...more recent posts
Here's a mini review of the Sharp Zaurus SL-C750 PDA. It has the same clamshell with a swivel screen as the Sony Clie PEG UX-50, making it a sort of super sub micro laptop. The Sharp even moreso than the Sony, since it runs linux and has a somewhat improbable 640 x 480 resolution screen (text must be tiny.)
So while it's not a phone, has no built in wireless networking (although it does have expansion slots, so you could add this,) and doesn't even look that great (IMHO,) it is still an interesting device. As phones and PDAs converge I think this sort of PDA-ish form factor will win out. Sony and Sharp have both nailed it, I think, with this basic design (although Sony's is much more stylish I think.)
And the fact that it runs linux means that you - or other knowledgeable third parties - can get into it's guts in order to add functionality. This is so big I cannot stress it enough. The device must run on open (not necessarily free) standard software accessible to the device owner. So go Sharp, go. They win big over the Sony in this department.
Now if someone could just make a combo GSM / WiFi expansion card we could add phone service and wireless to any of these PDA like devices. But without really knowing anything about it, I'm guessing this is not presently possible.
Mitch Kapor outlines his mobile device wish list. I agree with everything he says, but of course I want even much more. A camera, for starters (which his Nokia has, but he doesn't mention.) But beyond that it has to have some sort of wireless connectivity (802.11b is the best bet at this point.) Spontaneous local area networks are going to be the shiznit. Yo.