Tips on Choosing the Best Cell Phone PDA

Determining the best cell phone PDA is much like choosing the best cell phone service provider. The best is often determined on tons of variables and criteria based on a multitude of things from individual personality and preferences to intended use, i.e. general consumer, software developer or gadget afficionado.

Much like choosing any cell phone or service provider, I think choosing the best cell phone pda combination is no different, begin with the understanding and realization that all your favorite and must have features are not likely to be found in one device.

Best Cell Phone PDA for Businesses/Business Professionals:

Although it seems as if 'everyone has one' surprisingly BlackBerry's only represent about 1% of the cellular industry's sales leader, Nokia. In any given quarter Nokia could be selling around 200 million devices worldwide where BlackBerry is maybe selling a couple of a million at most. However, most professionals in the corporate industry and developers alike would easily argue that BlackBerry is probably still the best cell phone pda currently on the market for business professionals.

You've Had One BlackBerry, You've Had Them All
Ironically, it seems they have learned to follow Nokia's formula 'make it simple'. You may recall in the early 90's when Nokia's CEO got in a heap of trouble and made international headlines when he made a comment along the lines of, Nokia's phones were so intuitive and user friendly that even a woman could use them.

Cellular and Wireless Security
With wireless security and fraud on the uprise, BlackBerry still is far superior when it comes to security for transmission of confidential information through the cellular and wireless network.

Resources and Support
The support community is tremendous. There are hundreds of forums and blogs all 100% geared towards BlackBerry. So if you cannot figure out the problem through your cell phone provider, you can be assured that there are plenty of other places you can get the support you need. I think three of the best forums out there are: BlackBerry Forums, Pinstack and CrackBerry Forums. It doesn't matter if you are tech savvy or a newbie, you will find a group on the site that you can relate to. The people who post are always helpful and friendly. You are sure to find some of the best support on the web.

The Games People Play
Although I would say that it is still relatively unknown, the gaming market for BlackBerry's is one of the fastest growing segments, relatively speaking. Beyond a business cell phone BlackBerry is starting to appeal to the consumer market as well.

Don't Say Cheese
Another critical thing about the BlackBerry is it is one of few cell phones pda's that you can get without a camera. Living in Washington, DC where everyone is often a terrorist until proven guilty :) there are many places that you cannot take your cell phone with camera built in for security purposes.

An Apple a Day
The other feature that I think is critical but often overlooked in considering the best cell phone pda is ease of use with a MAC. No doubt the Creative Age is rapidly approaching and many would argue the MAC is far superior when it comes to 'creating' things. BlackBerry provides free download software called PocketMac which allows a BlackBerry to be configured with the Mac.

Speaking of MAC what about the Apple iPhone?

I thought that was one of the best cell phone pda's. It is definitely the best marketed cell phone pda but not necessarily the best cell phone pda. The folks at Apple are marketing geniuses. What other corporate CEO can piss off a bunch of their loyal fans within a couple of months after a new product launch, issue 2 public apologies in 60 days and their stock goes up? I am sorry to say but the popularity of the Apple iPhone came from the creative marketing team at Apple and not because it was a superior cell phone pda on the market. It is actually using inferior technology and many of the features are available in other phones and pda's on the market for a fraction of the cost. I believe the media and general public are also fascinated with the iphone because it is the first product that was not introduced by one of the major cell phone manufacturers. So you have to think of Apple as a pioneer in that sense for the Google's of the world that want to follow. Although I am beginning to fear that the Google Concept phone is going to get adopted by Verizon Wireless and Google will become to VZW what Apple is to ATT.

But at the same time, my history in the cellular industry tells me that opening the Apple iPhone platform to developers is more than anything 'biding time' for the moment. iPhone sales will posted fairly strong numbers in the 3rd quarter because of their considerable price drop and will probably be pretty good in the 4th quarter because of the holidays, but Quarter 1 2008 we will truly see if they can make it as a phone manufacturer. My gut instinct is the cinderella team will not make it to the big show. While they won't completely disengage or remove themselves from the marketplace, they will understand that it is really hard to be the new kid on the block in the world of cell phone manufacturing. You better believe that they are going to have to go through their initiation like everyone else and get one or two bloody noses from the playground bullies before they get 'their props'. Although I am expecting them to do something which I have been waiting for someone in the industry to do for quite a while, start a creative partnership with some other company in a non cellular related industry. So keep your fingers crossed and we'll see.

Additional Resources

Looking for the best cell phone pda for consumers? This great list comes courtesy of CNET.

And here is another list of cell phone pda's from PC World.

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