Business phones get arty

GIZMO GALLERY

is the first in the series to finally get its multimedia right. It has a real headphone jack to connect a good set of headphones and a personal computer (PC) software, bundled in, to convert music and videos to play on its gorgeous screen. And it's still a Blackberry with e-mail usage being a breeze.

The Blackberry Pearl was way too fancy, and the 8800 had a 2.5-inch display screen, traditional keyboard, and no camera. The Curve covers this gap. It boasts of multimedia, like a music player, a video player and a 2-megapixel camera.

The new spell-check function, complete with a customised dictionary, is welcome. Unlike the Pearl and 8800, the Curve's performance slows down when it streams music over Bluetooth while trying to surf the web.

Besides, it delivers only 4 hours of talk time when compared with the 5 hours of the 8800. However, it delivers 30 minutes more than the Pearl. It's priced at Rs 24,990.

The Dopod U1000 is sure to make the iPod generation sit up and take notice. It sports an ultra-mobile PC design, a 5-inch touchscreen, 8GB hard drive that completes U1000's PC functionality (looks resemble iMate's JasJar).

U1000 has a magnetic QWERTY keypad, which attaches magnetically to the screen. It comes with a 3-megapixel camera, speakers for music and a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver among other features.

Flash memory and use of the Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Edition for the Operating System ensure that the battery life is longer than that of an ultra-mobile PC with a hard disk drive and Windows Tablet Edition.

Users can talk into the device itself but it is awkward considering it's about the size of a paperback book ""even tough to hook up an earphone or a hands-free Bluetooth headset.

The keys on the U1000 are well spaced out, but one is bound to miss the zippiness of Blackberry or a Nokia. The keyboard is not backlit, so typing in the dark will be a challenge. It costs a whopping Rs 50,000 (appx).

The HTC S710 Besides being a smartphone without a touchscreen, HTC's S710 will be noticed for its weight. It is noticeably heavier than other devices at 120 grams.

It features an MP3 trimmer that can be used to set, start and end selected MP3s. Essentially, users can forget about paid services for MP3 ringtones, and instead create their own. The Windows Mobile 6 operating system adds push technology, making the S710 appealing to the enterprises.

Yes, it lacks 3G, Zip application and the 200Mhz Central Processing Unit (CPU) can sometimes drag a little on screen switching. If you are ready to weigh these minor niggles against a "normal looking" phone that packs not only WiFi, but also a 2.0 megapixel camera large storage capacity (64MB RAM and 128MB flash ROM), spring-loaded keyboard and an Office Mobile, then S710 is for you. It retails at Rs 17,000 ( approximately).