Look out, Palm, here comes the "brick."

Paul de Bendern

HELSINKI: The rectangular-shaped Communicator, Nokia's all-in-one personal

data organizer and mobile phone from Finland, has surpassed Palm as the most

popular handheld computer in Europe. And, it's set to hit US store shelves by

early summer.

While some are leery of its hefty price -- about $799 -- its growing fan base

of business users laud the Communicator as the first device to successfully meld

the mobile phone with the hand-held computer.

"It's the first device that makes it possible to use a phone as a true

organizer," said Andy Buss, a London-based analyst at Canalys.com research

group. "It's for people who want one device for everything; you can manage

your life on the go."

Wait around any European airport lounge and you're likely to spot someone

holding an eyeglass-case sized phone to their ear. Moments later, you'll see the

same person open the case on their lap and begin typing on the miniature

keyboard concealed inside.

That's the giveaway it's a Communicator, considered by many analysts to be

one of the first true "convergent" devices bridging the phone and

computer worlds. In Scandinavia, the color-screen device is like a membership

badge in a club of elite investment bankers, venture capitalists and executives.

It is also popular among trendy young designers and other folks with deep

pockets.

"I love it because I can keep everything in it. Everything's there, and

it's my phone as well," said Maria Westerberg, an interior designer in

Stockholm. "It's great for writing quick notes so I can remember things

I've got to do, like meetings, but also other simple things like the name of a

book. It's easy to erase the note once you don't need it," she said.

On the surface it looks like a bulky cellular phone -- hence the disparaging

"brick" designation. Inside is a high-resolution, easy-on-the-eyes

color display and keyboard.

In fact, with its earpiece and speakerphone function, for most people it

serves as the principal mobile phone as well as data organizer. If they have

another phone, it is most likely a small one for evening occasions.

The ultimate organizer?



But, if the Communicator is so great, why has it taken so long to introduce it
to gadget-loving America? Nokia is, after all, the No. 1 maker of mobile phone

handsets -- in the United States and worldwide.

Analysts say it's a matter of timing. In contrast to Palm handhelds, with

their roots in the computer industry, Nokia's history is firmly in mobile

communications. The great crossover opportunity for Nokia's handheld device in

America will be the advent later this year of new mobile networks capable of

speedy Internet service. This will allow fuller access to e-mail and Web pages,

including video, via mobile handsets.

On the computer side, the Nokia Communicator powers an extensive contacts

book, calendar and note pad. It also has a word processor, spreadsheet function

and imaging programs.

The gadget can read and edit slimmed-down versions of Microsoft's Word,

PowerPoint and Excel. When hooked up with a desktop computer, data can be

synchronized between the two machines just like a Palm or other handheld.

But it's more than simply an office-in-your-pocket, analysts and industry

experts say. It offers quick and easy communication: access to the Internet,

corporate network e-mail, fax and standard voice call services. It has

facilitated the use of popular text messaging, something the Blackberry two-way

pager is known for in the United States.

Communicator users can also send and receive photos taken from a digital

camera. What has won it followers in Europe -- with a market share of around 30

per cent, according to Canalys.com -- is that the phone and computer organizer

functions work well together.

Several personal organizers, such as Handspring, Palm and Compaq's iPaq, have

mobile phone accessories but they can also be awkward and clunky. One advantage

of the Communicator is that users surfing the Internet won't be disconnected by

an incoming call. When a call comes in, a message appears showing the number. If

the user decides to take the call, it's easy to disconnect from the Internet.

Drawbacks: access limits, rivals



The biggest drawback, apart from size and price, is that it works only on the
relatively new and small GSM wireless network.

GSM, or Global System for Mobile Communications -- far and away the most

popular system in Europe and other countries around the globe -- competes

against more popular US networks like TDMA and CDMA.

But GSM networks, on which the Communicator runs, promise to become more

widespread as AT&T Wireless and Cingular Wireless, two of the nation's

biggest mobile operators, are now building such systems. Still, the Communicator

will have many competitors this year, starting with the Treo, a Palm-based phone

and organizer made by Handspring Inc. that will cost $599.

Phones from Samsung Electronics and Kyocera have incorporated Palm's popular

operating system to create phones with limited computer functions. Siemens is

also coming out with a touch-color-screen combination phone, powered by

Microsoft Pocket PC software, this year.

(C) Reuters Limited.