• $500 with a one-year service plan

• Mobile phone and Palm in one
• Free Internet Access (in some areas)
• Jog dial

• No USB
• Small screen

Design:
Cost/benefit:
Coolness:
Overall:

I picked up one of the Kyocera 6035 Smartphones last Tuesday at my local Verizon store and I love it. The integration and synergy of the phone, Palm, and modem is the key advantage. Technology is supposed to make our lives better and simpler. Having one device is definitely better.

Hardware
The Palm portion of the phone seems to be the hardware equivalent of the Palm m105. The smaller screen requires getting used to. I'm transitioning from a Palm Vx. The flip feels pretty solid and the keys are a good size and well spaced. The jog dial is a big plus and easier to manipulate than the Clié due to the fact that the device isn't as wide. Battery time is excellent for this type of device, though it is hard to quantify and depends greatly upon how you use the device. It has 8MB of memory.

Speakerphone is loud and clear. It also has a voice memo feature. This is great for adding to your ToDo list when manual entry is not convenient.

Software
The smartphone apps are great; they truly allow you to take full advantage of all the smartphone's features.

• Call History - all calls made are itemized and can generate expense items, great for billing clients.
• Data/Fax - use the built-in wireless modem in conjunction with a computer for sending and receiving faxes. Unfortunately a data cable is not available yet so you must use either the cradle or possibly IR.
• Dialer - virtual equivalent of the smartphone's physical keypad
• Messages - SMS messaging app, more usable than typical cel phone
• Speed Dial - set up 199 speed dial numbers from your address book
• Voice Dial - built into the smartphone, don't need to pay for it as an additional service

I performed a hard reset of the device at which point it loaded the PalmOS 3.5.1, the smartphone apps, and returned the default Verizon settings to the device.

The 6035 isn't perfect. There is no USB cable for the cradle. Arrrrgggh! The stylus sits in the cradle pointing away from you. Not very intuitive. The stylus is nice and long but too light for my tastes. I had a stylus/pen combo on my Palm Vx. I wish a similar replacement was available for the 6035.

The IR beaming area on the top of the smartphone is also the backlight and sleep button. This was a great design decision and contributes to the device's simplicity.

Wireless Access
After setting it up and realizing how limited the Web services that they offer as a 3 month trial are, I called Verizon to find out about paying more for an unlimited Internet plan. After being juggled around from one sales rep to another, I was told much to my shock that the phone comes with unlimited Internet access and that they would activate it right away. That's right, unlimited data calls within the North East corridor(Boston to Washington) and it doesn't deduct from my nationwide calling plan minutes. I'm really loving this smartphone.

Quite frankly I was so stunned/happy when the sales rep told me unlimited Internet access came with the phone that I didn't ask many questions. The sales rep said I could make unlimited data calls and that it would not deduct from my calling plan minutes. They also gave me a POP3 email account @airbridge.net. The phone does place a call via the built-in wireless modem and connects to Verizon's network via PPP. You can not receive voice calls while online but you are alerted of new voicemail and text messages. The phone is tri-mode: digital cellular, digital PCS and analog. The wireless modem uses CDMA not CDPD which is what Novatel uses for their wireless modems(I believe). I am particularly enjoying being on AOL Instant Messenger while on the train ride home.

I am getting consistent 14.4K connections. I use the Internet access while I'm on the train to and from Manhattan. The reception may be slightly better than other phones I've used but it is definitely not any worse. Still too soon to tell for sure.

Desktop Application
I am a Apple PowerBook user and was disappointed to find that the Kyocera Desktop application was PC only. I installed the Kyocera Desktop software on my PowerBook inside VirtualPC running Windows98. The Kyocera Desktop application is just a rebranded version of Palm Desktop 3.5.x, not 4. I did not find any features that were added to the desktop software. Mac users should not be dissuaded from getting a 6035 smartphone due to lack of desktop software. The only thing you will need from the install CDs are the manuals which come in PDF format.

I was able to sync my Vx and then transfer my data to the smartphone via a second sync without any difficulty. I used a Keyspan USB adapter to connect the cradle to my PowerBook. I haven't tried a IR sync which I would do frequently with my Palm Vx when traveling.

Conclusion
While the price tag is hefty, you are truly getting something that is greater than the sum of its parts. I am an early adopter and got it the first day it was available. Being a technophile, I got a one year contract since Motorola and Nokia will be coming out with smart phones next year. :) If you need to carry a cel phone and a web-enabled Palm device then you should consider a smartphone. Another key factor in being able to recommend this device is that the combination of the two devices does not diminish from the usability of either one