Gnomie Sven writes:

I’ve bounced all over the cellular network going from analog (remember that?)
to TDMA, to GSM, and now to CDMA. While GSM
sounds the best (landline quality), it’s a weak signal that gives you lots
of dead-zones if you’re not in a metro area. Its data-only frequency, GPRS, suffers the
same fate if not worse. So surfing the
Web can be a problem in suburbs while waiting for your
next bus at the mall.

The alternative is CDMA’s next step in data, EVDO (EVolution Data Only).
While only a few markets are now lit with this ultra-fast
bandwidth (real-life speeds of 300 - 500kbps with a theoretical top speed of
2.4Mbps) frequency, Verizon promises full roll-out by
next summer. This will beat AT&T’s next-generation 3G promised network
fulfillment of late next year (which many doubt).

But what good is a fast network without equipment to take advantage of it?
No worries, i-mate’s got you covered, mate. The all new
i-mate PDA2k
EVDO runs on Microsoft’s latest Windows Mobile 2003
operating system on top of an Intel PXA263 clocking in at 400MHz. You’ll be
able to keep a lot of applications opened since i-mate
supplies 128MB RAM and the OS gets 64MB ROM. Need more memory? No problem,
the SDIO/MMC slot will let you go as high as SanDisk
can push the envelope on their SD cards. Oh yeah, the built-in keyboard just
slides out from under that sweet QVGA (240 x 320)
screen to allow you to easily type in your passkey when bonding to your
Bluetooth device. Might as well take a picture with the
integrated VGA (640 x 480) camera of the stunned look on your wife’s face
when you bring it home. The built-in flash will be sure
to get that gleam in her eyes, too. Don’t sweat power - the rechargeable
lithium-ion Polymer battery gives you 15 hours of PDA
use (can anyone play Pac-Man that long?) or you can blab on the phone for four
hours. The battery will hum this bad boy along in
standby for a whopping 168 hours.

It may not have Wi-Fi or a Compact Flash card slot, but you can always get a
Wi-Fi SD card and CF cards are declining in popularity
for PDAs, so those two things are not a major con in my book. Getting fat
memory and boo-yah bandwidth is a major plus that
pretty much makes me forget the con. If you live in Vegas, San Diego, D.C.,
or one of the other few markets that has EVDO and are
looking for a new Smartphone, I’d say, “Froogle it, baby!”