Kyocera QCP 6035 Smartphone:

 It's a cell phone. It's a PDA. It's a buzzword come true! Yes, the convergence of the wireless and handheld-organizer worlds is evident now more than ever with the Kyocera QCP 6035 Smartphone, a communication/information tool akin to a Swiss Army knife.

  Recalling the original Qualcomm pDQ Smartphone--not-so-affectionately referred to as "the brick"--we were pleased to find the Smartphone's size to be quite manageable. Measuring 5.6 by 2.5 by 0.8 inches, it's only about an inch taller and less than a half-inch thicker than the new Palm m500 series handhelds. And at 7 ounces, it didn't weigh us down so much.

  As a handheld, the Smartphone has the same basic features as the Palm Vx. It runs Palm OS 3.5, comes with 8 MB of RAM, includes Graffiti-recognition software, and features standard Palm applications such as Address, Date Book, Memo Pad, and To Do. Kyocera's also added a nifty voice-recording option, something we've always wanted to add to Palm's feature set.

  But it's the cell-phone features that really grease the Palm functionality of the Smartphone. You've got several options for making a call, the most obvious being opening up the Address application and tapping the number that appears in the list. This requires that you open the Smartphone's flip keypad. 

  To dial a number stored in the Palm's Address app with the keypad closed, you can quickly search for a name with the Find Name key. Even better, you can use the convenient shuttle option located on the left side of the Smartphone to scroll through the Contact list (which is copied from Address Book).

  As we expected, the Smartphone has all the basic elements we look for in a cell phone. It features 15 ringers (including vibrating alert), different environment settings, secret memory locations, 99-number call logs, scratch-pad memory, and text-messaging support, among other goodies. Furthermore, it supports all the normal carrier-dependent features, including caller ID, call forwarding, and multiparty calling.

  The Smartphone comes with the Eudora e-mail application, which can connect to POP3 e-mail accounts, and EudoraWeb for accessing Internet information. You can also add Palm Web-clipping applications that allow you to see online content optimized for the Palm OS. Unfortunately, no Web-clipping apps come with the Smartphone--you'll have to download apps from www.palm.net and load them onto the Smartphone when you synchronize.

  While the Palm functions and connectivity were pretty seamless, we did have a few quibbles. Overall, we found the Palm operating system ran a bit sluggishly. The screen size is also a bit small--about the size of the Palm m100 series. And there aren't many Palm hardware add-ons compatible with the Smartphone, though you will find some third-party add-ons (such as the Ibiz KeySync keyboard, which connects via the Smartphone's serial HotSync cradle).

  Also, if you're a Mac user, you'll need to download the Palm Desktop software for the Mac from Palm's Web site, as well as purchase the PalmConnect USB kit, which offers a serial-to-USB adapter.

  On the battery front, the Smartphone is rated for up to 300 minutes' digital talk time and 180 hours' digital standby time. Our sample easily held a call for over five hours (quite remarkable, when you think about it), and lasted more than a week in standby mode.

  Overall, the Kyocera Smartphone isn't the perfect convergence device, but it's a pretty complete communications center for our increasingly wireless world. --Agen Schmitz

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  The new Kyocera QCP-6035 Smartphone rolls Palm OS 3.5 software, 8 MB RAM, trimode technology, and an innovative flip design into a single, powerful business-communications tool. Other features include infrared beaming, voice memo, speakerphone, voice-activated dialing, 11 ringer types, and an electronic organizer that stores thousands of contacts, dates, and memos.

  The lithium-ion battery is rated for up to five hours of digital talk time and 180 hours of digital standby time. A convenient sync cradle/charging stand, extra styluses, and user software are included.

  It should be noted, while the Smartphone does feature wireless Internet support (via the Palm OS), full access to the Sprint PCS Wireless Web is not yet available. Full support is expected soon.

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