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By Tom Gara

NOTHING BEARS THE BRUNT OF the rapid expansion of new technology more than the pockets of the average businessman. While our female colleagues lounge in the expansive luxury of handbags that seem to get larger and more complex every year, we poor men have been stuffing more and more things into the lightweight pockets of our suit pants as technology marches forward.

On top of the ubiquitous wallet, cigarettes, lighter and keys, we now stuff in a phone, an iPod, a camera, and who knows what’s next. Something has to give, and it’s likely to be the stitching.

The days of the single-purpose mobile phone are over. There was a time when one would feel elated bringing home a phone with a color screen and cool sounding ringtones; today, this is the phone you buy for an eight year-old. For a phone to have solid business credibility these days, it needs not only to look beautiful, but to have at least three of the following five functions: wireless internet, POP or push email, a proper QWERTY keyboard, an excellent music/movie player and a big, high-quality screen.

Thankfully, relief is on its way, in the form of the smartphone — a mobile that combines all of the above into one shiny, expensive package.

Even calling these things phones is a bit of a misnomer. They pack more computing power than a late 1990s PC, and thanks to the advances in both software and chip design, they run modern applications as smoothly and reliably as the average laptop once did. When you get used to browsing the web and writing emails on them, the telephony function almost seems like a sideshow to the main event. Regardless, until somebody finds a slick, sellable term for “extremely small laptop with mobile phone capabilities,” then smartphone it is.

One of the great disappointments of the last 15 years of gadgetry has been the generally poor state of affairs in the personal digital assistant (PDA) market. The idea was great — a pocket-sized device that gives you the power and functionality of a scaled-down computer. The implementation, on the other hand, never quite hit the mark: Whether it was a Palm Pilot, an HP iPaq or Apple’s infamous Newton, PDAs kept getting better and better — but never quite good enough. The interface never made it easy enough to use, the functionality was never quite there, and the overall aesthetic screamed “stay away, normal people.” Aside from early adopters and curious big spenders, PDAs never really made it into the mainstream.

The same could be said for efforts to integrate entertainment and business functionalities into mobile phones. Although it seems like the simplest, most logical thing in the world, making a mobile phone that doubled as a decent mp3 player was pretty much beyond the abilities of the world’s mobile giants — their billion-dollar budgets were no match for that awesome challenge.

American tech magazine Popular Mechanics summed it up nicely in a review of one attempted “music phone,” the Samsung UpStage, stating bluntly that “despite years of attempts from every major phone-maker and service provider, music phones are still little more than spring-loaded bear traps for foolish early adopters.” They went on to say that the slick UpStage was “the first music phone we haven’t wanted to set on fire.”

As has been the case in the past, Apple came in and shook up the market, lighting a fire underneath a stunningly slow-moving industry with the announcement of the iPhone, the company’s long-predicted first move into the mobile phone market. The phone, Apple CEO Steve Jobs promised, would be not just a phone, but a wireless internet browser, email client, video iPod and personal organizer all in one.

Apple’s famously fanatical user base went deservedly nuts, dubbing the soon-to-be-released device the “JesusPhone.” Although such blasphemy wouldn’t carry in Egypt, the message behind the overblown language was spot on — the iPhone was simply a class above and beyond anything that had come before it. All of a sudden, eyes were on the established phone makers. Would they be able to withstand the onslaught? Or would the iPhone do to the mobile market what the iPod did to mp3 players?

Apple’s US-only release of the iPhone on June 29 brought with it the superstar aura that almost no other electronics company could muster. Lines of happy campers snaked around the city blocks where Apple stores were preparing for a midnight opening. Analysts estimate that the company sold over half a million $399-599 iPhones. In the first weekend.

Over 1.4 million iPhones have been sold since launch, and the device was the fourth most popular handset by sales in the US in the third quarter — not bad for a premium-priced phone, sold exclusively locked on one network, on a two-year contract.

Most remarkably, over 200,000 iPhones are estimated to have been unlocked and shipped abroad to satisfy the raging demand across the world. Is it really that good?

For the generalist, entertainment-focused market, the iPhone remains in a league all of its own. In the business segment, however, things get a little more interesting. Competitors such as the BlackBerry, Nokia’s e61i and 9300 Communicator and HTC’s Tytn II have all positioned themselves squarely in the business end of the market, targeting on-the-move professionals who need constant connectivity. But can they compare to Apple’s game-changing masterpiece?

We put each to the test.

Probably the most beautiful phone ever made, the iPhone only gets prettier once you start navigating through the gorgeously designed user interface. But it’s not all looks: The iPhone packs an impressive feature set including a fully-functional calendar, email manager, iPod (including video playback), web browser, notepad and photo album. And it’s not a bad phone either. The big, all-glass screen is basically the size of the entire phone, and its an absolute beauty — vivid, intense colors, deep blacks and an incredibly intuitive ‘multitouch’ feature makes it the easiest-to-use touchscreen we’ve ever experienced.

As the phone is not officially for sale here, you’ll need to ship it over from the US or find a local under-the-table importer. The eight-gigabyte model imported by a friend attracted a little over LE 300 in import duties.

ADVANTAGES: The biggest and best screen on the market, the best integrated mp3 and video player, well implemented web browser, decent email client. The virtual touchscreen keyboard takes some getting used to, but in combination with the excellent predictive text system, works very well after a couple of days of practice. The phone is absolutely gorgeous, and while it remains a rarity in Cairo it will definitely turn heads. Everybody who sees it must touch it, and everyone who touches it must have one. This is the phone to be seen with — if you can even get one in the first place.

