Sprint's pocket PC is smart, not showy

Computerworld - At first glance, Sprint Nextel's PPC-6700 looks like a run-of-the-mill phone/PDA combo, but turn it sideways and slide the top up, and out pops a great QWERTY keyboard. It's a welcome relief if you've had it with the complicated, cramped keypads or hunt-and-peck on-screen keyboards that are standard on other smart phones.

While the PPC-6700 is not as sexy looking as the popular Treo, it's certainly less intimidating, with fewer buttons on the front to scare off tech-timid types. However, streamlined doesn't mean lacking in features.

Behind the understated design, the PPC-6700 ($449) is a Sprint PCS Vision phone (CDMA, digital dual band) that supports 1xRTT and EV-DO for high-speed transmission of data, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. It runs on an Intel 416-MHz processor, 64MB of RAM and 128MB of flash ROM and includes a mini-SD expansion slot and a 1.3-megapixel camera.

The PPC-6700 debuted last fall as the first Windows Mobile 5 phone in the U.S. (Verizon began offering a snazzier-looking version of the unit, dubbed the XV6700, in January.) It's manufactured by Audiovox.

In the box, you'll find a cradle, a mini USB sync cable, a charger, a 1350 mAh lithium-ion battery, a 2.5mm stereo headset with microphone, two styluses, a case with a belt clip, and an installation CD and manual.

The phone features mobile versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser, Word, Excel, PowerPoint (you can view, but not edit) and Outlook, which can be configured to retrieve mail from Exchange, POP3, IMAP and SMTP servers. For push e-mail, you'll need to use the included GoodLink software or Sprint's Business Connection service.

Measuring 4.3 by 2.3 by 1 in. and weighing 6.07 oz., the PPC-6700 feels a little like a small bar of soap but isn't too bulky. The device's 2.8 in., 240-by-320-pixel, 64,000-color TFT display automatically switches to landscape mode when you slide the keyboard open. It serves as a nice, big viewfinder for the camera, which lives on the backside of the device and shoots still images and video.

Along the bottom edge, you'll find the mini-USB and headphone jacks; along the left edge there's an infrared transmitter, a volume-control slider, and quick-launch buttons for the voice recorder and Internet Explorer. The mini-SD card slot and power button are located along the top edge.

There's a mercifully short list of buttons on the front that turn the phone on and off, a mini-joystick for scrolling around the screen, two soft keys and an OK button. You can dial the phone either using the on-screen keypad or the slide-out keyboard, or by using your contacts list.