All-in-One Gizmo?

I am so glad that Handspring finally unveiled its glorious personal digital assistant last week. Now–maybe–I won’t have to write about PDAs for a while. I am sick of them, frankly. That type of appliance just doesn’t suit me. As a writer, Web browser and unrepentant Quake player, I’m strictly a laptop kind of guy. I demand more screen real estate than you get on a device small enough to fit in your shirt pocket. Also, I don’t have enough friends or business associates to necessitate an e-address book.

But I’ve come to grips with the fact that I’m different from most people–4 million folks use one of 3Com’s Palms, after all. I assume many millions more are sitting on the e-fence (ouch!) deciding whether to get one or a device that runs the rival Windows CE or even the respectable dark horse, the Psion 5mx. If I were buying a PDA, though, I’d probably get Handspring’s new 5.4-oz. Visor, which you’ll be able to purchase next month online at the company’s website, handspring.com I say probably because, though Handspring finally gave specs for the Visor last week, we need to know more before we can tell if this is really the last gadget you’ll ever need.

Things we know: The Visor runs on the same operating system as the Palm, which means thousands of programs are available for it on the Net, many of them free, as well as offline. And just like the original Palm Pilot, it’s comparatively cheap. (Clearly, the Palm Pilot inventors, who went on to found Handspring, learned from their success, and are using it as a springboard–hold on to that word–for their Visor.) The basic model sells for $149, but you’ll need to shell out another $30 if you want a cradle for synching it with your PC or Macintosh. The “deluxe” unit is $249; with 8 MB of RAM, it has four times the memory of the basic and comes in five goofy high-tech colors.

But I’m simply describing a cheaper Palm here, which misses the genius of Handspring: the Visor has a proprietary slot in the back–a data port called Springboard–that allows you to plug in an array of different devices. Within the year, you’ll be able to buy Springboard modules from other manufacturers that convert the thing into a cell phone, pager, global-positioning device, universal remote, MP3 player and more. It’s a radically cool idea; in the marketing parlance of the company, it makes the Visor “infinitely expandable,” allowing you to choose the devices you need to add functionality. Buy the cell-phone attachment, plug it in (even while your Visor is on–software is built into the add-ons), and you suddenly have a simple way of making “smart” calls, managing three-way calling, call waiting and all the rest. Or, imagine a global-positioning device that automatically interfaces with a database of ATMs so that when you visit an unfamiliar city, you can instantly find a machine that takes your bank card without adding its usurious access fee. Or, if taste buds tingle, it finds the closest dim sum-parlor.

Things we don’t know: Will the Springboard add-ons really work? Although I’ve been trying out the Visor for the past few weeks, cool modules won’t be ready for months. The only plug-in I had was a bland Tiger Woods Golf game cartridge, and let me tell you, the proof is definitely not in the putting. No, it looks as if I’ll have to wait months more to see if this is the Uber-gadget. And write about PDAs yet again.

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