The 81-day experiment

The Motorola Q in Black from Verizon is out and about

Even though the improvements appear to be cosmetic, the Motorola Q in Black is supposed to have brought with it some software improvements as well as an improved battery life. Soon, I will be getting some hands on time with it and hopefully have some good things to report. It is exclusive from Verizon which means great reception in the San Francisco area but not of great help internationally.

My device selection, BlackBerry Pearl, T-Mobile Dash, or Motorola Q? The selection has been made

Finally, and for those who didn’t get a chance to participate in our Lunch & Learn webinar this week, I have selected the smartphone that I will be using now, knowing that the 81-day-experiment is over. The winning device is the T-Mobile Dash, and Jacob Bohall won the drawing and a smartphone (Jacob was one of many readers who guessed that I will be selecting the Dash, even though more readers were leaning towards the BlackBerry Pearl).

The BlackBerry Pearl was actually my first choice, however, the fact that it doesn’t have a QWERTY keyboard was the showstopper for me. I use e-mail extensively, and typing quickly is a critical need. The SureType™ method is actually quite impressive, but still, when you just have a couple of minutes in between meetings or calls, and you want to respond to an urgent e-mail, every second counts.

In the Webinar on December 5, I reviewed the 9 devices that I used in the 81-day-experiment, highlighted their strengths and weaknesses, and rated them in five different areas. The workbook (PDF format) which includes the presentation slides with the ratings, as well as the methodology for selecting a smartphone,  can be ordered at:
http://www.people-onthego.com/Wrkshps_Handheld.html (scroll down on that page to see the Workbook link).

In addition, we have the following upcoming live events that you will be able to register for soon:

a) A repeat of the 45 minutes complimentary lunch & learn Webinar about the 81-day-experiment and about selecting a smarpthone, which will be scheduled for the January/February 2007 timeframe.

b) A full 90 minute workshop about selecting a smartphone, also presented as a Webinar, which will also be scheduled for the January/February 2007 timeframe.

Meanwhile, the 81-day-experiment blog continues to provide updates on the latest devices, and additional tips and insights on selecting a smartphone, and more case studies from users who want to share their experience with selecting and using a smartphone.

Stay tuned for more!

Day #27 of the 81-day experiment, the Motorola Q last day

Today is the last day for the Motorola Q before it gets replaced by a new device. If I have to summarize the Motorola Q in just a couple of words, I would say “pleasantly surprising”. I started to use the device thinking it is going to be similar to the Treo 700w at least as far as the navigation within Windows Mobile. Actually it is not, even though they both use Windows Mobile, the difference in navigation and functionality is still significant.

So what is the scoop on the Motorola Q?

The Motorola Q is an impressive device. It is easy and efficient to navigate (and unlike the Treo 700w, I didn’t experience the “couple extra clicks” it takes to do thing). It does not have a stylus and it does not have a touch screen which means you mainly rely on the 5-Way Navigation buttons for your navigation with some help from the Thumb Wheel and the Back button which are located on the side of the device (more on this later). I believe that this made navigation more efficient.

The Motorola Q, coupled with the Verizon broadband access, gives you excellent e-mail and internet capabilities. The Verizon Wireless Sync technology is capable of “push” e-mail which means you get your e-mail to the device within minutes from when they reach your server without having to manually retrieve them, and without having to set the device to retrieve them automatically at preset intervals. Also, browsing the Internet using the Motorola Q was very reasonable. And even though the device is not enabled to be used as a modem for your laptop out of the box, I was able to install PdaNet and use it to connect my laptop to the Internet (see day #26)

The Motorola Q has some nifty navigational shortcuts I especially liked the back button and the home buttons. They made it easy to quickly track back my steps, and revisit screens that I just visited a few seconds or minutes earlier, and also easily get re-oriented by bringing back the home screen, and a list of the most recently used applications.

