Smartphone Review

Late last month, GoAmerica announced that EarthLink had purchased all its CDPD-networked subscribers and a segment of its Cingular and Motient network subscriber base. This week, GoAmerica sent an email to all the subscribers to its CDPD wireless service informing them that their accounts are being transferred to EarthLink. These people have the choice of either subscribing to EarthLink for $40 a month or stopping their service. Thanks to Mike for the tip.

Speaking of CDPD, AT&T Wireless announced earlier this week that it will shut its CDPD network down by 2004. AT&T no longer accepts new subscribers and current subscribers will be encouraged to switch to the company’s other networks. Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) is an older wireless networking technology that offers a maximum speed of 19.2 kbps.
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Today, The Toronto Globe and Mail has an article in which Anthony Bonadero, director of worldwide mobile products for Dell, talks about his company’s handheld plans. According to The Globe and Mail, Dell will officially announce a low-end and a mid-range handheld running Pocket PC 2002 on November 18. (Dell now has a preview page for its Axim X5 Pocket PC.) Mr. Bonadero also said Dell is considering becoming a Palm OS licensee at some point in the future.
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In late 2000, the CEO of a small handheld company confided in me that on a recent trip to Taiwan he learned that Dell was seriously contemplating entering the PDA market. If this is true, I thought, it would be big news that would rock the handheld world. Should Dell, which had become a market leader in PCs and servers through direct sales and low prices, enter the fray with a Dell branded handheld, prices would surely drop, as would margins. The implications were enormous.

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