Smartphone Review

BY: Jen Edwards, Brighthand.com Contributor
The Pharos Traveler 127 may look like a BlackBerry at first glance, but it’s a Windows Mobile Professional smartphone with a full QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless connectivity (in addition to GPRS), and a built-in GPS that can ensure that you never get lost, even if you don’t have phone coverage.

It’s a little larger than some of the mobile phones available today, but it packs in a lot of features that may make the trade-off worthwhile. Unfortunately it isn’t available directly from any carrier, and is currently being sold as an unlocked GSM smartphone for $530 — though you can get it from eXpansys for $480.
Build and Design
No matter what other issues the Traveler 127 may have, the device is very well made and exceptionally solid, though surprisingly lightweight for it size.

The design is somewhat boxy, with the corners being only slightly rounded at the top and bottom. The phone isn’t ugly, but it isn’t sexy–it’s obviously meant to be a productivity tool for a mobile professional, with no added frills.

The exterior case has been finished with a “soft touch” feel that is comfortable to hold and doesn’t catch fingerprints and smudges. That also means that the phone isn’t slippery at all, and feels good in the hand. It’s about as wide a device as is comfortable to use with one hand, unless you’re manipulating the power switch. This is a slider at the top left edge of the phone, and it’s a real pain to use.

Waking and sleeping the device are a quick slide of the button, which I can do with one hand, reaching up with my index finger. Turning the device on or off is a two-handed operation though, because you have to hold the switch for several seconds and the ridges on the switch tend to dig in a big painfully. I’d rather hold the phone with one hand and then use the edge of my fingernail to slide and hold the switch.

You must remove the back plate of the phone in order to access the microSD slot. It isn’t that hard to do, but this design choice does make trying to use multiple cards something of a hassle, It would likely be best to invest in the highest capacity card you can afford. Read More »

One of the most anticipated applications for the Palm OS, Launcher X has finally been released. This application launcher offers configurable skins, a built-in file browser for organizing external memory cards, hi-res support for Sony Clie, HandEra 330, and OS 5 devices, plus hi-res+ support for the Sony NR and NX series. It costs $20.

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CodeJedi.com has released XCade 1.2.2, the first arcade emulation system for the Palm OS, allowing users to play some classic arcade games. XCade runs only on the OS 5 units such as the Palm Tungsten T and the Sony NX series. It currently supports Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Galaxian, Pacman, Ms. Pacman, and Space Invaders but the ROMs must be obtained separately. XCade is $7.50. There are versions of MAME for the Pocket PC which can play many more of the ROMs.

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When Microsoft first released the Pocket PC 2002 platform, it became quickly apparent there were gaps in the functionality: the “close” button doesn’t actually close applications, Pocket Internet Explorer doesn’t offer full-screen mode or multiple windows, repeating alarms were removed, and other issues. Spb Software House has released Spb Pocket Plus, which has been designed to fill these gaps.
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