The form and usability factors of the Motorola Q get high marks. Even though these aspects are very subjective, in general a thin and light device, with a sharp and nicely lit screen, and streamlined navigation, is desired by most users.

So what is the catch?

If you are seeking to use the device to manage and edit documents, and/or to perform Web transactions (heavy browsing and completing Web forms), the Motorola Q may not be the device that best handles these areas. The Motorola Q (at least out of the box) does not allow you to edit attachments, and in addition, filling Web forms is not particularly easy. Actually I wasn’t able to complete the Web survey that I wanted to fill out (see day #25).

A computing device or a smartphone

This brings an interesting question relating to selecting a handheld device: Are you looking for a “computing” device (one that can almost replace your laptop and allows you to perform some serious computing applications), or are you looking for a “smartphone” (one that keeps you well connected and Internet-able when you’re on the go)? The Motorola Q does a fine job on the latter (being a slick and capable smartphone), but is not likely to satisfy your needs on the former (playing the role of a full-featured computing device).

Is the Motorola Q a “BlackBerry-ied Windows

Mobile

” device?

As I was using the Motorola Q over the last 9 days, the thought that the Motorola Q is a “BlackBerry-ied Windows Mobile” device kept coming to mind. It seems that the combination of the Verizon “push” e-mail capability, and the Motorola Q Thumb Wheel and Back key on the side of the device, coupled with not having the stylus and the touch screen, and having a more streamlined navigation, gave me the feel of the BlackBerry device.

Now how about that Thumb Wheel and Back Key on the side?

I hardly used them! If they were fully capable of navigating through the menus, screens, and options (like they are in the BlackBerry), I probably would have used them exclusively. However, the fact that you still need to abandon them, and resort to the 5-Way Navigation button and other buttons when performing certain actions, made me stick to the 5-Way Navigation button and the Back button next to it. As far as I am concerned, I question their value (the value of having the Thumb Wheel and Back key on the Motorola Q) and consider them a slight departure from the Motorola Q design philosophy of being “easy” with less choices and less complexity (see day #22).

Moving on to yet another device

There is probably more to be experienced and discovered about the Motorola Q, but the experiment needs to move on. The next device will be unveiled tomorrow. It is likely that it will be a departure from the devices I have used so far (which are the Treo 700p on day #1 to day #9, the Treo 700w on day #10 to day #18, and the Motorola Q on day #19 till today). Let us see what tomorrow will bring.

Day #26 of the 81-day experiment, the Motorola Q PdaNet, voice recognition, usability

PdaNet (the add-on application by June Fabrics Technology Inc.) came to the rescue one more time (see day #15 when I used it with the Treo 700w). I reinstalled PdaNet today and therefore was able to use the Motorola Q as a modem to connect my laptop to the Internet. With the Verizon broadband network, I am able now to connect at broadband speed.

Recording voice memos

Another thing I did today is record some voice memos on the Motorola Q which was quick and easy. From the Start folder, you select the Voice Notes icon, and then press the left button to record. The sound quality was okay but not great. I haven’t compared it side-by-side to the Treo 700 sound quality, or the iPod voice recorder that I recently got from Belkin, but I think it is comparable.

Voice Recognition

The voice recognition application however on the Motorola Q seems to be quite impressive. I probably will need more time with it to see if I continue to use it, but it seems to be very practical and my first impressions are quite positive. Once you start the voice recognition application from the Start folder, it prompts you to say something, and you have several commands that you choose from including the “Call a name or number”.

So if you say “Call John Smith”, it searches your contacts, and tries to find a match. In the three times I tired it, it found the exact matches. It asks you then to confirm that the match is correct by saying “yes”, “no”, or “repeat”. Then it looks up the phone number(s), and it asks you to choose whether you want to call the home, work, or mobile number, also by saying “work”, “home”, or “mobile”, and then it dials the number.

