows Mobile 5 is about to ride off into the mobile platform sunset in favor of Windows Mobile 6 -- codenamed the aforementioned Crossbow -- and the naming convention to differentiate between its various flavors is riding with it."

Confused? You're not the only one.

Treo 680 Smartphone Available in New Colors

The Treo 680 Smartphone is now available in four new colors:  Artic, Copper, Graphite and Crimson. Palm is making an effort to compete with other devices that are more fashionable.  So, if appearance is as important as function for you, this may be the ticket. At this time, the Graphite model is available through Cingular. The other models are only available Unlocked, meaning you need to contact a cellular carrier directly to set up service. This may end up costing you more money, but will give you more flexibility to switch to another carrier later.

Nokia E62 New Option for Cingular Customers

Cingular is offering the Nokia E62, a powerful smartphone based on the Symbian operating system. This smartphone has all of the standard PDA functions and a whole lot more. An initial promotion features the device for $99.99. This seems to be a new pricepoint for smartphones.

I haven't had much experience with the Symbian OS. So, be sure you do your research before you commit to getting this device. They appear to have all of the functions you would ever need, so there should be no issue there. Plus, because Symbian devices were originally designed to be smartphones and not just PDAs, sound quality should be excellent.

The good news is that competition is good for consumers.

Ladies Need Juice Too!

Michelle Ulrich, Founder of The Virtual Nation, passed along this tip from the Techie Diva who writes:

"Ladies have you realized that, nowadays you carry too many gizmos with you from cell phones, to MP3 players. Anyway you might want to include this solar mobile charger to your purse. It will add juice to your gizmos while on the go. "

Not everyone is a fan though. According to Softpedia,

"Yes, from a woman’s point of view, this “thing” may actually look pretty good if she prefers the looks of sandwich makers but, and that is what my brain is still striving to understand, why in the god's name would a company name a device the “Solar Mobile Charger”, with a hyphen on the Mobile, when the damn thing weighs around 4 kilos? "

I think this is a trend though. Expect to see more solar chargers that offer you the ability to charge your mobile devices on the go. I imagine some work with PDAs and smartphones too.

For more information on this product, visit Global Sources Direct.

Palm Treo 750v Debuts in Europe

The Palm Treo 750v is now available in Europe, offered through Vodafone. It's similar in many ways to the Palm 700w and 700wx, available in North America. All run on the Windows Mobile Platform, have a 1.3 megapixel camera and similar memory and features. There don't appear to be too many differences between the North American and European models.  Note that the 700w is available through Verizon and the 700wx through Sprint.

For more details, read the datasheet on each model: Palm Treo 700w, 700wx and 750v.

Thanks to my good friend, Andy Gray at Conselleo, for passing along the information.

Sprint to Offer Moto Q

According to Engadget, Sprint will begin to offer the Motorola Q. I think competition is a good thing and I'm always glad to see wider availability of products. In coaching my clients on what smartphone to select, they are often limited by what is being offered by their current phone carrier. Exclusivity is good for the phone carrier, but not for the consumer.

Cell Phone Addiction

Michael Y. Park from Fox News posts an interesting article about the nation's cell phone addiction. Are we truly addicted to cell phones? It's tough to escape them wherever you go.  Like anything, you need to exercise balance. There are times when you need to disconnect from the grid and just be. Too much electronic stimulation can be bad.

But, it certainly has changed the way we socialize and work. Those changes will continue to evolve, especially as video is increasingly used to transfer content. One day, it will be common to simply look into your cell phone to see the other party similar to the way webcams are used for internet calls. Of course, this will help in business communications because it's often difficult to interpret someone's reaction simply from listening to their voice.

In the meantime, consider what's really necessary to share over the phone and be judicious with your time. Don't sacrifice your productivity just to pass alongthe latest gossip.