An enterprise gadget that has everything

An enterprise gadget that has everything

Zatni Arbi, Contributor, Jakarta

Several years ago, the various capabilities of a Nokia Communicator 9000 Series were demonstrated to me.

It was ages ago and, frankly, I no longer remember the exact model that was used. All I knew is that it had a regular cell phone interface on the outside and a notebook-like interface when I opened it.

I also knew that it was a very expensive gadget.

When feature-rich smartphones came along, I began to wonder why people still used this bulky cell phone-cum-PDA. Alright, you could type your notes on it, but you can also do that on a smartphone. With the latter, you can even scribble your notes.

With a Communicator, you could send and receive faxes using your GSM number, but who sends faxes if you can use SMS or e- mail?

It seemed to me that whipping the oversized Nokia Communicator to your ear was just a way to tell people who you really were. My wife's nephew must have believed so, too, and some time ago he started asking me how much this status symbol would cost.

I said to him, "If you want to be productive, a smartphone or a smaller PDA will do the work, and it will cost you less."

One thing that I did not realize at that time was the possibilities that the Communicator offers. While individuals will enjoy the various functions of this brick, enterprises will be able to reap benefits from its functionality.

It is no surprise that the long-awaited Nokia Communicator 9500 has received support from IBM, Oracle and other players in enterprise applications. Sales force automation (SFA) was just one application that immediately occurred to me when I read about the warm reception that it had enjoyed.

Courtesy of Nokia Indonesia, this time I had the luxury of being able to try out a demo unit for a week.

Now, here is a quick rundown of the features: The built-in memory capacity of the Communicator 9500 is a whopping 80 MB, so you can store tons of data on it with confidence.

You can even expand that with a Multimedia Card (MMC).

Some resourceful users, I have been told, even fax their important documents to the gadget and keep them there. The Communicator then serves as their mobile filing cabinet.

If their travel agent needs the first page of their passport for a visa application, for example, all they will have to do is zap a copy to the agent via fax or e-mail, regardless of where they are at the time.

For regular office work, Nokia throws in a word processor, a spreadsheet and a presentation program as standard. If you have a wireless digital projector, you can use this gadget to give a presentation.

What about connectivity? Th Communicator 9500 is a tri-band GSM cell phone and will switch automatically from 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz used in all five continents.

For data transfer, it provides GPRS and even EDGE connection. A USB 2.0 cable is included in the box, but you can use an infrared or Bluetooth link to synchronize the data with the data stored in your computer or another gadget.

If you find yourself at a hotspot, you can even access the Internet using the built-in Wi-Fi. Wow!

Speaking of the Internet, the Symbian 7.0S operating system and the Opera browser already support Secure Socket Layer (SSL).

That means you can securely access your e-bank to check your balance or make transactions. You will see the padlock icon just like the one you see on your computer screen each time you check your Tahapan BCA account via klikbca, for example.

For enterprise applications such as the SFA, the Communicator 9500 also supports the Virtual Private Network -- one of the best protection technologies for data communication that is available today.

The model, which is due to be launched this week, has a digital camera, too. It is a VGA camera, unfortunately.

Nokia seems to have lagged a bit in increasing the resolution of the digital camera that it uses on its cell phones. However, this cell phone can print directly to one of the compatible printers from Hewlett Packard (HP). The two companies have worked together for some time to enable Nokia cameraphones to print directly to certain HP printers.

When closed, the Communicator 9500 has a regular cell phone interface. You can input text messages easily using the keypad. The cover can be replaced, too -- for example, when it has accumulated a lot of scratches over it.

That is great. The black cover, the silver casing and the slightly rounded edges create the impression that this model is significantly smaller than its predecessor. In reality, it is not. The design, however, is far more appealing.

Open the gadget and you have a screen and a keypad. Like the external screen, the internal one can also show 65,000 colors. It is very bright and crisp.

The characters are small, but they are easily readable. The screen has 640 by 200 resolution, which is half the height of a regular VGA display. Therefore, you will have to scroll up and down when reading a page.

On top of the keypad -- where the function keys are on a computer keyboard -- there is a row of application shortcut keys. Gently press the telephone button, and the screen will give you your contacts list.

Press the Document key, and you can start typing your notes immediately. Press the Web key, and you are ready to surf the Internet. You can navigate around the screen with a nine-way scroll button that controls the mouse, too.

No doubt about it, the Communicator 9500 has almost everything that you may need in a mobile communication device.

Of course, we all look forward to the day when we have WiMAX services and a Communicator that supports the technology.

However, here are some items on my wish-list for the Communicator 9500.

First, it would be nice if Nokia enlarged the external display screen a bit more and used the larger screen fonts that, again, my favorite N6800 uses.

Second, the scroll button could be made with a roughened surface so that your thumb does not slip when you press it (do you remember the N3650?).

I am still learning to use the button, since it somehow moves up or down when I actually want to press it down.

Third, each of the keycaps on the full QWERTY internal keypad should have a recess in the middle, instead of a bulge. That would make two-finger typing operations easier.

Fourth, for the next model, perhaps Nokia should look at the possibility of using thinner metal alloy for the casing -- similar to what the Motorola Razr V3 uses.

Some of those who saw me using this Rp 9.5 million device commented that Nokia should add a touch screen and a stylus. I do not agree with them.

It is difficult to make a touch screen as sharp as the screen that the Communicator 9500 now has. A larger screen is more likely to improve user experience.

Nonetheless, I am positive that I can live with these minor shortcomings -- especially as past models of the Communicator were gadgets that felt as though they would last forever.

Despite the steep price, there are tens of thousands of Communicator users in Indonesia. They have formed a user club, too.

At the same time, Nokia Indonesia has been doing its best to support this premium product. A Nokia Mobile Solution Center has been set up in Dharmawangsa Square, Jakarta, where Communicator users can learn how to configure and personalize their gadgets.

Like most other gadget freaks, I do not mind paying more for gadgets that are sturdily built and do not break easily. So far, the Nokia Communicator has been one of them.

Oh, I have begun mentioning this gadget to my wife. Well, you know the standard operating procedure when it comes to buying a new expensive electronic gadget, don't you?