Product: 02 Xda II Price: $6,688 Pros: Cool everything Cons: Too expensive for a PDA phone
As an avowed Macintosh enthusiast, I've had my eye on Apple Computer's 40-gigabyte iPod and its accessories for a long time. I was also looking to upgrade my Nokia cellular phone, which I got last year, to one of the new models with still-camera, video and music playback, Web browser and organiser functions.
But I must admit to being impressed by the new O2 Xda II, which made me temporarily forget all those other gadgets on my Christmas wish list. Santa Claus would be justifiably impressed, too.
Its steep price aside, what's not to like? The Xda II, built on Microsoft's Pocket PC operating platform, features internet and e-mail access, Pocket PC Phone Edition tools, a personal organiser, Bluetooth connection, an integrated camera, and built-in mobile phone, games and video access. There is also the optional wireless local area network connection.
The reasonably wide, high-resolution colour screen and clear audio made for an enjoyable experience shooting somewhat jerky video clips of my visiting relatives at a Causeway Bay restaurant. Using a stylus on the touch-screen panel, I managed to stitch a very brief sequence and play it back like a documentary with commercial breaks.
The still camera feature rivals that of other Pocket PC-based devices. Still, I had some difficulty deleting some pictures because it was hard to locate the trash function in the Windows program.