First Look: Danger Hiptop

[LinkDJ]

We have just posted a new First Look.
Title: First Look: Danger Hiptop
Date: August 27th 2002
URL: http://www.designtechnica.com/article.php?sid=2052

[dang]

Wow.. thats all I can say. Now that is a damn good deal on a very cool phone..under $200! thats a steal.

I would pick one of these up. Just not sure on the quality of them yet.

[Don]

Looks ok. I wish the screen was in color. Is it even backlit though?

[LinkDJ]

It is backlit. and a color version is coming soon after the release of the initial hiptop. Expect to see it before the end of the year.

[choard]

Whew.

OK, this is a seriously hot unit.

I plan to buy one when they come out, and then flip it to a laptop-challenged buddy and pick up a new color one when available. Good design, and decent specs. They are filling a nice void at just the right time.

Wireless is hot in our mobile environment. Microsoft has stopped innovating on the WinCE OS (it still runs operating system software at 206Mhz, even with a 400Mhz chip. Sad.), and there is still a lack of Windows Powered units that do wireless well, or that allow you to change carriers. This is the kind of innovation that chains you to a carrier, not long term contracts tying you to last years phone model!

November 2003, your number becomes yours, and you can take it to the carrier that serves you best. Then wireless companies will have to innovate, or die.

Bravo, Danger, AND T-Mobile for stepping up to the plate. Look out, Verizon!

[dugbug]

CDMA version is coming soon.. HOPEFULLY it will work on Verizon:

Hello X,

The hiptop platform is designed to work with all carrier networks, although we have chosen to launch on the GSM/GPRS voice/data network. We plan to support other wireless networks later in 2002.


Clint Labson
Danger Customer Support
www.danger.com

[Ioman]

Here in the Portland Oregon area, I think ATT service is the best, although their phones do not have a lot of features.

On another note, I heard Cingular laid off 1/2 of their work force.

[dugbug]

I read that the data on the hiptop is fed from the servers (either at hiptop or the service provider) and is not kept locally on the PDA (like the palms) so if you loose your hiptop, they just replace it and all of your data is preserved.

This raises a question: If you leave the coverage area can you still access your PDA data?

[choard]

Good question! Also is there a limit on the amount of mail you can store on their servers? 15, 25MB?

I use sprintpcs and vierizon, and think verizon has best overall coverage; sprint covers a goodly amount also, but I get dropped quite a bit more...

[llbbl]

Originally posted by dugbug
I read that the data on the hiptop is fed from the servers (either at hiptop or the service provider) and is not kept locally on the PDA (like the palms) so if you loose your hiptop, they just replace it and all of your data is preserved.

This raises a question: If you leave the coverage area can you still access your PDA data?

Yes...

http://danger.com/faq.php

Q. Will the Hiptop device sync with my existing PIM solution? A. Initially, the Hiptop device will provide for importing of contacts from most PIM applications. Danger plans to provide full synchronization with industry standard PIMs later in 2002.

What is a PIM you ask?
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/PIM.html
Well hopefully they mean Outlook because this is the most widely used means of keeping track of contacts. I hope that they offer some way, either a propeitary software PIM where you can import outlook data or just let you sync with the data directly like Starfish allows you to do.

[llbbl]

Originally posted by choard
Good question! Also is there a limit on the amount of mail you can store on their servers? 15, 25MB?

I use sprintpcs and vierizon, and think verizon has best overall coverage; sprint covers a goodly amount also, but I get dropped quite a bit more...

I doubt that you would want to create a wholly new email address where people can send you mail or have you mail forwarded to. That would be a pain in the arse for them. It would be much easier for the company to only allow for you to check email that is already on a POP server somewhere. That way you just read it, nothing is downloaded and you can respond to it using the same email address if you like.

I think that when you set up a device to check an email account, as I have described, than it is called IMAP. Not sure, would have to look it up. Hmm no don't think that is it. What is IMAP again guys?

[llbbl]

Good thing you guys found it!! I have been searching for this site for a while. I remember going to it and then I couldn't find it for the longest time. Maybe they changed names / sites. Who knows...

