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Palm Treo 755p<br />
$300 with two-year<br />
contract • palm.com<br />
Palm’s latest Treo improves upon its<br />
predecessor, the 700p, by slimming<br />
down, ditching the antenna nub, and<br />
adding instant messaging and push<br />
email. Granted, you can almost see the<br />
mold on the ancient Palm OS, which<br />
remains a multimedia and multitasking<br />
weakling, but its well-oiled design<br />
affords snappy operation and arguably<br />
the simplest interface of any <strong>sm</strong>artphone.<br />
At 0.8 inch, the 755p is a little<br />
thick around the middle, but otherwise<br />
it’s a stunner in blue or burgundy.<br />
WIRED Dedicated ring/vibrate switch.<br />
Bundled Documents to Go software<br />
excels at creating and syncing Office<br />
files. Huge third-party software library.<br />
TIRED Still no Wi-Fi. Weak video,<br />
mediocre music apps. IM doesn’t<br />
support Gtalk, Jabber, or ICQ. Lacks<br />
stereo Bluetooth.<br />
RIM BlackBerry<br />
8830<br />
$300 with two-year<br />
contract • blackberry.com<br />
All work and no play makes a phone<br />
a BlackBerry. At least the 8830 adds<br />
video and music (but no camera)<br />
to RIM’s robust communications mix.<br />
Unfortunately, messaging suffers<br />
from a crowded, shallow keyboard,<br />
which we found too easy to fat-finger<br />
and too hard to read in dim conference<br />
rooms. It’s just as well you can’t edit<br />
Office documents on it.<br />
WIRED Powers up in a flash. Solid<br />
speakerphone. Backlight levels adjust<br />
automatically to ambient light. Stillunrivaled<br />
mobile email. It’s a world<br />
phone: Budapest, here we come!<br />
TIRED Wide 2.6-inch body. No Wi-Fi<br />
or Bluetooth stereo. Music player<br />
doesn’t do DRM. New trackball, which<br />
might come as a shock to BlackBerry<br />
diehards, can be imprecise.<br />
Sprint Mogul<br />
$400 with two-year<br />
contract • sprint.com<br />
The successor to last year’s wildly<br />
popular PPC-6700 sports a similarly<br />
splendid slide-out keyboard, three<br />
flavors of wireless (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi,<br />
and EV-DO), a 2-megapixel camera, and<br />
the Windows Mobile 6 touchscreen<br />
version. But like most WinMo phones,<br />
the Mogul feels a bit sluggish. At least<br />
the 4.3 x 2.3 x 0.7-inch body houses<br />
a big battery: We managed nearly<br />
six hours of talk time.<br />
WIRED Mobile Office apps let you<br />
create and edit docs. Phone doubles<br />
as wireless modem. 512-MB microSD<br />
card included in box.<br />
TIRED Frequently turns itself on<br />
for no apparent reason. Scattered<br />
controls result in accidental presses<br />
(especially when using camera).<br />
Speakerphone sounds crummy on<br />
other end. Camera snaps look fuzzy.<br />
T-Mobile<br />
Sidekick iD<br />
$100 with two-year<br />
contract • t-mobile.com<br />
It’s easy to see why MySpace moppets<br />
love the Sidekick: It’s cute, uncomplicated,<br />
and cheap. It’s also an IM addict’s<br />
dream: The wide, tactile keyboard lets<br />
thumbs fly with precision, and the<br />
chat client offers simultaneous access<br />
to AIM, Microsoft Messenger, and<br />
Yahoo. Add push email, swappable<br />
color plates, and that nifty myFaves<br />
thing for easy BFF dialing, and OMG,<br />
it’s just so kewl! Too bad it doesn’t<br />
do much of anything else.<br />
WIRED Trackball and icon-based<br />
interface make for blissful navigation.<br />
Decent gameplay with D-pad. Nearly<br />
eight hours of talk time.<br />
TIRED No camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth,<br />
memory card slot, or audio player.<br />
Stuck in slow gear on GPRS network.<br />
Just had its cool factor stolen by iPhone.<br />
WIRED TEST<br />
0 3 7
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