Two for the Road from Sprint

Sprint expands and updates its Windows Mobile offerings with two new devices: the first is the Sprint PCS Smart Device PPC-6700, a Phone Edition Pocket PC. The second is the NEXTEL i930 Smartphone. Both devices are full of cool features, with the PPC-6700 offering built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, high-speed data (via EV-DO), and usable QWERTY thumb keyboard. The i930 is the first Smartphone with NEXTEL's "Walkie-Talkie" capability built in, giving users requiring this feature a more robust device for the field.

PPC-6700 POCKET PC Phone Edition

The PPC-6700 may prove to be Sprint's first successful Windows Mobile Phone Edition device. It is also one of the first Windows Mobile 5.0 devices to hit the marketplace. (A full review of the Windows Mobile 5.0 software is in the September 2005 issue of Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine and also available online in the magazine's archives: http://www.pocketpcmag.com/_top/archives.asp.)

Windows Mobile 5.0 alone makes the 6700 desirable. On top of that it's got cool ergonomic design, a very functional slide-out QWETY keyboard, easy-to-use Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and high-speed Internet capability via Sprint's EV-DO network. All in all, it's a very attractive device.

Clean, uncluttered design

The front of the unit has a clean, uncluttered design. Above the bright, 2.8 inch diagonal color touch screen are the speaker and two small multifunction LEDs that flash to indicate battery status, incoming messages, and appointments coming due. Below the screen are two rows of buttons and a joystick style navigation button. The joystick has 360 degrees of rotation, allowing you to move around screens and through menus; when you press it down in the center, it acts as an "enter" or "OK " command button. There are two non-programmable launch buttons, each taking advantage of WM 5.0 features.

The row of buttons above the joystick includes two buttons that activate the "soft key" options displayed on the bottom of the screen. These are the left and right-most buttons—the ones with the dash (or minus sign) icons. So, for example, with the Today screen displayed, press the left-most button to activate the Phone, and press the right-most button to open Contacts.

Inside those on the top row is a button with the Windows logo, which activates the Start menu, and one with an "OK" icon, which closes the current application or dialog box.

The button below the joystick, with a green icon shaped like a phone, initiates a phone call. The button with a red phone ends the call. These two keys are the only backlit hard keys on the device (with the exception of the backlit keys of the slide out keyboard—see below).

PPC-6700 contains five user programmable application launch buttons. You program these via the Start > Settings > Button configuration utility. They appear there as Button 1 through Button 5.

The Start menu (Button 1) and OK (Button 2) keys above the joystick can be reprogrammed to launch any application installed on the 6700. I reprogrammed the Start menu button to launch my Contacts. In addition, because the OK function can be activated by pressing the joystick in, I don't see the need for a separate OK button. I reprogrammed it to launch Calendar.

The Camera button (Button 3) is located on the right edge of the device (not shown). When pressed and held, it activates the 1.3 megapixel still image/video camera, which produces very reasonable pictures and videos.

The other two application launch buttons are located on the left edge of the device, along with the infrared port window and a rocker button for volume control. By default, Button 4 (below rocker button; above IR port) launches Internet Explorer mobile. When it is pressed and held down, it launches the 6700's Wireless Manager. Button 5, the top button on the left edge, activates the Voice Record feature.