BIOS: Technology Means Business

T-Mobile’s MDA Compact III (HTC P3300) is the first mobile device available from a UK mobile operator with built-in GPS satellite receiver. The benefit of this is that all the hard work of installing and configuring third-party GPS software and hardware is eliminated. Shipped with CoPilot Live 6 satellite navigation, the MDA Compact III has the potential to make dedicated navigation systems redundant, with turn-by-turn voice instructions, detailed street mapping and powerful route calculation for navigation in-car or on foot.

This, of course, is a bit hopeful because using a Windows Mobile device for in-car navigation is a lot less intuitive and much slower compared to a dedicated device. And, using a PDA as a regular phone is a lot more cumbersome than a typical handset - even a smartphone! Having said that, the slim design (58x108x16mm, 160g), integrated jog wheel and 2.8-inch (320x240 pixels) colour touchscreen (stylus provided) make the MDA Compact III relatively easy to enter a destination and follow the comprehensive door-to-door directions. Web ‘n’ walk customers can also take advantage of free real-time traffic alerts and avoidance, delivered directly into CoPilot via the T-Mobile GPRS network.

The device includes Bluetooth connectivity, but Wi-Fi, 3G (2.5G and GPRS only), infrared and video calling are noticebly missing. There’s no slide-out QWERTY either, but it does have a microSD slot for addition storage, TI OMAP 850 201MHz CPU, FM Radio (requires supplied wired headset/FM antenna), and 64MB of on-board RAM (128MB ROM). Other key features include quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz), GPRS, integrated GPS SiRF III instantSiRFfix (A-GPS) receiver, external GPS antenna port, and USB 1.1. It has a talktime of up to 3h 30m, standby time of up to 150 hours, and charge time of up to 3 hours from the 1200-mAh Lithium-Ion battery.

Control is quite unusual. The standard 4-way control key has been substituted by a steering ring. Even more interesting, however, is the white ball located inside the wheel. Its function will be no mystery for those of you experienced with Trackball (frequently used in ThinkPads). By scrolling the ball in all directions you move the cursor on the display and can control most functions without having to pull out the stylus or to use both your hands. When active, the ball is illuminated in dark blue. There’s also a glossy silver ring around the ball which scrolls in both directions, substituting the vertical ways of a standard navigation key. It is a truly practical and very useful.

Unlike a lot of Windows Mobile 5.0-based smartphones, the MDA Compact III provides relatively fast access to making calls, surfing the Internet, checking e-mails, downloading music and listening to the radio. This is due largely to the device’s handy one-touch buttons (eight in total) - making it a neat multimedia companion for those frequently on-the-move. There’s even a dedicated button on the lower right of the device for taking still photographs (up to 2-Megapixels) and short video clips. The MDA Compact III is even Web ‘n’ walk-enabled, providing you with access to T-Mobile’s easy-to-use Internet portal. The device is also pre-installed with a Web browser, so you can view Web pages as you can on your PC.

The device is based on the Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system and therefore comes complete with Microsoft Office Mobile, providing business users with key applications such as Outlook Mobile. You can also view and edit both Word and Excel documents, as well as view PowerPoint and PDF files. The MDA Compact III also comes with a range of e-mail options, including Microsoft’s Direct Push and BlackBerry Connect for corporates, and Windows Media player to ease the monotony of commuting. Characteristic of the compact handset range, the MDA Compact III has a large touch screen, which can be easily switched from landscape to portrait mode.

The main selling point of the MDA Compact III is CoPilot Live 6 satellite navigation. The main guidance screen has been enhanced from version 5 with the introduction of mile markers on your route, helping you to see even more clearly when the next turn is. At the top, large turn arrows show the direction and type of the next turn, while the name of the road and the number of yards remaining are also large and easy to read at a glance. A menu button remains onscreen at all times, providing an obvious link to the options.

Menus have been redesigned to be much more finger-friendly, reducing the need for a stylus. The trip menu even allows you to check and edit your itinerary, add up to 50 stops, find points of interest (POIs), save locations and change the routing settings. We like that you can choose to customise the display to show ETA, current time, current road, nearest town, nearest major road or destination. However, CoPilot’s real strengths lie in its live capabilities. Like TomTom, CoPilot can warn you of traffic incidents and reroute you around them. It requires a GPRS connection (therefore costs money), but there are no weather updates. With fleet tracking and messaging it is also particularly appealing to businesses.

We are all frequently seeing increasing demand for handsets which offer a range of functionalities, including satellite navigation, to support our increasingly busy lives. The MDA Compact III is an impressive device for both consumer and business users who require a handset which is flexible to the needs of their lifestyles. And although it is not the most powerful smartphone/PDA on the market, it is slim and light, easy to use, and very handy for driving thanks to its built-in GPS. The MDA Compact III is available from T-Mobile stores and online now and costs £59.99 when purchased on the Flext 35 tariff plus Web’n’walk (£42.50 per month). [7.5]

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