Combining a mobile phone with a personal digital assistant (PDA) isn't a new idea - Nokia had the Communicator and Sharp tried it with the MC-G1 - but the interesting thing about the Ericsson R380s is that it's the first device to come from a member of the Symbian partnership.
Symbian is a joint venture between Psion, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic and Ericsson, and its goal is to get the Epoc handheld operating system on to as many wireless devices as possible. While all these companies are working on so-called 'smartphones', Ericsson is the first past the post with the R380s.
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The R380s is a bit of a monster. Anyone familiar with the Ericsson R320 Wap handset will spot some obvious similarities, but the R380s is almost twice as thick and altogether beefier. It has the same flat back too, but the effect is rather spoiled by the protruding battery.
At 170g, the R380s is also on the heavy side, and as a mere GSM mobile it won't impress anyone on the train. The R380s, however, isn't a mere GSM mobile ...
The keypad on the R380s is hinged along its bottom edge and with a fingernail under one of the lips beneath the 'Yes' and 'No' keys, it can be lifted to reveal an LCD running the length of the unit.
With the keypad closed, the screen works like that of a normal mobile; with it lifted, the display rotates clockwise or anti-clockwise through 90 degrees and fills the whole screen. This is where the 'smartphone' part comes into play.
Easy-to-use interface The R380s uses the same Epoc operating system as Psion's handheld computers and while the interface is somewhat different, it's just as easy to use. The screen has six icons across the top and tapping each one (there's a stylus in a slot on the battery, but ours kept falling out) brings up yet more.
The usual array of phone functions are available here, including the ability to make a call by tapping out a number on the screen. There's also a world clock, a calculator, Othello game and a notepad that works with an on-screen Qwerty keyboard or Graffiti-like handwriting recognition.
The Calendar isn't as comprehensive as the Agenda application found on Psion's handhelds and the Day view is the only one to show appointment details. It's adequate for reminding you of the odd event but for full-blown time management, you're better off with a dedicated PDA.
The Contacts application is better and entries can be browsed alphabetically by first name or company. Tapping an entry's telephone number dials it, tapping an email address switches to the email client. This supports any number of service providers and POP3 email accounts, and can also handle vCard (an electronic business card) and text attachments.
The client is also used for SMS text messages but these can't be composed with the keypad in the closed position, which makes sending a text message a two-handed affair.
The biggest benefactor of the larger screen is the Wap browser. Wap sites are designed for the narrow screens of most phones but most transfer well to the 360x120 display of the R380s and are easier to navigate with the touch-sensitive screen.
If your PDA needs are simple and you're into the Wap scene, the Ericsson R380s is a neat, if expensive, way of getting two devices in one. A separate phone and PDA, however, are more functional.
Expected price at time of review is around £299 (inc VAT) with airtime agreement.
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