VisorCentral.com - VisorPhone reviewed in WSJ

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VisorCentral.com (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/index.php)
- Springboard Modules (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=10)
-- VisorPhone reviewed in WSJ (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=9144)

Posted by Charo on 11-02-2000 04:57 PM:

http://ptech.wsj.com/ptech.html

Walter S. Mossberg's Personal Technology column, in each Thursday edition of The Wall Street Journal, today has a review of the VisorPhone. Generally a positive review with a few negatives also.

Posted by bkbk on 11-02-2000 05:57 PM:

Awesome link, C, thanks!

Posted by Intysoft on 11-02-2000 07:22 PM:

link doesnt work??

All I get is 10-26 column???

Jim

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Posted by Gameboy70 on 11-02-2000 08:18 PM:

It's nice to read a review of the VisorPhone, but I would've like more detail on Mossberg's experience with the VP's SMS capabilities. I think SMS could be the killer app on the VP: you can send messages to people's cell phones, which they're more likely to carry on them than a wireless email device. The only limitation is GSM. Here in LA, I'd say less than a third of the phones I see people carrying use GSM (usually the Nokia 5100 series).

I know Qualcomm is working on adding SMS to CDMA, the technology used by my service plan, but I wonder if it'll be ready in time for the release of the AirPrime. Also, will there be an SMS gateway for GSM and CDMA to interact?

Another thing lacking in the review: it would've been nice if the Mossberg discussed the performance characteristics of the VP as a wireless modem. Is the throughput greater than 9600k, for instance? How was the coverage? I thought it was odd that he didn't test the VP out with the Palm Wireless Connection Kit for accessing PQAs.

I guess we'll have to wait for definitive review from VisorCentral.

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Posted by Charo on 11-02-2000 08:59 PM:

write & ask him

gameboy70,

Write and ask him, address is on his site. He is good about answering inquiries and also doing follow up stories. Mossberg is one of the most respected individuals in the computer related "review" industry.

His column is limited to a certain size space and number of characters in the paper. The WSJ isn't going to let him lengthen the size of his column just because it's a VisorPhone.

[Edited by Charo on 11-02-2000 at 04:19 PM]

Posted by Charo on 11-02-2000 09:09 PM:

Re: link doesnt work??

quote:
Originally posted by Intysoft
All I get is 10-26 column???

Probably because you previously read the 10-26 column.

Try holding down the "Ctrl" button on your computer and at the same time clicking on the refresh icon.

If all else fails go to the root URL, http://ptech.wsj.com/
and then click on Personal Technology at the bottom of the page. You will probably still need to refresh.

Posted by nwhitfield on 11-03-2000 11:08 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by Gameboy70
I would've like more detail on Mossberg's experience with the VP's SMS capabilities. I think SMS could be the killer app on the VP

Well, I've not used the VisorPhone, since they don't have 'em over here (and the module is 900/1900, which means it won't run on the particular network I use in the UK).

But yes, SMS is a killer app. Once you have it, you wonder how you managed without it, and there are tens of millions of them sent each day.

Personally, I don't bother with things like WAP (though it's transport neutral - you can do WAP via SMS). There are plenty of information services available via SMS. For example, on the Orange network, I can send the message NEWS to 177 for the latest headlines, or MILLWALL will get a summary of that team's latest football match.

SMS to web gateways about - try http://www.quios.com/ for instance.

If you want to send someone details of a meeting or a phone number, it's much easier via SMS than waiting while they write it down. On a decent phone (ie a Nokia :-)) a number recieved via SMS can be dialled by selecting 'Use number.'I'd hope the VisorPhone offers this ability easily, without having to cut and paste. Directory Enquiries on Orange use that facility to send you the number you've asked for.

I'd hope the VisorPhone also supports advanced SMS for things like address book and diary entries - I can send an appointment via SMS from my Nokia's calendar to another user. To be able to send from a phone direct into someone's Visor date or address book would be pretty neat. I'd go so far as to say that if they miss out features like that, then it'll be a pretty disappointing SMS implementation.

Of course being able to compose messages on screen can save some time - though I'm not actually sure that a phone with T9 (predictive text input, found on most current GSM phones) will actually be much slower than using graffiti for your messages.

SMS is utterly indispensable once you've used it. Plain old SMS is great, but advanced features like address and date exchange make it even more useful. Whine at Handspring if they don't include those!

Nigel.

Posted by Felipe on 11-04-2000 01:39 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by Charo
http://ptech.wsj.com/ptech.html

Walter S. Mossberg's Personal Technology column, in each Thursday edition of The Wall Street Journal, today has a review of the VisorPhone. Generally a positive review with a few negatives also.

Walt is a fan of the visor. he has recomemnded them to writers to his q&A column.

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