rt
phones, hybrids that offer
just about everything.


Start with the Sidekick.
Aimed at 18- to 34-year-
olds, the Sidekick has lots
of flash, plenty of sub-
stance, and doesn't break
the bank. Its rotating screen
gives it a big wow factor
while being remarkably
practical.



See
New Handhelds
page 2


Lets Have a Big Hand
for the New Handhelds,
Special ReportAnnual
Tech Buying Guide
Wireless, BusinessWeek
Online, November 11,
2002.



Big Tigger really didn't
see much reason to have a
handheld computer. He
used phones, PCs, and a
Motorola two-way pager to
stay in touch with friends,
family, and colleagues at
Black Entertainment Tele-
vision in Washington,
D.C., where he hosts the
popular Rap City: Tha
Bassment music show. A
PDA like a Palm or a
Pocket PC just didn't cut it,
says the 29-year-old enter-
tainer. Palms or iPAQs
were fine for investment
bankers, but not for music
mavens.


Not any more. Last
summer, Big Tigger first
caught sight of the T-
Mobile Sidekick. One of a
growing breed of handheld
computer-phone combos,
the slick Sidekick has a
screen that rotates to reveal
a keyboard for sending e-
mail and instant messages.
A couple of months later,
Big Tigger got the Sidekick
($200 with activation from
T-Mobile, plus voice and
data service at $35 a
month). Now he carries it
everywhere, using it to zap
quick e-mails and chat on
the phone. And when he
flashes the little machine, it
causes a big stir.

"People have even tried
to buy it off me," Big Tig-
ger says.

As if they couldn't find
them at the mall! But be-
fore dashing out the door to
snap up one of your own,
consider this warning: The
new hybrid voice and data
communicators may pack a
lot into them, but there's no
single device that does eve-
rything really well. Each
one is missing a feature,
whether it's a color screen,


I S S @ F S U N e w s l e t t e r

L e t s H a v e a B i g H a n d f o r t h e N e w
H a n d h e l d s
Now you can e-mail, surf, and phone with a PDA, but peruse the field before you
choose
By Heather Green
I n f o r m a t i o n S y s t e m S o c i e t y a t F S U
S p e c i a l p o i n t s o f
i n t e r e s t :
By the end of November
2002, the ISS@FSU will
have conducted four
workshops, one presen-
tation, and sponsored
one information booth
during the Fall 2002
Semester.
Many PDA applications
are available as FREE
DOWNLOADS from the
Internet.
PDAs can readily share
information by
synchronizing with a
desktop or laptop, and
can beam information
from one PDA to an-
other.
I n s i d e t h i s i s s u e :
Lets Have a Big
Hand for the New
Handhelds
1
Photos from the re-
cent database work-
shop hosted by the
ISS@FSU
3
The Language of
Information Systems
4
About ISS@FSU
4
Contact Information
4


D e c e m b e r , 2 0 0 2
V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 8
People have even tried to
buy it off me, Big Tigger
says.
N e w H a n d h e l d s
B y H e a t h e r G r e e n

Many want such conven-
ience. The question is
whether it should all be in
the same machine. Assume
you've got a favorite cell
phone. The battery lasts for-
ever, and it fits into that little
square bluejean pocket.
Does it make sense to shelve
it for a much larger smart
phone? If the answer is no,
then you're in the market for
one of the top-of-the-line
PDAs that accompanies a
phone, but doesn't try to
supplant it. Don't worry,
you'll still be able to book
flights and suss out driving
directions on the move: The
small phone will send sig-
nals to these phoneless
PDAs through wireless con-
nections, such as Bluetooth,
a low-frequency radio signal
that links devices that are up
to 30 feet from each other.

The Toshiba e740, which
can cost anywhere from
$379 to $599, boasts wire-
less communications, but
without a phone. It manages
this through a built-in wire-
less technology called Wi-
Fi. That works for checking
e-mail, prowling the Web,
sending instant messages in
the office--or using so-called
wireless access areas in ho-
tels, airports, or coffee-
houses. But don't forget the
recharger. The e740 will run
for only about two hours
with Wi-Fi turned on. For
serious Web-surfers, it
might make sense to spend
$129 for an auxiliary bat-
tery.

See
New Handhelds
page
From page 1

Messaging is a snap.

