Two Boxes Are Better Than One

Wireless communications for the Pocket PC is finally getting very exciting. High-speed wireless data networks such as 1xRTT from Verizon and Sprint, and GPRS from AT&T, Cingular, and T-Mobile are rapidly expanding. At the same time, T-Mobile is offering Wi-Fi "hotspots" at more than 2,000 Starbucks coffee houses, while many companies are adding their own Wi-Fi networks internally.

The HP iPAQ 3975 Pocket PC and the Ericsson T68 mobile phone can communicate via built-in Bluetooth capabilities.

On the hardware side, T-Mobile has introduced a Pocket PC Phone Edition device, and Verizon and Sprint are selling the Audiovox Thera with similar features. Hewlett-Packard is expanding its commitment to Bluetooth wireless, and numerous other vendors, such as Anycom and Belkin, are selling Bluetooth accessories.

Yes, there is a lot going on in wireless today. That is why I am so excited to be the new Wireless Technology Editor for Pocket PC magazine. In future issues we will be exploring all of these options and more. In the process I'll do more than just tell you about wireless products. I'll give additional perspectives that you won't find elsewhere.

"CONVERGENCE" IS THE RAGE

The latest trend in mobile communications is known as "convergence," or the "one-box" approach. Convergence is the combination of multiple functions in a single device. In reality, the Pocket PC has been a convergence device from day one, with a wide variety of applications and functions built into it. But more recently, we've published articles about the new Phone Edition device and the soon-to-be-released Windows Powered Smartphone. These have Pocket PC and mobile phone capability built into one device—that's real convergence.

It seems to make sense to reduce the number of things you need to carry with you, and a Pocket PC can be a lot more versatile when it's able to communicate "any time, anywhere." However, I believe that the vast majority of users will choose to work with a Pocket PC and a separate mobile phone—the "two-box" approach. My main reason for predicting this is that these convergence devices do not fulfill any great consumer need, but are instead based primarily on the needs of the cellular network providers to expand their market.

THE WONDERFUL SOUND OF A ONE-MAN BAND

Have you ever seen one of those "one-man bands?" You know, the guy that plays a guitar, and has a harmonica suspended in front of his mouth, cymbals between his knees, and a bass drum operated by his foot. This one person does the work normally performed by 4 or 5 people. However, while he might be more convenient than a full band to move from venue to venue, he can be a lot of bother when all you want to hear is a guitar, and he certainly won't play it as well as someone that plays only guitar.

The same is true for mobile electronics: If you want one device to do it all, you can find it, but it will be a compromise compared to individual devices that are designed to do specific things well. This is intuitively obvious if you consider that your options are much greater when you can select the components yourself instead of being limited to the compromises made by the system designers.

Also consider that while modern electronics are incredibly reliable, things do break. With convergence devices, when one thing breaks, the entire device has to go into the shop. Also, newer things are always appearing on the market that make the device you just purchased seem old or obsolete. The problem with a convergence device is that the more things you combine into a single box, the faster some part of it will become outdated.

BLUETOOTH MAKES TWO-BOX SOLUTIONS WORK