Microsoft and T-Mobile have hit a home run with their new T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition. The bright screen, great battery life, and incredible new software from T-Mobile and Microsoft make this my new Pocket PC/mobile phone of choice for use in my daily life as a physician and a family man!

I first learned of Microsoft's intention to integrate a cell phone into the Pocket PC at a press event in Seattle over a year ago. I had been anxiously awaiting this convergence and was able to get my hands on a beta version of the device in May of this year. My comments on that device are on page 20 of the Sept 2002 issue of Pocket PC magazine (www.pocketpcmag.com/Sep02/future.asp). Since then, I have been eagerly awaiting the production unit from T-Mobile. It was released in late August 2002 and I purchased the device along with a T-Mobile wireless plan. Despite some limitations that you will read about below, T-Mobile, HTC, and Microsoft have done an incredible job developing a cool all-in-one device that can simplify your life.

SLEEK AND ATTRACTIVE DESIGN

The T-Mobile Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition was designed and manufactured for T-Mobile by HTC of Taiwan. HTC also designs and manufactures the iPAQ for HP/Compaq. Unfortunately, you can't use iPAQ accessories with the T-Mobile device. Like the iPAQ, the T-Mobile device is sleek and attractive. It's slightly smaller, but weighs a few tenths of an ounce more than the iPAQ (see the "spec sheet" at the end of this article).

It is powered by a 206 MHz StrongARM processor and has a built-in Lithium polymer rechargeable battery. The battery is rated at 1,500 mAh and provides five hours of talk time and 180 hours of standby. Unfortunately, the battery cannot be replaced by the user. If it runs out of power, you can lose all of your data. For that reason, I back up often with Backup Plus, an incredibly versatile backup program by Sprite Software (www.spritesoftware.com). In addition to many user-friendly features, Backup Plus has a battery monitor that will perform an automatic backup when your battery goes below a user-specified level. You can also have it perform scheduled backups so that your device automatically backs up in the middle of the night, if you so desire. An SD storage card with adequate free memory must be in place for a backup to take place.

All batteries eventually become unusable. Unfortunately, when this happens with the T-Mobile device, you have to send it in to have the battery replaced. I can get by without my Pocket PC for a week or two, but not my cell phone. The British company mmO2 markets an identical device for the European market. Their site (www.mmo2.com/docs/services/) lists an extended battery as an option for their "xda" Phone Edition device. Hopefully, T-Mobile will make a similar accessory available soon.

INTERNAL MEMORY SUFFICIENT FOR MOST USERS

The T-Mobile has 32 MB of flash ROM, part of which is used to store the operating system and built-in applications. A "Permanent Save" feature backs up data to another portion of this non-volatile flash ROM. This feature saves only the Contacts and Calendar entries and cannot be accessed by the user from File Explorer. Also, when it's activated, it greatly slows down the soft reboot. The T-Mobile also has 32 MB of RAM which is used to run programs and store data and other files. Since part of this is used to run programs, you only have about 24 MB of usable internal data/file storage. Fortunately, the T-Mobile has a Secure Digital expansion slot. SD storage cards are available in capacities up to 512 MB, with 1 GB cards available sometime in 2003. Only storage cards work with the T-Mobile's SD slot; in will not accept any of the modem, GPS, and other I/O SD cards in development.