Speed dial

You can set up a speed dial for a phone number, but you can also setup a speed dial to launch an application such as starting e-mail, calendar, or any other application in the Start folder. With the Motorola Q, you assign a number to a speed dial (instead of a letter) which can be a single or double digit number. Number “1” is reserved for calling your voice mail.

The way you invoke the speed dial is by pressing the number you assign and holding it for an extra second or two. If it is a double digit number, you press the first digit and release it, and then press and hold the second digit. I used for instance number “3” as the speed dial to launch Internet Explorer. So now from the home screen, I can press 3 and hold it for a second or two in order to browse the Internet.

Setting up a speed dial to call my office voice mail? not really!

When working with the Treo 700, I was able to create a speed dial which, not only dials the phone number, but then waits for the line to pick up and dials extra digits such as voice mail system commands, a password, and so on. Therefore by pressing one single key, I was able to pretty much relax and wait for technology to do the work, and then listen to my voice mail. Not only this, with the Treo 700, I was also able to setup a speed dial that included a calling card number, a PIN number, and an international phone number with automatic pauses in between (see day #7 and day #16).

Unfortunately entering pauses and extensions doesn’t seem to work with the Motorola Q. When I entered the pauses and extensions, the Motorola Q didn’t wait for the line to pick up, so it kept on dialing. Not very useful. I tried to find a workaround, but so far, I haven’t been able to find any documentation relating to this issue.

Speed dial + Voice recognition + Bluetooth headset = True hand-free operation

By setting up a new speed dial that launches the voice recognition application, and after having setup the Bluetooth headset (which was quite easy), now I am always one digit away (only one digit) from a true hands-free experience with access to all the contacts in my contacts list. Not bad!

More on navigation and usability

The back button on the Motorola Q seems to be pretty helpful. It takes you back to the previous screen, similar to what the browser “back” button does when browsing the Internet. I found myself using the back button frequently to track my path and get to a previous screen that I want to use again.

Having a “forward” button would have been helpful as well but the home button and the list of most recently used applications in the home screen give you a similar effect. Overall I continue to be quite pleased with the ease of navigation and the usability of the Motorola Q.

As I mentioned when I started to use the device, the Motorola Q proves that not all Windows Mobile implementations are exactly the same. I find the Motorola Q implementation to be simpler and more efficient than the Treo 700w implementation. However we should keep in mind that the Motorola Q is also not as full featured as the Treo 700w and that exactly where the the trade-off is. I will be commenting more on this tomorrow, which is the last day for the Motorola Q. And then, I will move to a new device as the experiment continues.

Day #25 of the 81-day experiment, the Motorola Q Internet, modem, add-on's

I met a colleague for dinner tonight, and she asked me the difficult question: “What did you do today?” However, I was able to quickly recite the tasks that I worked on today, one by one, giving specific times and relevant details. I did this easily with the help of the Motorola Q, looking at my calendar items through the colorful and sharp screen that is nicely lit and easy to read.

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Even though it was already late in the evening, and the Motorola Q has not been plugged into the charger today, the battery was still doing quite well. Just to conclude on the battery life issue, the new battery of the Motorola Q is doing its job. I have been charging the device overnight and then using it throughout the day and into the night (without being plugged into the charger and without being plugged into the computer). So no worries about the battery life as far as I am concerned.

Browsing the Internet, fast and easy

I have already noted yesterday that with the Motorola Q and the Verizon broadband network, browsing the Internet is now possible and pleasant. Yesterday, I was able to make use of many language related websites and today I did some Google searches and successfully navigated through the search results to get the answers I needed.

Filling out the Web survey wasn’t as easy

I also tried to take the Internet browsing experience to the next level. So I attempted to fill out the same Web survey that I tested successfully with the Treo 700p on day #4 and the Treo 700w on day #16. Unfortunately the Motorola Q wasn’t as successful in this area. It wasn’t possible to activate the link of the survey in order to start filling out. This is a situation where a stylus and a touch screen would have been helpful.

