Datawind PocketSurfer 2

[Hands0n]

What a novel device - with 12 months GPRS time included in the price! And £40 a year thereafter!!

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/Datawind+PocketSurfer+2?productId=29244


PocketSurfer 2 is an ultra-thin portable device that easily fits into a pocket or bag and delivers the real web, just like at home or at work. Weighing in at just 174 grams the PocketSurfer 2 allows you to browse the web in its original layout on a 640x240 full colour widescreen display using a mouse cursor and a full backlit QWERTY keyboard making it the most usable hand-held web device around.
The PocketSurfer 2 doesn¹t hang about either, with page-load times of under seven seconds over GPRS thanks to Datawind¹s compression technology you¹ll be flying around the web just as you would at your desk.
No Wires

The PocketSurfer 2 has its own in-built GPRS antenna and SIM card which means it can connect itself straight to the mobile network to get you online immediately, you don¹t need any other bits and pieces at all, just get it out of the box and go!
No Contracts

The PocketSurfer 2 doesn't need you to take out a contract, you can use it out-of-the-box for 12 months without paying a penny and to use it for the next year will cost as little as £40!
No Compromise

Browse the web just as you would on your desktop PC. Like no other handheld web-browsing experience, the PocketSurfer 2 keeps all your pages displaying just as they were designed.
Technical Specifications of the PocketSurfer 2

Lithium Polymer Battery 4 Hours Battery Life
Built-In High Performance Antenna
Transreflective Backlit Display 640 x 240 VGA Colour
Mini USB Charger
Mouse Pointer
Backlit
QWERTY Keyboard
Sub 7 Second Page-Load
Web Browsing in Original Layout
174 grams 152 x 75 x 15 mm
Specification

Product Description: DATAWIND PS04UK POCKETSURFER - HAND-HELD WEB SURFING DEVICE DIGITAL DEVICE: Hand held Web Surfer Screen Size: 640 x 240 widescreen Interface: Wireless Power Source: Lithium Polymer Battery Weight: 174 grams

[Ben]

Crikey, Amazon appear to have started something with this integrated connectivity malarky!

That's a very curious device. I wonder what network that SIM is piggybacking on, and how all-of-a-sudden a years (assumed) unlimited usage can cost £40?

Personally at GPRS speeds I think it has to be regarded as a bit of a nono, but it's a very big step in the right direction. These 'appliances' with integrated go-anywhere connectivity surely offer a massive potential as the 'next big thing'?

[Hands0n]

"Appliance" is the keyword. The N95/iPhone is anything but an Appliance - something like this could cause dismay at the Mobile Manufacturers :D

[miffed]

This has been "coming soon' on expansys for months now - I keep checking to see if the HTC is available - and like all remotely interesting devices , it seems to have ave "due" date that is always one month away , and continualy rolls forward , so you never get any closer to it :mad:

...But it looks like this one actually exists ! and is now available :)

Having used the iPhone for a few weeks , i am quite surprised how fast GPRS can seem in a device that deals with the data nicely - My e90 messes about rendering , then going blank , then rendering again to give me a 'sort of' representation of the page I want , usually messed up in one way or another !
Whereas the iPhone may take a little longer , but I know I am going actually get the page I wanted to see !

I had a bit of a fling with "onspeed" a while back , and I have to say it worked bloody well !! I used it on HSCSD - which gave about the same sort of speeds as GPRS , and the perceived browsing speed was FASTER than my ISDN lines at work , and comparable to the 512mb broadband line at my bosses house at times
So if this guy is using this kind of set up , then I am guessing there is a pretty good user experience to be had by Pocketsurfer customers ! -especially the ones that haven't a clue about the underlying technology