Call it a perk or a ball and chain but they’re handing out T-Mobile Dash’s at work and I had to have one. Just think of it, browsing the internet on the bus, checking your calender before work, or just reading a PDF, I feel like I’m GTD during a time where I don’t get much done at all. Any of these abilities would seem an advancement in my worklife when I’m not actually at work. So I told myself, since I care not one iota for a windows enivornment, this device would only serve me very little. Ok, it allows me to check my exchange server via good, but am I really ready for a smartphone and could I even use these extra features?

I imagine that I am the target demographic who would care for just gadgetry but along, I really have my heart set on the iPhone. I’ve already set aside is the $699 for the apple product which should be just around the corner now in June. However, seeing that I’ve never had a smartphone, the Dash is a great entry point into the marketplace and will be interesting to see how it compares and constrasts to the iPhone. So how does it stack up for an inital user?

Thus far, the Dash has everything any normal user would like to see in a device such as this:

quad-band GSM, GPRS, and EDGE, along with Wi-Fi for a complete wireless experience. It also includes the requisite messaging clients and media player, Bluetooth, a 1.3 megapixel camera, a MicroSD slot, and Windows Mobile 5.0.

With those features, you’re free to go most anywhere and be completely in the loop and wire free. Huge camera, the SD slot, Bluetooth all help to transfer photos and files. Hey, in fact, Windows Mobile 6 is set to be released sometime in the next couple of days, which should be a very pleasent upgrade.

But is it usable? It really doesn’t feel like it just yet for my life. The benefits (mail, calender) are great, but its got some serious flaws in my eyes. The keyboard is freakishly small and Bluetooth doesn’t like to play with any of my Mac’s, making transfering files a pain. Having the ability to make my time spent waiting around more proactive and educational is what I wanted this tool for and now it seems that its just dead weight in the pocket.

Ease of use….Looks like I’ll have to wait til June. For those curious for Mac or any tips, trips and apps for the Dash, check out HowardForums HTC.

Curious to know what I’m up to day-to-day? Howard Shultz has given you an insight into what I’m building in the Business Digest of Seattle Times, January 17, 2007

Schultz discusses MP3 potential for Starbucks

When Starbucks pulled CD-burning machines out of most stores that were testing them last year, many wondered if the company would replace those machines with technology for filling MP3 players. The chatter got even louder last fall, when Starbucks unveiled its own area on Apple Computer’s iTunes Web site.
On Tuesday, Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz dropped the word that, “Within 12 months, probably, you’re going to be able to walk into a Starbucks and digitally be able to fill up your MP3 player with music.

“Over the next six to18 months you will see us look at it, perhaps test it,” he said in a talk in New York presented by the Levin Institute, an independent graduate institute within the State University of New York, and Bloomberg News.