Using the Motorola Q as a modem for your laptop? Not really!

I was hopeful at first when I saw the “Modem Link” application in the Accessories folder in the Start screen of the Motorola Q. However, when I tried it, it didn’t work and it disabled ActiveSync and caused a number of “inconveniences”. Then after calling technical support, I found out that the Motorola Q cannot be used as a modem for the laptop. It seems that I need to experiment with PdaNet and see if it comes to the rescue once more (see day #15 when I used PdaNet to connect the Treo 700w to the laptop and serve as a broadband modem).

Installing add-on applications

I wanted to add the screen capture add-on application on the Motorola Q (the one I used on the Treo 700w) in order to take some screen shots. The installation process was pretty much the same as the one I used with the Treo 700w. This consisted of installing the add-on application on the laptop first, and then the next time synchronization took place, the add-on application got installed on the handheld device.

However, the screen capture add-on application (from ValkSoft) gave me an error indicating that this application is not compatible with this device--even though it is supposed to be compatible with all Windows Mobile devices. I will see if this is something that can be fixed, but if not, this means not only that we won’t have screen shots from the Motorola Q experiment, but also that there in general there are no guarantees that a third-party add-on application will work equally well on all Windows Mobile devices.

Some early conclusions, but still to be confirmed later

As I continue to use the Motorola Q, it is becoming more clear to me that it is a slick device, with an easy interface, and well equipped to handle the functions that I need the most (phone, e-mail, calendar, contacts, and internet browsing, with some nice-to-have capabilities such as the voice recorder, the camera, and the music player). What the Motorola Q doesn’t seem to handle as well seem to be the document editing capabilities and the more serious Internet transactional capabilities.

So for most users, this is a fine device with a relatively high “charm” factor (combination of a slick design, small form factor, and great usability). However, for those users who are thinking of “laptop replacement” and not just “smartphone”, and therefore want to edit documents and complete some Internet transactions, the Motorola Q may not be their best bet--the Treo 700p and 700w may be more appropriate in this situation and potentially some of the upcoming devices that we will be reviewing as the experiment continues to unfold. So stay tuned for more!

Day #24 of the 81-day experiment, the Motorola Q new battery, attachments, usability

When you are learning a foreign language (and you need all the help you can get) you absolutely need connectivity to the Internet at all times (at least in my way of learning)! As I am learning the German language, it seems that I depend on a couple of websites (one of them being http://dict.leo.org and the other being http://www.freetranslations.com). With the Motorola Q and Verizon’s broadband network (download speeds being 400 to 700Kbps or better) these language websites are now accessible almost anywhere and anytime, and the retrieval speed is pretty reasonable—unlike the GPRS speed on my previous smartphone. This is just another little example of how high-speed connectivity is making these devices even more useful!

The new battery working well

The new battery of the Motorola Q is now fully charged and seems to be working well (this is the replacement for the defective battery which was running low as soon as I unplug it from the charger—see day #23 for details). Today the device has been out of the charger for almost half the day with no signs of the battery being low.

E-mail Attachments

Today I have received several e-mails with attachments on the Motorola Q. The typical process to view an attachment is to open the e-mail and click on the attachment in order to mark it for retrieval. The attachment is then retrieved the next time the device sends/receives e-mail. When it gets retrieved, you can then open it and view it. The jpg file looked sharp and colorful, and it was easy to zoom in and out to see the details or the whole thing.

It is almost a pleasure viewing Excel attachments on the Motorola Q.  I could easily zoom or pan. If you are in zoom mode, the 5-Way Navigation Key allows you to easily zoom in or zoom out by pressing the up or down arrow keys. If you are in pan mode, the arrow keys will pan you in the direction of the arrow. To view additional sheets in the workbook, I selected the menu, and then the Page menu item, and then I was able to go to the next or previous page (in this case next or previous sheet in the Excel workbook).

