Business, to go

Not so long ago, being out-of-the-office meant one thing – you were incommunicado. But those days are thankfully now just a fading memory, with the latest technology allowing executives to be online, whether travelling, at a meeting or even at home.

Business Management reviews some of the latest ‘smart phones’ and, while we can’t promise that they’ll improve your home life, at least you’ll look good when you just send the one e-mail over dinner.

Blackberry 8700 series
RIM, makers of the ubiquitous Blackberry – known by some as the ‘crack-berry’ because of its addictive nature – launched the 8700 at the beginning of 2006. The 8700 features a full qwerty keyboard, ‘push’ e-mail facility, a web browser, an organiser and can view Microsoft Office attachments. It also works as phone.

Based on the classic Blackberry design, the biggest changes from earlier models are on the inside – the 8700 was completely re-engineered and features an Intel processor with 64 MB Flash memory and 16 MB SRAM.

Our verdict: Classic Blackberry design and functionality.

Palm Treo 650
Palm made its name in the PDA market with its Pilot series, and the Treo model offers a convergence of its Palm operating system with phone, text and e-mail functions.

The Treo offers a full qwerty keyboard, and offers a full range of smart phone functionality with multiple e-mail accounts, text, PC synchronisation and the ability to view Word and Excel attachments. Unlike some of its competitors the Treo offers a built in camera and MP3 player, if these are of interest.

Anyone familiar with the Palm operating system will find the interface familiar. One nice feature is the ‘open’ e-mail software, which allows you to link to your business server and access your work e-mail account without special software.

If you like the look of the Treo it might be worth hanging on – a new model will be launched in conjunction with Microsoft before the end of the year.

Our verdict: For those used to Palm technology this is a great development.

Nokia 9300i
At first glance, the Nokia 9300i might look like a standard Nokia – but open up the lengthwise clam-shell design and it reveals a full keyboard, and a wide colour screen.

The 9300i, the latest enterprise smart phone from Nokia, is an update on the 9300. Essentially it’s the same phone, offering e-mail, internet and an attachment viewer, with the addition of wireless capability.

Like all Nokias it works using the Symbian operating system, and has plenty of memory for downloading large attachments – 80 MB built-in, with the capacity to expand up to two GB with a multi-media card.

We like the look of its screen and keyboard, though for some users the lack of a vibrate function might be annoying. Though it’s less bulky than some other devices so might fit better in your pocket.

Our verdict: Another in a long line of stylish Nokia products.

Nokia E61
The Nokia E61 – part of the successful E series – at first glance is a squatter model than the 9300i. However, it’s slim design means it is nearly 30g lighter than its sister model.

The E61 is built for mobile e-mail. It supports multiple e-mail clients, including BlackBerry Connect, GoodLink and the Nokia Business Centre, and can send and receive e-mails even when on a phone call.

A big selling point of the E61 for business is the built in functionality to support remote device. This gives IT managers a powerful tool to remotely control and protect corporate data. This is worth considering if you are buying handsets for your staff.

The E61 is again based on the Symbian operating system. In addition to its 64MB built in memory it also has space for an extra 64MB using a miniSD card. You can also read most attachments – including pdfs – and edit some applications as well.

Our verdict: A stylish slim e-mailer.

Competition: Win a 3 E61
To celebrate 3’s small business offering, we are giving away five Nokia E61 handsets. 3’s small business package couples a choice of two flat-rate tariffs with push mail, excellent coverage and a dedicated UK based customer services team. All you have to do is go to http://www.three.co.uk/3forbusiness/index.omp and answer a few questions and you will be entered into a prize draw to win one of these brand new handsets.

Sony Ericsson M600i
Available in a stylish choice of either granite black or crystal white the M600 is one of the more attractive business handsets available. Based on the classic Sony Ericsson look, at 15mm thick and weighing in at just 112g it is among the lighter and sleeker smart-phones.

Despite this the M600 boasts a Symbian operating system, 80MB of internal memory, push e-mail functionality, editors for Word, Excel and Powerpoint, and a PDF viewer.

But while the M600i features a reasonably sized 6.5cm full colour screen, it is the keyboard where the phone has to compromise in order to be so sleek. Rather than the full qwerty keyboard that many of its rivals offer, the M600 has just 18 keys, with most sharing two letters. Bear this in mind if you’re not a fan of predictive text.

Our verdict: One of the best looking smart phones about.

T-Mobile MDA Vario II
The Vario II was launched in the UK as we went to press, boasting new HSDPA technology. This is is claimed to be up to four times faster than a standard 3G network, with data transfer speeds of up to 1.8 megabits per second.

Because the phone wasn’t in the shops before we published details were still a little sketchy, but the Vario II offers push e-mail, an ‘always on’ broadband style connection, and a 2 mega pixel camera.

For the business user the qwerty keyboard is a plus, though it is unclear what the marginal benefit of faster data transfers will be – if you don’t often send or receive big attachments by e-mail you may not notice the difference.

Our verdict: A promising technological advance.

Samsung SGH-i320
Launched this summer the SGH i320 signals South Korean giant Samsung’s drive into the smart phone market.

Super-slim and super-light – the phone weighs just 95g and is only 11.5mm thick – the SGH-i320 still manages to squeeze on a full qwerty keyboard, a 1.3 mega-pixel camera and 120 MB of embedded memory.

The phone runs on the windows mobile 5 operating system and features push e-mail and a document viewer.

This is a really stylish, good looking device that still manages to pack a punch when it comes to functionality. The small keys might not be for everyone, but the slim light design could well compensate.

Our verdict: A great looking smartphone.