I have 28 books on my Kindle Library and I am trying to download them all to my iPhone.

Magazines are not synchrnozied though.

My letter was so long that Neil Taylor, the editor of Techpost, hadn’t got a clue about how to shorten it. It was late yesterday afternoon (the letter appeared on today’s edition) and I was on the street without my notebook. Luckily, my trustworthy XDA II came to my rescue. I actually had used both the desktop and Pocket PC version of Phatware’s PhatNotes in tandem to compose the letter. So I was able to edit it using XDA II and then emailed it to Neil right away. If you have read the print version in the SCMP today, you may want to read the unabridged version below.

Print version:Download blackberry.pdf

Unabridged version:
Are you ready to embrace a BlackBerry-powered phone?

I have finally succumbed to peer pressure and got myself a BlackBerry
  7730 handheld. In my first 24 hours with it I have composed close to a hundred
  of text messages and a couple dozens of email messages. One does get addicted
  to the BlackBerry. No wonder it has got the nickname "CrackBerries". I can see how it has become indispensable to the social life of young politicos
  in Washington as reported by the New York Times recently.

I am using the web client version of the BlackBerry because my main email
  address doesn’t connect to any enterprise email servers supported by it. It
  essentially means I cannot enjoy the benefits of groupware and remote synchronization.
  The former doesn’t bother me much because I work mostly alone. Whereas the
  latter I do want to have the ability to remotely sync my PIM content and email
  messages on my BlackBerry handheld with my desktop PIM manager.

The BlackBerry service in Hong Kong was first introduced by Three Dualband
  (then Orange) in 2002. CSL joined the offering this March. Until the beginning
  of this week, the primary reason holding me from getting a Blackberry handheld
  was its lack of Chinese support. Then I read an interview of an executive from
  Research In Motion (maker of the BlackBerry hardware and software) in Hong
  Kong recently that indeed they have started working on localization, and it
  will be made available as a software upgrade to existing users before end of
  this year. So I have found myself an excuse to get a new gadget. I just hope
  months won’t become years. At least I can wait till then to make the decision
  whether to migrate the email server at work to take full advantage of remote
  sync.

BlackBerry Web Client Service

  The BlackBerry’s web client service is easy to set up. Basically, the operator
    (Three Dualband in my case) creates a BlackBerry web-email address (like
    xxxx@orangehk.ap.blackberry.net) for each of its BlackBerry subscribers,
    and the email address will serve as the one and only "router" of
    email messages between a BlackBerry handheld and the operator’s BlackBerry
    server. Messages sent to this email address will be automatically "pushed" to the subscriber’s handheld and messages sent from the handheld will be delivered
    through this email address to the recipients. A web interface is available
    for subscribers to manage their BlackBerry email accounts. Subscribers can
    configure the web client to access up to 10 different email accounts (it
    supports popular email protocols like POP3, IMAP4 and webmails, like Hotmail
    and Yahoo). The web client then "pulls" messages from those accounts at fixed intervals and forward them to the handheld
    through the BlackBerry email address. Since it is really the "push" feature that has distinguished BlackBerry (even though its ownership over certain
    patents pertaining to this "push" feature is now being challenged in the US), I have configured my business email
    account to forward all its messages to my BlackBerry email address.

BlackBerry 7730 vs. Xda II

  The lack of both Chinese support and BlackBerry version of my favourite Pocket
    PC programs mean I still have to carry my Xda II as my primary PDA. It is
    therefore natural for me to compare the two, especially when both have communication
    capabilities built-in, to see which is the better "smartphone".
    At first, I was skeptical about BlackBerry’s lack of a stylus for navigation.
    But after learning and getting familiar with its method of navigation by
    using keyboard shortcuts, trackwheel and pop-up menus, I find navigating
    the BlackBerry a breeze. It allows a lot of non-inputing tasks to be performed
    with just one hand. To perform the same tasks (like reading the calendar
    entries and managing a long list of mail messages) on the Xda would require
    holding the Xda with one hand and using the other hand to navigate with either
    a stylus or finger-touching the screen.