Editing attachments? Not really!

The Motorola Q does not allow you to edit attachments. You can easily view them but not edit them. For me the fact that I cannot edit attachments isn’t an issue. I did talk to other users though who consider editing attachments to be a critical need. That is because they would like to use their smartphone as a laptop replacement when they are out and about (so they don’t have to carry their laptop).

Your smartphone as a laptop replacement

If you are planning on editing documents on your smartphone, and this happens to be one of your important requirements, you are probably seeking “laptop replacement” and not just smartphone. If this is the case, you may find that the Treo 700 capabilities in this area are quite suitable (the Treo 700p uses the Documents To Go software to allow you to edit and manage attachments—see day #7, and the Treo 700w uses the Office Mobile applications—see day #15).

More about Usability

The keyboard continues to impress me. The keys are large enough, spaced far enough from each other, and typing feels like typing and not like a struggle. Also, the Home key brings you to the home screen (one keystroke) which is equivalent to the Today screen on the Treo 700w. Once you’re in the home screen, the left key takes you to the Start screen, which is a folder view with icons representing the applications and folders in the Motorola Q. Tomorrow, the experiment will continue, and hopefully with more insights on usability, capabilities, and services.

Day #23 of the 81-day experiment, the Motorola Q new battery

Waiting in line is the perfect time to use the Motorola Q to check e-mail and news and reclaim this otherwise unproductive time. Today however, this wasn’t possible because the line was the customer service line at the Verizon store, and the purpose was to exchange the Motorola Q battery (which was empty and which seems to run low as soon as I unplug the device).

Waiting is line is also a good reminder for why smartphones can be “superior” to laptops and notebooks (in these situations where it would be very difficult to open a laptop or a notebook and work on it--without running the risk of dropping it, potentially bumping into other people, and looking ridiculous!). I remember an incident from last year where I was in line boarding a plane when I got an urgent e-mail message on my smartphone regarding the presentation that I was about to deliver upon my arrival. With just a few clicks, I sent the necessary information, and all was good.

Another thing you could do when waiting in line, and unable to use a laptop, is to record a voice memo to capture ideas and to-do’s on the spot and handle them later. This is a feature that the Motorola Q has. I will be reporting on it tomorrow when the Motorola Q new battery is fully charged, and the device back in business.

Today’s lack of battery power made me also realize how much I depend on my smartphone to stay connected and to handle issues throughout the day instead of having them accumulate until I get back to the office. Today I made more use of my “business journal” which is a paper journal and one of my most important time management tools.

Luckily, and aside from the Verizon store trip, today was mostly an office day. The customer service rep informed me that the new battery (which was to replace what seems to be a defective battery) needs to charge overnight because this is the first full charge, and that from there on, it should only take 2 to 3 hours to fully charge it. Tomorrow we will be fully “charged” for what will hopefully be a productive day with the Motorola Q, which aside from the defective battery, is proving so far to be an elegant, easy, and capable device.

Day #22 of the 81-day experiment, the Motorola Q navigation but battery life

Today I am even more convinced that the Motorola Q is an “easy” device. It does take less time (and less clicks) to become more comfortable with the navigation. This is kind of expected because with fewer choices (no stylus, and no touch screen) we usually have less complexity.

Talking about the touch screen, the technical support rep yesterday had an interesting story to tell. It seems that when the Motorola Q was first released, and during the first few weeks, many users returned the device because the touch screen was not working! It seems that there was some assumption there that such a device should have a touch screen!

More on the Thumb Wheel versus the 5-Way Navigation Key

I pointed out yesterday that unlike any other device I have seen so far, the Motorola Q has both the Thumb Wheel and the Undo/Back key (similar to the BlackBerry approach, see picture on the left), as well as the 5-way navigation button (similar to the Treo approach, see the picture on the right).

