|
 I
was excited when I received
my Kyocera 6035 tri-mode smart
phone from Qwest Wireless.
The Kyocera 6035 is one of
a new breed of "smart"
phones that offer PDA functionality
and cell phone functionality
in one. The 6035 runs on the
Palm OS, features 8MB of RAM,
Internet access, voice dialing,
voice memo feature, speakerphone,
SMS and much more.
Contents
To begin, let's start with
what comes in the box.
-
Sync
Cradle
-
Battery
(x1)
-
AC
Adapter
-
Software
CD (x2)
-
Users
Guide
|
The
Kyocera 6035 comes with all
the basics, but was I was
a little surprised that it
didn't come with an extra
battery, headset or car charger.
You can purchase additional
accessories from the
Kyocera online store.
Design
The
Kyocera QCP 6035
is about half an inch longer
than a Palm IIIc and about
half an inch narrower.
It
features a flip-down keypad
for easy access to the full
screen, a side-dial button
for navigating between features
and options, a speakerphone
button, sounds button for
silencing or adjusting the
ringer, and a quick find button
for finding contacts. It also
features the traditional calendar,
Address Book, To Do List and
Memo Pad buttons as on regular
Palms (when you open the flip),
plus the up/down scroll button.
Overall size is a little large,
so it will probably fit best
on a belt clip or in your
pocket. If you plan on using
this phone often, you'll want
to purchase a headset cable.
Figure
1: Palm VIIx and Kyocera 6035
Smartphone (closed)
Figure
2: Palm VIIx and Kyocera 6035
Smartphone (open)
Display
I was a little disappointed
in the overall display quality
of the 6035. The display is
very adequate in size, but
I found two primary problems.
In full light, the screen
is fairly easy to read, and
in complete darkness the inverse
backlighting looks cool. But
in between the two lighting
conditions, the screen often
was hard for me to read independent
of the backlight being on
or off. For example, in a
half-lit environment such
as a car, I found the screen
a little difficult to read
without the backlight. But
when I turned the backlight
on, it became even harder
to read. I believe this has
to do with the inverse lighting
mode, which reverses the screen
shading when the light is
turned on. I'm not a fan of
this method, and it would
be nice if there was a way
to toggle between regular
and inverse lighting modes.
The
second problem is Palm related,
primarily because of the traditional
Palm graffiti area which takes
up a nice chunk out of the
overall display. I also wished
that the graffiti area was
backlit, because it was hard
seeing the four main menu
icons in the dark. Overall,
the 6035's display size and
quality could have been better,
but is OK in normal conditions.
Applications
Since the 6035 is Palm OS
based, you can download a
wealth of additional applications
from the Internet. It comes
standard with the basic Palm
OS apps including the Calendar,
Address Book, To Do List,
Memo-Pad, Calculator and an
Expense Pad which synchronizes
with Microsoft Excel. It also
comes with a Eudora e-mail
and Web browsing application.
But what would a smart phone
be without smart phone capabilities?
The Kyocera 6035 also features
a voice-dial application for
setting up voice-activated
contact entries and a Data/Fax
application for sending and
receiving faxes.
Features
and Options
I was very impressed with
many of the features that
the 6035 offers. It not only
offers voice activated dialing,
but allows you to record voice
memos, specify if the ringer
is audible if a headset is
plugged in, set an option
that will have the phone ask
you in an audible voice if
you want to answer a call,
and much more. I often
enjoyed hearing the phone
say "Incoming call, answer?"
and replying yes or no (and
if you don't say anything
it won't answer). This a great
feature to use in addition
to the speakerphone while
driving. You can also download
additional ringer style tones
and logo graphics from the
Internet. I found quite a
few on the
PalmGear.com Web site.
Summary
Overall, the Kyocera 6035
Smartphone is a great unit
offering many features. Since
it is based on the Palm OS
with so many applications
available, it can be used
as an effective business tool.
If you like the Palm OS and
you're looking for a PDA/cell
phone combo, this one's for
you.
Pros
|
Cons
|
-
All the features of
a Palm VIIx with full-featured
phone functionality
-
Tri-mode (CDMA, PCS,
CDMA digital and analog)
service
-
Voice dialing and
voice recorder
-
Speakerphone
-
Support of WAP, SMS
and HTML
- Wealth
of additional features
and options
|
-
Display hard to read
in half-lighting conditions
-
No USB cable
|
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