Integrated computing and telephony could come a step closer with
the release, early next year, of Handspring's two personal digital
assistant (PDA) phones
As well as functioning as a mobile phone the Treo 180 includes a
miniaturised keyboard, while the g180 uses Palm's Graffiti
handwriting recognition.
The company believes that telephony will prove to be the killer
application for PDAs because of the convenience of using one mobile
device rather than two.
In a radical redesign, the new Treo is smaller and slimmer than
existing models and has a lid with a window so features and
functions can still be accessed. A "jog rocker" wheel is used to
move a cursor to navigate the menu when the touchscreen is
covered.
Both 180s can be used hands-free so PDA functions can be accessed
during a phone call.
eric.doyle@rbi.co.uk