From downloading emails to surfing on the go, phone-PDA (personal digital assistant) hybrids have long promised users higher productivity in today's Web-connected world.

US-based Research In Motion (RIM), for instance, claims that its Blackberry device, which offers wireless messaging and emailing, saves owners almost one hour everyday by allowing them to work while commuting or waiting for meetings.

However, prohibitive prices and usability have hampered the popularity of PDA-phone devices in the mass market. According to In-stat/MDR, the appeal of such devices has so far been limited to mobile business users and early-adopters. The research firm expects global shipments of phone-PDA devices to grow from 9.9 million this year to 16 million in 2006. These numbers are dwarfed by the 400 million mobile phones sold worldwide in 2001 alone.

The PDA market may be affected to a greater extent. "We expect 2003 to be a strong year for growth in the PDA market, but from 2004 onward, sales of PDAs will be increasingly impacted by competition from smartphones," said Todd Kort, analyst for Gartner Dataquest, in a press release.

Observers believe that such devices will be important for the mobile phone industry as telecommunications operators look for additional revenue streams. Phone makers are especially hopeful that downloadable Java applications will spur the market as third-generation networks emerge. This is evident in Japan and Korea, both adopters of high-speed mobile networks, where data has helped to maintain revenues, even as voice revenues decrease.

Handsets looking up
The phone-PDA market is being approached from two directions. On one side, traditional mobile phone makers have been actively releasing handsets for a few years now, including the Nokia 9210 and the Ericsson R380.

On the other end, the handheld makers are also beginning to make waves in the market. Handspring, for instance, launched the Treo 180 earlier this year.

The slump in the mobile industry has hit shipments of PDA-phone devices badly, particularly in Asia. Last year, several of the anticipated offerings were withdrawn from Asian markets, including the Ericsson R380e, Motorola Accompli A6288 and Siemens SX45.

There seems to be greater optimism for the coming months, as phone makers are set to unveil more high-end PDA-phones in the coming months. Nokia, for instance, is poised to deliver its 7650 in June, while Motorola and Sony Ericsson will have offerings in the second half of the year. The status of the HP Jornada 928 Wireless Digital Assistant, originally expected the mid this year, is currently in doubt following the HP-Compaq merger.

Software showdown: Symbian versus Microsoft
Some industry players distinguish between devices that function mainly as a phone or a PDA. Microsoft, for instance, has different operating systems for each. It offers the Windows-Powered Smartphone 2002 platform for the Z100, a device from UK phone maker Sendo. It will also bring the Pocket PC Phone Edition operating system to a phone-enabled handheld PC from European mobile provider mmO2 called the xda. The software behemoth recently won a deal to bring both operating systems to TCL Mobile, China's largest domestic mobile handset seller.

Microsoft sees its main rival in British mobile software maker Symbian, a venture owned by several wireless giants including Nokia, Matsushita, Motorola and Sony Ericsson. Although often perceived as being less powerful than Palm and Pocket PC operating systems, Symbian's emphasis on wireless connectivity is now reaping benefits. For example, Symbian OS 7.0 supports Java Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP), a Java implementation designed to squeeze into handsets with limited memory. At the same time, it supports advanced messaging services for exchanging text, sounds and graphics with other users. Many of the new handsets from Symbian backers will sport the operating system.

Although much of the talk has centered around Microsft and Symbian, Palm is also a strong contender due to its leadership in the PDA market. Already, its operating system is used in products including the Treo, Samsung's SPH-I300 and the Kyocera QCP-6035.

Last year, when various devices were scratched off the roadmap, it became clear that PDA-phone devices were not compelling enough for the mass audience.

In response, Symbian has attempted to encourage good applications with the use of open standards. Additionally, the adoption of the platform by most of the dominant global phone makers will make it easier for third-party developers to create compatible content various devices.

At the same time, the sleek and slim Treo shows that handheld makers are beginning to understand the hardware equation as well. Mobile phones are fashion items these days. For PDA-phone hybrids to penetrate the mass market, there has to be a focus on design as much as technology.