Smartphone Editor's Awards: Best Products of 2007
Its that time again...to use my personal 'bully pulpit' and praise those services, applications and devices that found special favor in my heart. That also means its time for many of you to gnash your teeth and ask the internet gods to smite me mightily for having such lousy opinions. Such is the life of an Editor.
2007 marked somewhat of a watershed for Palm Addict: our readers were no longer purely Palm PDAces or Treonauts. Nope, we found that many of our loyal friends had made the move to Apple, Symbian, RIM (yours truly) and Windows Mobile (that'll be me as of next week...a double turncoat to Palm purity). To acknowledge this growing diversity, I have made my picks on the basis of being smartphone centric (i.e., they support multiple OS platforms and brands)...as opposed to Treo centric; like in the past. Furthermore, I tried to focus on products that brought something new to the mix...something that enhanced the traditional smartphone user experience.
So, with the expectations firmly set...here they are: my picks for the top three smartphone products of 2007.
PRODUCT OF THE YEAR (application):
No product brought such pleasure to me over the past year; or, fired my imagination about the true potential of smartphones.
Yeah, I know there's V-Cast, MobiTV and even the ability to buy and watch episodes of TV shows via iTunes. They all of them have the same blatant shortcoming: your viewing is limited to what somebody else thought your choices should be. SlingPlayer Mobile is your entertainment, where you want it...when you want it.
Leveraging the brilliant Slingbox (connected to your home entertainment system), you can access your full cable/satellite subscription, the full features and contents of your DVR...even watch a DVD (as long as its already in your home player). For example, I was in Texas for two weeks of training during the MLB playoffs...and my schedule clashed with the Yankee games schedule much of the time. With SlingPlayer Mobile, I was able to watch the games during breaks, and meals...even on the bus back to the hotel. Wow! Several times, a classmate would mention that DirecTV would be showing a program of interest to me. All I had to do was launch SlingPlayer Mobile; and use its remote control simulation to go into my DirecTV guide, find the program, and instruct my DVR to record it for me.
SlingPlayer Mobile already has versions for WinMo, PPC, Palm and Symbian; and, this week they announced the imminent release of a Blackberry version.
All this may merely seem like entertainment; but, the real value of SlingPlayer is that it breaks the wireless carriers' hold on what and how you get content on your personal mobile device. It also prevents them from double-charging you for content you are already paying for (via cable or satellite subscription). They have proven the model works; and, as more and more people embrace it; the tide will grow against the loan shark tactics of the wireless carriers. Lots of fun, it has social impact...and, it works! What more can you ask of a champion product?
1st RUNNER-UP (wireless service):
TeleNav GPS Navigator
TeleNav was my 2006 Product of the Year; and, it nearly took the honor again. The reasons are simple: TeleNav wasn't content to remain the best thought-out/engineered/performing wireless service. Instead of resting on their laurels, they added improvements that keep it the best in its category.
For those unfamiliar with TeleNav, it is a wireless GPS service, that feeds map data to your wireless phone in real time. That means you don't ever have to swap out memory cards to load GPS maps; or, worry about how current the map information is. TeleNav updates its maps every day; so, you have the latest road names, exit numbers, etc. All the more surprising is how fast this service is. I have paced it against Tom-Tom v6 and (the lamented) Mapopolis. In every case, it equaled or surpassed the map-data rendering of these device-based applications.
New for 2007 was the addition of a 3D view for the maps (which I greatly prefer) and Traffic Alerts. These Alerts tell you when there is approaching traffic on your route; and, automatically begins to guide you around the blockage...before you get to it. This is enhanced by the ability to bring up traffic-flow maps and traffic detail metrics. Fantastic.
Of course, you have the ability to find local businesses by name or category; but, TeleNav adds more value by quickly providing you with lists of the nearest gas stations (with current per-gallon prices), WiFi hot spots and parking lots. Another great TeleNav twist is the ability to mark a 'spot' on your map (where you parked, where you came out of the subway, etc.), to help guide you back to whence you came.
TeleNav works with virtually any wireless phone that has internet connectivity. They have agreements with most wireless carriers in North America, and offer both per-trip and unlimited-trip subscriptions at very reasonable rates. In the event that your wireless phone doesn't have a built-in GPS receiver, TeleNav offers a great BT GPS receiver that you can buy along with your subscription. I have tested this receiver on Palm, WinMo and Blackberry devices...and it worked perfectly with all of them.
For those who want to have every feature of a built-in GPS system; but, on their phone...TeleNav is your solution.
2nd RUNNER-UP (device):
Jawbone Bluetooth/ Noise-canceling Headset
Nothing is more personal to a Road Warrior's communication kit, then his/her headset. Everything is obsessed over: the style, the volume, the clarity (both ways), the weight, is it in-ear, over-ear...there is no end to the angst we bring to this choice.
What Jawbone has managed to do is almost sorcery: they have provided a device that meets all criteria, allows personal customization and still provides the best BT headset communication experience available.
Oh, and it looks good, too.
Next weekend, I will be publishing a full review of this product. Suffice to say that Jawbone stands out in the following ways:
- You can customize the fit by choosing among several ear-loops and earpieces (both in-ear and over ear) which are provided with the Jawbone
- Despite its comparatively large size, Jawbone is perfectly balanced, and can be worn for hours with comfort
- The noise-cancellation circuitry works exactly as advertised. In my old Mustang convertible, or on the streets of NYC I could hear my callers and they could hear me
- People are afraid to mess with you, because they think you're either part of the Borg, or a Cyberman (what...you wanted a completely serious editorial?)
That's it for this year...except for the witty and acerbic feedback which always results from these Awards. This year you should be nice: the Golden Globes were canceled, People's Choice was a joke and the Oscars are in jeopardy. However, you can still count on Palm Addict to go on with the show.
That's it...I'm off the bloody soapbox.
PJA