DISADVANTAGES: Egyptian buyer beware: Officially, the iPhone is only on sale in the United States market, and only licensed for the AT&T network. Imports can be found, and a ‘crack’ can be downloaded that unlocks the phone for use on any network, but this voids the warranty on the phone. Each software update, delivered over the network or the internet, will cripple ‘cracked’ phones, an extra-big issue for business users. There is no “push” email yet and integration with corporate Microsoft Exchange networks is getting poor reviews.

The most successful phone targeting corporate users, the Blackberry was a breakthrough device in mainstreaming two great business features: push email and a full QWERTY keyboard.

Push email means that there is an always-on connection to the mail server, meaning new messages appear instantly. This instantaneous connectivity led US corporate users to dub the device the “Crackberry,” for its addictive qualities. The Blackberry is a very corporate phone, with an emphasis solidly on business, rather than entertainment. This is reflected by the wide, boxy form factor — great for reading and writing email, not so great as an everyday phone.

The new model Blackberry Pearl comes in a more typical phone format, but sacrifices the fully QWERTY keyboard, jamming two letters onto each key and relying on predictive text to work out what you are typing; in our experience, it’s not yet up to grade.

ADVANTAGES: This one is built with on-the-run corporate types firmly in mind, so it has a number of strong cards for the business set. The keyboard is the best of its type. Additionally, its has excellent — almost unbelievable battery life — the best implemented email system out of all the phones we saw, and good synchronization with a server, sharing contacts and acting as a wireless 3G/GPRS modem when for your laptop.

DISADVANTAGES: The web browser leaves a lot to be desired, especially when browsing regular websites (ie. those not optimized for mobile viewing). Email only works through a specific setup with the network (both Vodafone and Mobinil offer Blackberry support), and may not work when roaming. The options on offer in Egypt require server-level hardware and software.

Most models do not come with WiFi, which in our opinion is a deal breaker.

Taiwan’s functionally-named High Technology Computer Corporation (HTC) built a solid reputation as a contract original equipment manufacturer (OEM), building unbranded smartphones that were sold and branded by European and North American network operators. Its phones have previously been sold in Egypt under the iMate brand name; in Europe and the United States, it manufactures for Verizon, Sprint, Orange and others.

The distinctive appearance of the Tytn II is based on a unique design where the full QWERTY keyboard slides out from underneath the full-size screen. The screen then tilts upward, creating what appears as a miniature laptop. The phone runs on the new, high-powered Windows Mobile 6 platform.

ADVANTAGES: For communications, it has it all: 3G, HSPDA (dubbed 3.5G by Etisalat), GPRS, WiFi, and Bluetooth 2.0. Running on Windows Mobile means that you will have access to the full Microsoft Office range of applications, as well as Skype, the straight-from-the-heavens internet telephone program. Combine Skype and a WiFi enabled mobile and you have free/incredibly cheap calling when in WiFi range.

The scaled-down Internet Explorer web browser is solid, if a little slow. The phone comes with quite a lot of onboard memory (256 megabytes), and is the only phone in the group with a Global Positioning System (GPS) chip, useful for maps and satellite navigation.

DISADVANTAGES: This isn’t the prettiest phone on the market, inside or out. Looking functional, rather than fashionable, it weighs in as the heaviest of all the phones we are looking at, a hefty 190 grammes. At 19 millimeters thick, it is almost double the thickness of the super-slick iPhone, and compared with the beautiful build quality of the Apple and Nokia products, it feels distinctively cheap and plasticky. Oh, and be warned: GPS is technically illegal in Egypt for civilian users.

Like a Blackberry designed by elite Scandinavians, this phone blends form and function, somehow turning the inherently unattractive format of a QWERTY-keyboarded phone into a stylish accessory. The build quality is attractive, and the phone feels reassuringly heavy in the hand, despite its slim profile — probably thanks to its slick all-metal backing.

The e61i runs on the Symbian S60 operating system, which is the most widely used Nokia smartphone platform. This means that there are plenty of third-party applications available, and it is rumored that Skype will soon be released for the Symbian platform. In the meantime, it does support other “SIP” voice-over-IP protocols, though we haven’t put them to the test.

ADVANTAGES: Typically excellent build quality from Nokia, and a cool design. The bright, nicely lit screen is a pleasure to read — the only one even close to comparable with the iPhone. WiFi works blazingly fast and connects instantly and invisibly to available networks — all you need to know is, it just works. The web browser does a good job of loading pages, even over relatively slow connections. You will always have connectivity, thanks to support for 3G, GPRS and WiFi. The email handling is great (and it can handle full BlackBerry push email) and there are tons of third-party applications available for download. At LE 3100, it is the best value for money on the market.

DISADVANTAGES: The music and movie players are useless pieces of junk, reflective of the fact that Nokia has never made a decent music phone. The CPU is slightly underpowered, which you notice the most when opening new applications, particularly the office productivity tools. The personal organizer functionality is typically Nokia —great if you’re used to it, but it pales in comparison with the task and scheduling functions on a Windows Mobile phone. The keyboard, although solidly built and very responsive, is not as comfortable as that of the BlackBerry for extended periods of typing. bt