[choard]

What you want is a POP server. That's what i use now when I chedck mail on my aging iPaq. I am saddened that with all the early adopters who have spent money on a PDA, no one has come out with a decent way to check your mail from these devices. I want a bluetooth phone that I can pack away and sit in the airport with my ipaq for the 2 hours before my flight and get up to speed on on my mail before I go dark for several airborne hours. Bluetooth ipaq to bluetooth phone, conecting to the pop server. It sounds so easy.....

[Ioman]

Originally posted by choard
What you want is a POP server. That's what i use now when I chedck mail on my aging iPaq. I am saddened that with all the early adopters who have spent money on a PDA, no one has come out with a decent way to check your mail from these devices. I want a bluetooth phone that I can pack away and sit in the airport with my ipaq for the 2 hours before my flight and get up to speed on on my mail before I go dark for several airborne hours. Bluetooth ipaq to bluetooth phone, conecting to the pop server. It sounds so easy.....

How do the Blackberry pagers/PDAs work in regards to checking e-mail? I assume it checks an actual exchange server or the equivalent. Perhaps if the Hiptop checked e-mail this way, it would make people happy!?

[dugbug]

I can appreciate you can't get email when you wander out of coverage, but Im thinking in terms of looking at my phone numbers and other important PIM information ... sure I cant use the hiptop to place a call but I'll still need to have all of my information.

Scenario:

1) You have the "CDMA" version coming out later this year.
2) You fly to Europe on business
3) Need to make a phone call, so you look up your contacts

Poof.... the hiptop is empty (?).

From the review at
http://www.thefeature.com/index.jsp?url=article.jsp?pageid=15686

More importantly, Rubin adds, the Hiptop should greatly reduce churn. Because the device is a thin client, all of a customer’s data—including calendar and contacts—is stored on the back end server, not on the device itself. The carrier, not the customer, controls the data. “Having the back end manage your data, and not being able to take it with you when you turn off, is a good feature for carriers,” he said.


....


The fact that the customer’s personal data and applications are stored on the server does also benefit the consumer. Rather than requiring the user to sync the device to a PC on a regular basis, the Hiptop automatically syncs wirelessly with the back end server. It can also offer seamless updates to the applications on the device without involving the user at all.

More significantly, Rubin points out, you can lose your device, and you won’t lose any data. “Because every user-generated piece of data is stored and archived on the back end, you can lose it, or it can get stolen or broken, and your data is safe,” he said. “All you have to do is re-provision a new device, and your data comes back automatically.”



Someone get one and take it into a walmart to see :)

[dugbug]

Just rereading that quote a few times I think the server keeps the PIM in sync, so the data is actually resident on the unit itself.

Hopefully just a false alarm.

[llbbl]

The REAL question is who will be the first person on the forum to actually get one of these suckers???

:P

[LinkDJ]

ME!

IT COMES OUT TOMORROW! THAT'S ONLY LIKE 30 MINUTES AWAY!!

[LinkDJ]

I got my hiptop on friday, and I really love it! I'd like to take the time to answer all the questions above, as well as any you post below.

T-Mobile gives you an email address, mine is linkdj@tmail.com, but you can add email accounts to check in the mail program. It works just fine with linkdj@linkdj.net.

Data is stored on the device, I dunno about T-Mobile's servers, but I imagine they keep all your data there too. I've used their desktop manager from the site, and its great, the data matches what is on the device, and changes to data (including the addition of a 1000 character note) happened in just seconds.

[Ioman]

Originally posted by LinkDJ
I got my hiptop on friday, and I really love it! I'd like to take the time to answer all the questions above, as well as any you post below.

T-Mobile gives you an email address, mine is linkdj@tmail.com, but you can add email accounts to check in the mail program. It works just fine with linkdj@linkdj.net.

Data is stored on the device, I dunno about T-Mobile's servers, but I imagine they keep all your data there too. I've used their desktop manager from the site, and its great, the data matches what is on the device, and changes to data (including the addition of a 1000 character note) happened in just seconds.

Can't wait to see your review bro. If you like it and it gets a good score, I will probably buy one as well.

[LinkDJ]

Save yourself the wait, buy one now =)

[Ioman]

So when can we look forward to a review man?

[Cloud]

I wonder how these are selling? I remember seeing them being heavily promoted every where, but I have not read anything about their sales. Any idea guys?