Kyocera 7135 smartphone

Kyocera 7135 smartphone

E pluribus unum or “one from many,” a famous reference used to describe the formation of our country that now applies with equal appropriateness to our newest technological wizardry. When we speak of it in technological terms, however, we call it “convergence.” Perhaps the most talked-about examples of convergence resulted from someone’s clever idea of crossing a mobile phone with a personal digital assistant. Although many players produced their own models of converged PDA/phones in the past few years, nobody really got it right — until now. For my money, Kyocera offers the best marriage of a PDA to a mobile phone seen to date with its 7135 smartphone.

Comfortable to hold and feature-rich, the 7135 is an excellent phone. Using a clamshell configuration, the device looks, feels and acts like a top-quality mobile phone, complete with a built-in speakerphone. Surprisingly, it also presents itself as a well-designed and extremely usable PDA.

The Kyocera 7135 is a tri-mode Code Division Multiple Access digital wireless phone, operating on CDMA PCS (1900MHz), CDMA cellular (800MHz) and analog cellular networks. Verizon offers the phone on its network, as do some regional providers. Verizon currently sells the phone on its Web site for $399 (after $100 rebate) with a two-year contract commitment.

The Kyocera 7135 is small (4-by-2.4-by-1.2 inches) and lightweight (6 ounces). The high-resolution screen generates 65,000 colors. It also has an auxiliary monochrome display that allows you to see basic information when the unit is closed. A user-replaceable lithium ion battery provides a rated 3 1/2 hours of talk time (I got about three hours in normal use) and up to 160 hours of standby time in digital mode. Note the PDA and phone features share the same battery. Accordingly, using the PDA reduces available talk time and phone use burns the battery for PDA use.

The Web-enabled 7135 features voice-activated dialing, silent vibrating alert, two-way systems management server text messaging, Eudora e-mail and three modes of Web access (HTML, Web clipping and wireless application protocol). A numeric keypad with special function buttons allows easy, one-touch access to contact and calendar data, messages or the Web. A tap-to-dial feature allows automatic dialing of contacts from your Address Book.

A 33MHz DragonBall MZ processor provides the engine that drives the 7135. Palm’s OS 4.1 provides navigation. The 7135 comes with 16MB built-in RAM, sufficient for basic calendar and contact information and a few applications, but not enough to carry the kind of information and programming that many of us now want our PDAs to handle. Fortunately, the integrated memory card slot comes to the rescue. You can use memory cards to hold data files, pictures, documents, books, periodicals, maps and music (the 7135 also works as an MP3 player).

The 7135 is the first converged PDA/phone using the Palm OS to come with an expansion card slot. The slot accepts Secure Digital and Multimedia cards, allowing users to add memory, specialized applications or accessories. It will read 256MB SD cards, but adding a lot of files on a card that size considerably slows down the process.

The Kyocera 7135 features the familiar Palm look and feel. It uses Palm’s application launcher, with dedicated keys for specific applications. The buttons start the Address Book, Date Book, Messages and Web browser. The PDA aspects of the 7135 functionality are comparable to the Palm M515.

The Kyocera 7135 ships with a fairly heavy low-profile cradle for HotSyncing and charging. The cradle connects to your computer via serial or universal serial bus port (the cable comes with both connectors). The cradle has a slot to charge a spare battery (a worthwhile investment), and the foldable AC adapter powers the cradle or plugs directly into the phone to do double-duty as the cradle’s power source and compact travel charger.

The 7135 has an infrared data port at the top of the phone for beaming information to other IR-enabled devices. The phone supports browsers with Secure Socket Layer encryption, providing reasonable security for confidential data. The Kyocera 7135 also can serve as a wireless modem, providing data/fax capabilities for personal computers with the appropriate data cable.

Nothing is ever perfect, including the Kyocera 7135. As a converged device, the 7135 represents a compromise. From the perspective of the ideal telephone, the Kyocera 7135 could be smaller and lighter. From the perspective of the ideal PDA, the 7135 would benefit from a larger screen, better resolution and a built-in thumboard.

My ideal converged device also would have built-in WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities, allowing access to wireless computer networks and letting you use the increasing number of Bluetooth-enabled devices coming out for the Palm OS handhelds and phones.

Kyocera Wireless Corp.
(800) 349-4188

www.kyocera.com

Price: Varies by carrier, promotions, etc. Contact your local service provider for more information.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Allen, a general practice attorney with an emphasis in real estate, business transactions and litigation based in Oakland, Calif.

Aug/Sep '03 Issue

PROS
This marriage of PDA and telephone works well, combining a good balance of design and features.

CONS
It could use a better screen resolution, as well as an upgrade to Palm OS 5.

VERDICT
I have no hesitation recommending it. I don’t think you will find anything currently on the market that works as well or better than the Kyocera 7135 as a combination PDA and phone.