What I noticed so far, is that I have been using mostly the 5-Way Navigation Keys, and the little Back Key right next to it, and I haven’t used the Thumb Wheel and the Undo/Back Key much (which are on the side of the device, similar to the BlackBerry device) even though I happen to be a fan of the Trackwheel/Escape-Key combination on the BlackBerry. Once in a while, I would remember that the Thumb Wheel and the Undo/Back Key exist, and I would try to use them.

As I mentioned yesterday, I think that these two approaches are somehow overlapping (the 5-Way Navigation Key on one hand, and the Thumb Wheel and Undo/Back key on the other hand), and I am not sure they are both needed (maybe I will stumble onto some new insights in the next few days and see more clearly the purpose of each approach and how they complement each other, but for now I am still questioning it). Having them both on the Motorola Q seems to be a little bit of a departure (just a little bit though) from the design philosophy I described above--as being “easy” with less choices and less complexity.

Another related observation is that the Thumb Wheel and the Undo/Back key don’t seem to provide all the navigational capabilities that you would expect. There are some things that you cannot do without resorting to the 5-Way Navigation Key or other keys on the front of the device.

The 5-Way Navigation Key however is self-sufficient, and allows you to pretty much fully navigate through the various menus and options, and together with the Back Key right next to it, they seem to be self-sufficient. So if something has to go, in this case it would be the Thumb Wheel and Undo/Back Key. But for now, let us keep exploring, and see what insights the next few days will bring.

Another thing to watch for is the battery life

When I purchased the device on day #19, the sales rep in the Verizon store asked me if I would like to buy the extended battery which has a longer life. When I asked how long will the standard battery last, he indicated that it would last about a day, but the extended one could last a couple of days.

What I am finding out is that I am getting the “low battery” alert about an hour or two after fully charging the device. This may mean, I need to make another trip to the Verizon store, and get the extended battery. I will be reporting on this later in the week.

Finally a “civilized” USB cable

Having been entrenched into the Treo world for the previous 18 days (using the Treo 700p, day #1 to day #9, and the Treo 700w, day #10 to day #18), I couldn’t help it but notice the unusual USB cable that is used to connect the Treo devices to the computer. Unfortunately, it is not elegant, it is not easy to plug in and out, and it does not charge the device (plugging it in and out felt like “pulling teeth”).

Well with the Motorola Q, elegance continues to manifest itself with a more “civilized” USB cable (I got one of these retractable cables as you see in the picture which takes even less space). In addition, when the USB cable is plugged into the computer, it helps maintain the battery life.

Tomorrow’s mission

Tomorrow’s mission starts with getting the battery problem sorted out. Once that is resolved, I will continue with using the device and exploring more of its functionality.

Day #21 of the 81-day experiment, the Motorola Q synchronized and connected

The first picture taken by the Motorola Q proves that we had nice weather today, and that the 1.3 megapixel camera of the Motorola Q is alive and functional. The day started today with getting the Motorola Q all configured and synchronized, a process that was fairly smooth and successful.

One interesting learning is that I didn’t need to re-install ActiveSync. I installed ActiveSync when I started to use the Treo 700w (see day #10 and day #11) and now that I am switching to the Motorola Q, all I had to do is select the File menu (in ActiveSync on the laptop) and then select the “Delete Mobile Device” menu item in order to delete the settings and files related to the Treo 700w. Then I connected the Motorola Q to the laptop using the USB cable provided, and ActiveSync detected the new device and took me through the setup and synchronization steps.

Synchronizing my 1200+ contacts and appointments too a little bit of time, but the process ended successfully. For those who may have struggled in the past with upgrading devices and getting the synchronization software to recognize the new device and synchronize smoothly, you would be happy to know that ActiveSync seems to do the job quite smoothly.

Another good news is that I didn’t need to reconfigure Wireless Sync either. Again, Wireless Sync is the Verizon e-mail application (and underlying wireless synchronization capability) that can synchronize e-mail wirelessly using “push” technology (in my case retrieving e-mail from a POP account to the device without having me retrieve it every so often, nor setting up the device to automatically retrieve it at preset intervals).

