The long anticipated convergence of PDAs (personal digital assistants) and cellular phones will get a major boost next week when Mountain View, Calif.-based Handspring Inc. announces its VisorPhone.
The VisorPhone, which will be available by the end of the year, is a Visor-brand handheld plus a Springboard phone module. The Springboard module will have an ear piece that will protrude a couple of inches above the Visor, according to a source familiar with the product. All Visors have a built-in microphone.
Included in the $299 kit for turning a Visor into a cell phone will be a lithium ion battery that will increase the bulk of the Visor, as well as a GSM Subscriber Information Module (SIM card) and software.
Because the module uses the GSM Global System for Mobile communications) network, users wishing to change network providers need only change SIM cards. Currently in the United States, where GSM is not a major network, users wishing to change providers, from AT&T Corp. to Verizon Communications Inc., for example, would need to change phones.
The VisorPhone software will offer speed dialing, dialing from the address book, calling history, three-way conference calling capability, short messaging service features, and caller ID. One feature of the caller ID will look up the phone number in the Visor address book and display the caller's name. If the caller is not in the address book the application will allow the user to update the address book.
According to the source, users will also be able to talk on the phone using an ear piece, which is included in the VisorPhone kit, and work on other applications simultaneously.
When Handspring sells the Springboard phone module on its Web site, users will be asked to include their zip code from which the site will offer GSM service carriers that are available and rate plans.
Handspring will also be releasing the phone software to developers and, according to the source, it is expected that other voice modules will be created for the Visor.
Handspring, which according to the latest International Data Corp. sales figures has a 22 percent marketshare in handheld devices, is not the first to offer a combination cell phone and PDA. But efforts from other vendors including the Qualcomm Corp.-Microsoft Corp. cell phone and the Nokia Corp. 9000, have not been notable successes.