6. How Well Do Smart Phone Services Work?

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My Blackberry connects to my Microsoft Exchange server to automatically and wirelessly synchronize my email, contacts and calendar. I run RIM's Blackberry Enterprise Server on my Exchange server. Verizon's data network connects my 7250 to RIM's server system, which in turn links with my Exchange server. Immediate two-way synchronization assures that both the Blackberry and the Exchange server contain the same information. After over 10 years of Exchange Server updates, Microsoft appears to be finally making similar technology work on its Exchange Server.

Not interested in running your own Exchange and Blackberry Enterprise servers? Not a problem. There are service providers who will take care of all that for you whether you're an individual or business. These services are increasingly available for Pocket PC devices as well. Don't want to mess with Exchange Server, see what you carrier can provide in the way of email access, wireless sync and Internet access.

Compare how my Blackberry/Exchange system works to the way most smart phones do email, contacts and calendar information. At worst you connect to your email server using the POP3 protocol, which doesn't allow for synchronization between your phone and the server. At best you can use the IMAP protocol, which does allow for two way synchronization of email.

Generally, neither POP3 nor IMAP approaches are geared toward instant automatic notification of changes on either the client or server side. Instead you have to schedule periodic automatic checks for new messages. My V557 allows for checking a minimum of every 30 minutes. That's just not frequently enough to bring serious emergency messages down to the V557. Also, with smart phones, syncing contacts and calendars is usually done with the phone connected directly to your PC.

This is a bit to the side, but when I get a missed call or voice mail message, it shows up in my Blackberry inbox and I can call back or check my voice mail right then and there. On the V557, I have to mess with those horrid navigation keys to go to my voice mail inbox, which is different from my text messaging inbox, which is different from my email inbox.

If you have a Blackberry smart phone or a Windows Mobile 5.0-based smart phone linked to Exchange Server 2003 or later, you can have all the features I have on my Blackberry. But you still have to deal with all the size issues. Furthermore, the latest Microsoft Pocket PCs with real keyboards, decently sized displays and phone capabilities now provide synchronization services pretty much like Blackberry's Enterprise Server. Progress!

Even RIM has almost gone over to the enemy based on telecom's mad rush to provide "smart" phones to its customers. The Blackberry 7105T's keypad has only two letters on each of its keys.

Here's Palm's Treo 700W PDA phone with Windows Mobile 5.0. It's an increasingly viable candidate for connectivity on-the-go now that Microsoft seems to have mastered the technology for linking its Pocket PCs to Exchange Server.