More Cellphone+PDA Options

CNET reports that Palm Computing and AT&T Wireless will soon have the Tungsten W on the shelves. The Tungsten W resembles the Tungsten T, but it doubles as a cellphone.

Well, it doubles as most of a cellphone. It seems to lack a built-in speaker and microphone. Instead, the user has to plug a hands-free earpiece in. Maybe they thought that would add to the device's appeal because you can talk while looking up or editing data on the handheld device. However, that deprives the user of the all-important ability to just grab the device and talk. I'm glad they decided to include a thumb-keyboard, though.

The Tungsten W also lacks the faster PDA technology of the Tungsten T. Instead of the T's ARM processor and Palm OS 5, the W runs Palm OS 4.1.1 with a 33 MHz Motorola Dragonball VZ processor.

I won't buy the product for three reasons: I don't have the money, it doesn't run on CDMA1x networks (I'm locked in as a SprintPCS customer), and I really need something I can hold to my ear and talk into. Having an earpiece jack is a good idea, but the earpiece should be an optional accessory.