The 7135 Smartphone is Kyocera's latest offering in the converged PDA/phone category. Based on v 4.1 of the Palm OS, the 7515 is slightly largish by mobile phone standards at 3.97 x 2.43 x 1.17 and 6.6 ounces, but still comparable in size to many dedicated PDAs. A rather long (longer than the phone itself, in fact) telescoping antenna extends from the top of the unit.

The 7135 features a large and bright display capable of displaying from a palette of 65,536 colors. 16 MB of RAM is standard on the unit, and that can be added to via a MMC/SD card slot easily accessible on the side of the phone. The 7135's battery is rated for 3.5 hours talk time and 144 hours on standby. A backlit one-line display on top of the 7135 provides such staple info as signal strength, battery charge, current time, and incoming caller ID, and a speakerphone function is also provided.

The 7135 adopts the so-called "phone-first" design, which is to say it eschews a Treo 600-like (see our review) integrated miniature keyboard in favor of a more conventional numeric keypad. For text entry, you have the choice of using Graffiti shorthand (not everyone's cup of tea), cycling letters through the number keys, or an on-screen keyboard.

Pecking out notes and messages via the latter method was actually not objectionable, except for the fact that the keyboard would often disappear as you switched between screens and thus had to be called up again. For Mavis Beacon types (no pun intended), an external collapsible keyboard is available as an option.

As a Palm device, the 7135 includes the standard suite of Palm applications. In addition, it provides an MP3 player and PhotoSuite to view image and multimedia files. Also potentially useful on the road is the ability to send and receive faxes through the 7135 across the cellular network. The 7135 also includes two Web browsers--EIS and EudoraWeb, the latter for text-only browsing.

Unfortunately, the 7135 can't download applications, ring tones, etc. directly from the mobile network. Instead, you must use a PC to download software and transfer it to the phone by hot-syncing with the included Palm desktop software.

The 7135's included charger/hotsync cradle can accommodate both the phone and an additional battery, and connects to your PC via your choice of a USB or the antediluvian 9-pin serial port. The weighted base of the charger and the 45 degree angle in which the phone is held makes it easy to operate the unit with one hand while you juice it up for your next road trip.

I did have a couple of minor ergonomic nits to pick with the 7135. When using the device as a phone, I found that I couldn't hear very well and was constantly repositioning the phone to line up the speaker with my ear. Maybe there's something wrong with my head, but I've not experienced this phenomenon with other devices. Also, the numeric buttons seem to require an inordinate amount of effort to press. I often experienced missed key presses and found that I needed to press quite hard to avoid this. Those same keys are also not backlit, which may make dialing in the dark problematic.

Fortunately, in addition to 99 speed dial slots, the 7135 can automatically dial 30 of them by voice command, which worked well. The 7135 doesn't support picture ID, so calls from friends and colleagues will not greet you with the person's visage. You can, on the other hand, assign a customized MP3

The 7135 is available from Verizon and Alltel for $399.95 with a 2-year contract. With a one year commitment, the cost is $499.95 from Verizon and $459.95 with Alltel.

As long as you can live with the lack of an integrated keyboard, the Kyocera 7135 Smartphone would likely be a good choice for anyone looking for a compact Palm-based smartphone, particularly those who may be looking to consolidate two existing devices.

The Kyocera 7135 is a bit bulky by mobile phone standards, but it will be a natural choice for users that are already comfortable with the Palm OS and interface. The stylus makes interaction with the device easy (though admittedly a two-handed operation).

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