Wireless Sync can also synchronize calendar, contacts, and tasks, however I am synchronizing these using ActiveSync instead. There are some additional details relating to how Wireless Sync works, and how to manage Wireless Sync and ActiveSync, and how you could use Wireless Sync to fully synchronize your data as opposed to my approach here. I won’t get into these topics right now, but I might do so later in the experiment.

Another process that I went through with the technical support rep today was to dial *22899 on the device to update the coverage and roaming information on the device--a process which takes about 30 seconds or so. It seems that after that, the Internet connection, that didn’t work yesterday, started to work properly. I was able to browse the Internet (at the Verizon broadband speed) as well as retrieve and send e-mail.

The first key milestone has been reached

Once again, the first key milestone in the 9-day life of a device in the 81-day experiment has been reached, and this time with a new device (the Motorola Q). This is the milestone where the device is fully functional, synchronized with the Outlook data, and capable of connecting to the Internet, as well as receiving and sending e-mail.

From now on, working with the Motorola Q should be “smoothly sailing” and I should be able to get in more depth into the usability and functionality aspects of the device. More on these tomorrow!

Day #20 of the 81-day experiment, the Motorola Q surprises

The Motorola Q seems to bring some pleasant surprises. I was asking myself before I got the Motorola Q, how different can it be from other Windows Mobile devices, such as the Treo 700w that I just worked with (day #10 to day #18)? If this is what you are thinking, think again, and keep on reading.

Very thin device

Just something that is very noticeable (and not Windows Mobile related) is the fact that the Motorola Q is a thin device. It also feels light. I personally find the design to be elegant and appealing.

Surprise surprise: No stylus, and no touch screen

With the Treo 700w, my approach was to minimize the use of the stylus, and see if I can get by without it. My main goal was to be able to use the device as a single-handed device and not to have to manage an extra component (the stylus) as much as possible. With the Motorola Q, I found out that I have to get by without the stylus because it doesn’t have one. Not only this, I have to get by without the touch screen, because it doesn’t have one either. If you are a stylus fan or a touch screen fan, you may be wondering how that is possible. Actually it is. Not only possible, but with less choices, things seem to be simpler.

Guess what? Thumb Wheel and Undo/Back key (the BlackBerry way)

This is probably the ultimate surprise. If you have used a BlackBerry, you know exactly what we are talking about. The Thumb Wheel (similar to the Trackwheel on the BlackBerry) allows you to roll through applications, menu items, lists of messages, list of appointments, etc. and click to make a selection. The Undo/Back key (similar to the Escape key on the BlackBerry) allows you to undo or go back a step.

The keyboard is easy to type on

The keybaord is slightly wider than the Treo 700 keyboard (just slightly, maybe not even a quarter of an inch) but this seems to make a significant difference when it comes to typing on the QWERTY keyboard. For now, I seem to be more at ease with the Motorola Q keyboard (even though I just started using it), and I am expecting that overall I will be typing a bit faster and hopefully making fewer mistakes.

Thumb Wheel versus 5-way Navigation Button

While the Motorola Q added the Thumb Wheel and the Undo/Back key, it kept the 5-way Navigation Button. In some ways, these are overlapping because they provide similar navigational capabilities. I am curious to see how the two mechanisms are going to work together.

Windows Mobile simplified

The Windows Mobile version on the Motorola Q seems to have a more streamlined interface compared to what I have seen when using the Treo 700w. Navigation seems to be easier, and getting to places seems to happen with less clicks and less “thinking”. This still needs to be confirmed as I use the device more extensively, but for now, this is my first impression.

Tomorrow the first impressions are likely to be less important, and the core functionality and usability factors are likely to take over as I complete the setup of the Motorola Q and synchronize my data.