The built-in QWERTY thumb keyboard of the 7730 makes it the better of
  the two to perform text input. My Xda with the thumb keyboard attaching to
  it feels almost twice the weight of the BlackBerry. The longer landscape shape
  of Xda as compared to the 7730, especially with the keyboard attaching at the
  bottom, also gives me the insecure feeling of dropping it whenever I thumb-type
  on it.

Although both units have backlit screen, the Xda has a much brighter and
  clearer screen with the light turned on. When the light is turned off, the
  BlackBerry is much more readable than the Xda, especially in outdoor. That
  is probably why, by default, the Xda screen will light up whenever being interacted
  with, whereas the BlackBerry’s light can only be turned on by pressing the
  light key manually. It is under very dark condition that I would need to turn
  the light of the BlackBerry on. It doesn’t surprise me that the battery life
  of the BlackBerry is noticeably longer than that of the Xda.

It looks like that the 7730 is the run away winner. But that’s only as
  far as text input and basic PIM are concerned.

Under out-of-the-box conditions, the BlackBerry web client version is
  more suitable and efficient at performing traditional tasks of a PDA, e.g.
  entering and looking up contacts, and managing calendar entries. And I am certainly
  not the only one noticing that. BlackBerry was the third biggest seller of
  handheld during 1st quarter of 2004. As a messaging device, its popularity
  had really caught fire after 11th Sep. when it proved to be the most reliable
  messaging service during the immediate aftermath of the tragic event.

If one looks beyond basic PIM functions and messaging, the BlackBerry
  becomes a bit inadequate. Most importantly, it lacks the capability to create
  documents. It does have a MemopPad application built-in, but it is just a plain
  text editor. It also does offer the ability to view documents created by popular
  business applications. But the ability to read is not quite up to that of create
  and edit. Xda, like most Pocket PC, comes with stripped-down version of Microsoft
  Word and Excel. Add-on software like QuickOffice also offers similar, if not
  better, office document handling capability for the PalmSource platform.

As I am determined to make my BlackBerry the replacement for my Xda once
  Chinese support is available, I have searched Handango to see if there are
  any third-party programs that would "office-enabled" the BlackBerry. Unfortunately, Handango has only 2 pages of BlackBerry programs
  and most of them are just games. I am surprised to find that QuickOffice doesn’t
  make a BlackBerry version of its software. I then resorted to Google and finally
  found the company Dynoplex (http://www.dynoplex.com). It offers through a combination
  of its eOffice software and a subscription service to allow users of the BlackBerry
  to create, view and edit Excel and Word compatible documents. Users can even
  send them as attachments (that’s where the "service" part of their offering comes into play) and edit attachments. They also have
  a new product, eWorks, in development which addresses a few "missing" features of the BlackBerrry, notably spell-checking and the ability to compose
  formatted email messages.

If I were Three Dualband or CSL, I would bundle, or at least make known
  the availability of such programs to increase the appeal of the BlackBerry
  service as a business tool.

In the last couple of months, an increasing number of hardware and software
  vendors like Nokia, O2 and PalmSource had announced their upcoming support
  of the BlackBerry service on their devices under the BlackBerry Connect license
  program. So, be prepared to see a proliferation of communication devices being
  offered by companies other than RIM that are actually BlackBerry in disguise.
  In addition to its messaging capability, I wonder whether BlackBerry will be
  making devices that offer more multimedia capabilities, like what the Xda II
  and Treo 600 had done. A camera and MMS capability are all that the BlackBerry
  needed to broaden its audience base to the mass. If it does, we may be seeing
  RIM breaking up into independent software and hardware companies just like
  Palm very soon.

Until a new breed of all-in-one device appears, I still have to live with
  my 4 communication devices. The Xda for PIM functions, web browsing, instant
  messaging and writing letters like this one. A Nokia series 40 (or whichever
  the most popular platform from Nokia, the most popular phone) 2.75G phone for
  business purpose. A 3G phone which I now use primarily for voice and video
  calls. And of course the BlackBerry to handle email and SMS messaging.

Roderick Kar

  LoverLover.com

Actually, it was my brother-in-law and a golfing-buddy who have asked me for advice recently on which PDA to buy. I put down my advice on an email and "cc"ed it to ZDNet’s David Berlind.

Which PDA to buy? No easy answers