As you know, we *heart* nice, new shiny gadgets and we love to sit on the (sometimes uncomfortable) cutting edge of technology.
So when it comes to smartphones, we’re only going to be interested in strutting around with the very latest, gizmo-stuffed, state of the art model, right?
Wrong. In fact, my favourite phone remains the comparatively ancient Palm Treo 650 which, at nearly three years old, probably makes it the oldest piece of technology we’re still using!
So why have I gone backwards when there’s so many new, all-singing, all-dancing smartphones about?
The answer is simplicity.
The Palm platform may not be basking in the white heat of technology, but sometimes it’s more comfortable to hang out in the more temperate margins where things don’t get so sticky.
With the Treo just about everything works.
Unlike every Windows Mobile device we’ve tried, it feels like a proper smartphone rather than a phone bolted on to a PDA (or vice versa).
Based on the mature (some may suggest over-ripe) Palm OS, the Treo provides an intuitive and stable interface, with the five way controller and tightly integrated software ensuring that the stylus stays docked in the silo for most everyday tasks.
When there’s a need to input some text, the Treo has one of the best small keyboards in the business, with its brightly illuminated QWERTY keypad perfect for short emails and text messages.
Moreover, the interface is fast and responsive and although Palm’s idea of multi-tasking is simply to close down whatever you’re doing and start up the next program (while remembering all the settings) it doesn’t suffer from the gradual slowdown to a crawl that constantly blighted our Windows experience.
While there’s a good argument that Palm OS is in danger of becoming woefully outdated, it still does the job jus’ dandy and with the deft addition of a few third party programs, you can end up with a flexible device that can hold its own against everything else out there.
In part two, i’ll explain why I find the Palm interface and aesthetics to be some of the best in the business, but for those who love to peruse spec sheets, here’s the basics:
Palm Treo 650
wireless radio: GSM/GPRS/EDGE model: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz world phone. GPRS class 10B
processor: Intel™ PXA270 312 MHz processor
memory: 21MB user available stored non-volatile memory.
battery: Removable rechargeable lithium ion battery
talk time: Up to 6 hours talk time and up to 12.5 days standby time
operating system: Palm OS 5.4
size: 4.4 x 2.3 x 0.9 inches (11.3 x 5.9 x 2.3 cm)
weight: 6.3 oz. / 178 grams
display: Colour TFT touch-screen, 320 x 320 resolution, 16-bit colour (displays over 65,000 colours)
expansion: Supports SD, SDIO and MultiMediaCards
audio: RealPlayer included – requires SD memory card, sold separately
camera: VGA with 640×480 (0.3 megapixels) resolution and automatic light balancing, 2x zoom, captures video
We’re big fans of Pure Digital and their seemingly endless mission to push the features and functions of DAB radios. Their latest move is to launch a new portable DAB radio. 
Recognising that what they’re selling is audio quality, Pure have done a deal with Sennheiser to have Sennheiser’s MX300 headphones included in the package. 
To date, most ADSL equipment that BT has put out has been pretty …. functional … or put another way, ugly. Their ethernet routers have been transposed from office equipment, and their USB kit, the Frog as it was known … well don’t get us started on that*. 
BT have clearly had the industrial designers on the case and what they’ve turned out is a bit of a looker. 
What can you connect to it?
The only issue we raised after spending a brief time with it was the usage indicator lights that sit at the top of the unit, which flicker whenever data passes through the box. Sadly, as yet, these can’t be turned off. 
Symbian, the smartphone OS company, are pulling a smart move (pun intended) by offering free assistance to Universities and their lecturers to have Symbian programming skills built into courses. Very clever.
As a sweetener to the lecturers to get involved, Symbian will provide “exposure to Symbian’s industry partners.” Pretty healthy if you fancy running a software development company and want to get exposure for your potential products, or you’re getting a little bored of Uni life and fancy impressing those in industry that you’re a bit of visionary. 
T-Mobile has announced that it is to extend its web’n’walk unlimited mobile Internet access service to include pay-as-you-go customers. 
All the web’n’walk handsets come pre-configured to connect immediately to the Internet, with customers able browse any web pages they chuffing well like rather than the ‘cut-down’ mobile-optimised web pages available through some services. 
We love it
As you may recall, we first reported the 
The transfer and negotiations around the unit are likely to have given BT some food for thought as to how they can manage the disposal of business units they do not see as key, or that are giving rates of return below the main business’s targets. 
It might look like a weird mutation between Dr Who’s K9 and and the wobbly robot from Lost In Space, but we like the fact that PURE Digital’s new Bug TOO DAB radio is brave enough to stand out from the current crowd of wood’n’plastic identikit DAB radios. 
This usefully displays artists names, song titles, news, sports results and other information, with the EPG feature offering programme information and schedules. 
There’s also alarm, sleep and timer record functions – including an MP3 alarm – so the Bug TOO could be a handy bedside radio. We’re not quite sure why anyone would want 20 configurable alarms though, but if that’s what you’re after, the Bug’s got ’em. 
T-Mobile has finally officially announced the T-Mobile Sidekick 3, adding a new trackball controller, Bluetooth and EDGE data to the popular Sidekick 2. 
The Sidekick boasts a new 1.3 megapixel camera and assist light, with a large 65k colour, transflective TFT display supporting a rather underwhelming 240×160 pixel resolution. 
New for version three is a Bluetooth system supporting both the OBEX Push and Headset/Hands Free profiles and a mini-USB port for transferring files from a PC. 
With a full blown parp on their PR trumpets, Sony Ericsson has announced its new Sony Ericsson K610im, their first GSM/UMTS handset to offer full support for i-mode. 
Although the download speed isn’t exactly impressive right now, the next-gen i-mode looks to be a much sleeker beast, supporting white-knuckle speeds up to 384 kbps. 
Other features include a speakerphone, Bluetooth, USB 2.0, USB charging and a flight mode. 
Imaging and messaging