Switching to the latest Smartphone technology.

• Author: Seese, Grant
• Position: Gadgets & Gizmos

Gone are the days of bulky phones combining the features of a PDA with a cell phone. Gone also are the days of being bound to a provider in order to keep the same cell phone number. Here is the knowledge needed to take advantage of these new developments.

Revolution in Cell Phone Technology

Microsoft has made a bold move in securing their place among popular cell phones today, with the release of their PDA/cell phone combo Smartphone. The latest Smartphone offered by Motorola is a cell phone with a built-in Pocket PC. Unlike previous combo phones, which looked like bulky PDAs with a ring tone, this latest generation combines the strength of an operating system with the convenient size of a standard cell phone.

The Motorola MPx200/Microsoft Smartphone (AT & T service, $299) comes with an assortment of options and features. Included with the phone are the standard Pocket PC software applications, such as Pocket Outlook which allows e-mail to be synchronized before going on the road. It also includes Pocket Internet Explorer, which allows users to search the Internet for information or access Hotmail and other Internet e-mail accounts. Pocket Internet Explorer also comes with SSL support for enhanced security.

The Smartphone also has built-in Instant Messenger from MSN. It allows users to easily access MSN Messenger accounts from anywhere within the service area for quick and easy communication.

One of the best features about this phone is the built in media player that allows users to play WMA, MP3, and WMV files. Boxed with the phone is an ear bud and microphone headset, along with a set of ear bud headphones to listen to media files. Using the built-in Media Player to listen to MP3s or other media is easy and has surprisingly good quality. The Smartphone also has an expansion card slot that supports both Multimedia Cards (MMC) and Secure Digital Cards (SD) of up to 1 GB (gigabyte). That is more than enough memory to allow transfer of multimedia files. The built-in media player makes it possible to play MP3s and other files directly off the cards with outstanding sound quality.

Other impressive features of the Smartphone includes the color display and the battery life. The color display is crisp and eye friendly. Throughout the entire menu, there is not one point that caused eye strain or difficulty reading. Surprisingly enough with all the features, the battery life is still impressive--possibly even better than what it's published to be...