For calls, just hit a but-
ton, and the Sidekick's speed
dial takes over. The device
also boasts buttons and roll
bars that flash when e-mails
and calls come in. Its cool,
digitized ring tones sound
like the Tribbles meeting
The Matrix.

For all its fun, the Side-
kick's a bit of a slacker at
work. The e-mail isn't con-
nected to corporate networks
yet. And it can't synchronize
with popular PC calendar
and contact software, such at
Microsoft's Outlook. Even
Big Tigger wishes the de-
vice had a color screen and
better Web-browsing capa-
bility. "If they took care of a
couple of things, it would be
perfect," he says.
For
regular
working
stiffs, two smart phones in
opposite camps stand out.
The $549 T-Mobile Pocket
PC Phone Edition (along
with similar designs from
AT&T Wireless and mmO2
in Europe) is the first hand-
held in the U.S. to use Mi-
crosoft's phone software.
The Treo 300, at $449 with a
$50 rebate from Sprint, is
the latest in Handspring's
lineup of Palm-based de-
vices.

Both handsets deliver as
phones. They're wider and
longer than most cell
phones, but are still slender
enough to slip into a pocket.
Their sound is crystal clear,
and speed-dialing from the
address book is a breeze.
Careful, though. Unlike a
regular cell phone that you
charge once every several
days, these Web-surfers de-
vour batteries. They'll likely
need a charge every night.

For writing, the Treo's a
better bet--assuming you
know how to type. Its thumb
keyboard may look too tiny
for serious e-mailing, but it's
surprisingly effective. By
comparison, the touch
screen of the Pocket PC is
cumbersome even for short
messages. You either hunt
and peck the digital keys on
the screen or write, letter by
letter, with the Graffiti hand-
writing-recognition system.

Al Roker, co-host of
NBC's The Today Show,
opted for the Treo 300. He
counts on it for sending e-
mails and surfing the Web.
"Just last month, I had a
flight to Cleveland can-
celed," he says. "I used [the
browser] to go to Expe-
dia.com and check other
flights. It has enough of eve-
rything I need to get through
my day."

The Pocket PC does have
its pluses. Without a built-in
keyboard, it has room for a
bigger screen. The display is
brighter and crisper, and it is
easier to read in bright day-
light. What's more, the
Pocket PC phone synchro-
nizes easily with the Micro-
soft programs on your PC.
The newest update of Micro-
soft's Media Player for the
desktop, for instance, has an
easy-to-use option for copy-
ing music files from a PC to
the handheld, which
moonlights as a personal
stereo.
P a g e 2
V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 8
"Just last month, I had a flight
to Cleveland canceled," he
says. "I used [the browser] to
go to Expedia.com and check
other flights. It has enough of
everything I need to get
through my day."
Al Roker, co-host of NBC's The Today
Show, opted for the Treo 300. He
counts on it for sending e-maiLs and
surfing the Web.
The Treo 300, at $449 with a $50 re-
bate from Sprint, is the latest in Hand-
spring's lineup of Palm-based devices. N e w H a n d h e l d s
B y H e a t h e r G r e e n
Palm m130. Both have sub-
stantially more memory and
processing power than the
Zire. They also have slots
that can be used for memory
expansion or to load pro-
grams and reference materi-
als, such as restaurant
guides. At $249, the m130
costs about $50 more than
the SJ20, but unlike the SJ20
it sports a color screen.

Not long ago, the industry
was hunting for the miracle
machine, a handheld that
would combine the phone,
the PDA, even the MP3
player. Now we're seeing not
just one device, but an ex-
plosion of tantalizing
choices. And as this wild
new industry blossoms, the
choices aren't going to get
any easier.

Submitted by Myron Wong
From page 2


When it comes to pure
power, Pocket PCs reign
supreme. The e740 is lead-
ing the switch to Intel
Corp.'s speedy XScale proc-
essor. The device has 64
megabytes of RAM, and you
can add more by slipping a
memory card into a slot.
That offers plenty of room
for addresses and calendar
entries, as well as for Word,
Excel, or PowerPoint docu-
ments, videos, or music.

Feeling artistic? With
Palm's new $499 Tungsten
T, you can draw notes or
sketches on the square
screen and zap them to
friends in the next room, or
colleagues across the meet-
ing table. The connection
comes from Bluetooth. If
your phone has Bluetooth,
you can meander thr