Stupid Question?

[lazyelf]

All I hear about is Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, neither of which is useful to me. I'm curious why Sony (or anyone else) doesn't integrate a wireless internet feature into future models. (kind of like the Palm i705)

That would be far more useful to me and also (I would think) to the growing, less technically inclined segment of the PDA market. Not that you have to be a genius to utilize BT, but many people like myself simply don't have access to it.

[Unregistered]

Didn't that Palm use some type of dial up and not Wifi??

[lazyelf]

Originally posted by hherbzilla
If WiFi isn't useful to you, then why would you care about a wireless internet???? :confused:

Apparently, I am one of the less technically inclined. Perhaps I'm getting my terminology mixed up. What I'm looking for is a PDA that will give me access to POP email accounts and the web from anywhere, without having to add/purchase a separate modem card. I want to be able to sit in a traffic jam on the NJ Turnpike and read these forums.

[Serotta]

Sorry, Wi-Fi (802.11b) is the standard now for wireless networking. I don't think PDA manufacturers want to deal with subscriptions to a particular service.

[mvfrancisco]

I had a palmVII and palm Vx with a cellular modem (I think it was called the osprey) a couple of years ago, and it had what you're talking about, built in connectivity. But you were tied in to the Palm.Net subscription service which cost way more than the slooooooow service was worth. I don't know how fast the Palm.Net service is now, but I wouldn't want to be a Palm slave, if their service in your area sucks, or if you don't like their pricing plan, you're stuck. You're not reading ANY e-mail without them. With bluetooth, there are many more choices.

[cbulock]

That service that Palm used for the Palm VII and i705 is basicly going to die off sooner or later. What you will want to look for now is GPRS capibilty like the Tungsten W has. I wouldn't be suprised if Sony comes out with a handheld with that capibilty sometime. Right now, you can use a Bluetooth phone and a Bluetooth Clie and get similar functionality.