I have been using a Windows Mobile Smartphone 2003 to replace my Windows Mobile 2003 Pocket PC Phone Edition. During my experience with the Smartphone 2003, I’ve been mulling over how well it will work for enterprise customers. Below is my comparison of the Pocket PC Phone Edition 2003 and the Smartphone 2003 from an enterprise user perspective.
The Phone Edition is a full-blown Pocket PC and more. The superset features focus on using it as a cell phone and connecting to the Internet for data access. David Shier covered the new features that were introduced with the latest release of the Phone Edition in his article entitled “Windows Mobile 2003 for Phone Edition—Worth the Wait!” in the April/May 2004 issue of Pocket PC.
The Smartphone 2003 builds on the Smartphone 2002 functionality by focusing on performance enhancements and easier navigation. The Smartphone was covered extensively in the April/May 2004 issue through the reviews of the Samsung i600, the Orange SPV E200, and the Motorola MPx200.
Displays—Is smaller better?
One of the major differences you’ll notice right off the bat is that the Smartphone uses a smaller display than the Pocket PC Phone Edition. The 176 x 220-pixel Smartphone display is significantly smaller than the 240 x 320-pixel display of the Phone Edition. So you’re probably wondering what you can do to make the screens easier to read. Well, with the Phone Edition, in some applications you can bold the fonts. On the Smartphone you can adjust the font size using Start > Settings > Accessibility. The options are Normal and Large. Large is about 1 1/2 times the size of Normal. This feature will be important for users who have a hard time reading small type. Neither the Phone Edition nor the Smartphone natively support screen rotation, so viewing Web sites and using other apps can be more difficult than on the desktop.
Input methods—How much data entry do you need?
Another big difference that you’ll notice when you place a Smartphone next to a Phone Edition is that the Smartphone has phone-style buttons for dialing and navigation. To enter data in the Smartphone you have to press the number buttons multiple times to select the correct character, which can be tedious for large amounts of data. For input, the Phone Edition uses a touch screen with pop-up keyboard or with handwriting recognition through such programs as Transcriber. It also has buttons for navigation, volume, and placing or ending calls. So if you need to perform any significant amount of data entry for e-mail or notes, you will want to use a Phone Edition.
Many Pocket PC Phone Edition applications support “ink” stylus input while the Smartphone does not. Both the Phone Edition and the Smartphone support external keyboards; however, there is not a great variety of keyboards for Smartphone users right now.
Also, unlike most high-end cellular phones, neither the Smartphone nor the Phone Edition ships with voice recognition, so you may want to look at purchasing a third-party application
Expandability / Storage
One of the big differences between the Smartphone and the Phone Edition is that most Phone Editions support CompactFlash and Secure Digital (SD) cards. If you need memory expansion to augment the paltry 8 MB of RAM of some Smartphones, their SD slot does offer the ability to store files. However, not all Smartphone SD slots support SDIO, which is the new standard for SD-based peripherals such as cameras, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. Also, not all peripherals offer Smartphone drivers, so check that out first if you’re purchasing a peripheral for a Smartphone.
Connectivity
The Phone Edition and Smartphone share similar out-of-the-box connectivity. They both support the ability to place and receive phone calls as well as to connect to the Internet using GPRS or 1xRTT, depending on the carrier that is supported. (As the user, you must decide whether GPRS or 1xRTT is worth the additional cost per month for Internet access.) Both devices will support infrared synchronization and beaming of contacts if your PC has an IR port, as well as USB synchronization.
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