Smartphones
I’ve been pining for a good data/web portable computer type device for a while. I was excited when Danger announced their Hiptop device years ago. I was excited when T-Mobile released it as their SideKick with an unlimited data plan. But it turned out a little bulkier than I thought, with a closed OS, and poor utility as a phone. However with the new release of the Danger OS via an Over-The-Air firmware upgrade, it is now capable of running third party applications (and I’ve signed up with their developer program to take a look at their SDK). This was probably my biggest gripe. I want to be able to write code for my hardware. Whether or not I actually make use of it, such possibilities excite me.
However… The Treo 600 is coming soon. And with an all-you-can-eat plan from SprintPCS. The Treo is obviously an open system, and I have experience programming for Palm OS. Now comes the problem. Which to choose?
Treo 600 | Color SideKick | |
| Development Language | C/C++ primarily | Java |
| Resolution | 160×160 | 240×160 |
| Memory | 32 MB w/ SD/MMC/SDIO slot | 32 MB |
| Form Factor | 4.41 x 2.26 x 0.87 inches, about 6 oz | 4.6 x 2.6 x 1.1 inches, about 6 oz |
| Web Browser | Proxiless w/ Javascript and CSS | Proxied |
| Camera | 640×480 built-in | 320×240, attaches to headphone jack, $40 |
| Price | estimated $400-500 w/ activation | $300 w/ activation, as low as $199 |
The Treo wins, save for two categories: Resolution and Price. Camera is interesting, but not really a big deal. The Treo has a better web browser, but would the experience be better on a lower resolution display? The Treo can probably view more websites, but less of them at once. Development language: it’s really a toss up - I don’t really care either way, though I have more options with the Treo.
One thing that really bites about the Treo 600 is that it runs PalmOS 5.2. Which means, it’s still running Motorola 68K code under emulation with the possibility of bits of ARM optimized code (so that Java emulation is not much of a disadvantage for the SideKick). What’s really annoying is that, PalmOS 5.2 doesn’t really support mutiple processes. Therefore there is only on application running at a time. It has worked so far because the applications would just save their state until you came back. But what happens when you’re on AIM, and you want to pop away to look something up? Oops. I want to be able to receive messages “in the background”. I’m not sure how VeriChat does it (if it does), but the sites don’t say much. The SideKick is able to receive messages in the background (it would appear to be through some sort of proxy, as they obviously can’t maintain a GPRS data connection during a voice call).
I guess it comes down to what my priorites are for it. I don’t think I’m make use of the PIM features to much (so not too much a disadvantage for the SideKick and it’s more PIM features). I think my primary use would be web, IM and phone. I’d also love to have a telnet/SSH program, though I’d have to see about latency before I can guess how much I’d really use it. I’m probably going to wait this one out a little. See what the first-adopters say about the Treo 600. And maybe Danger will have a slimmer SideKick around the corner. And maybe a deal will pop up for the Treo 600. Otherwise the prices will never be comparable as the Treo is being marketed as a premium business device versus the SideKick, which is marketed as more like a young hip nerd toy.