We all have our own definitions of what makes up the ultimate software "killer app", but it's not often that a piece of newly released hardware is it's own killer app. RIM's BlackBerrry was one, then came the Visorphone from HandSpring, and the Smartphone takes the title for now. It's a sleek, light unit with outstanding battery life that fits easily in a pocket.

The integration of phone and Palm interface is seamless and outstanding in functionality. Flip open the front panel and the phone screen is replaced by the familiar Palm interface with, tada!!, 8 MB of memory. Note that the phone does not have to be on in order to use the Palm. The pointer inserts on the back of the phone and in its generosity, Kyocera supplies spares for those of us who are constantly misplacing our pointers.

In the NY area the Smartphone is available on Verizon or the Sprint PCS network. On Verizon, the Smartphone is a CDMA tri-mode digital/analog unit with decent reception in the suburban areas. The CDMA feature is what gives the Kyocera the nod over HandSpring's Visorphone, which, despite being an excellent product, is only available in GSM.

Dialing a number on the Smartphone can be done one of two ways. You can tap on a number from your contacts list and the phone will dial from the Palm interface. Or in phone mode, hit the smart button on the side to find your desired contact and then dial. In a well thought out move, speaker phone mode is available at the touch of a button. The backlighting is excellent and thoughtfully includes the dialing keys.

Moving preexisting Palm data into the Smartphone couldn't be easier. Just install the desktop software that comes with the phone, delete the Saved Pref file from your Palm directory on the hard drive and Hot Sync. That's it. All your previous data will then end up on the Smartphone.

If you're on the go and need to check a website quickly or compose and send a fast email, simply program your dial-up ISPs settings (phone number, logon name, password, etc.) into the network settings, tap connect and you'll be connected to your ISP at about 14.4kbps. It's hardly blazingly fast, but enough to do some basic tasks online.

Despite this being a superior product, there are some minor shortcomings. For one, the package comes with Eudora's WAP-based browser and email program. I find both prgrams a bit on the klunky side but unfortunately, they are both loaded in ROM which makes any attempt to delete them impossible. You are more than welcome to install any browser/email combo that suits your fancy (my personal faves are MultiMail Pro and YadaYada's free browsing/Palmtop software), but the Eudora programs are here to stay. Nor can you delete the annoying Graffiti tutorial that we've all come to loathe.

In addition, despite being fairly readable, bear in mind that to make this svelte package work, the size of the Palm desktop is about 70-80% of normal. For some, that can be a bit difficult on the eyes. You can of course, increase the screen font size, but that reduces your lines of text on-screen significantly. It would also be nice if the unit came with USB rather than a serial port connector.

Nevertheless, the ability to fuse one's pda and wireless phone (and text pager if you choose to pay about $10/month for your answering service accessing Verizon's messaging modem; not available on Sprint) into one unit is pretty tough to resist, especially when it's done this well. The average phone price is about $499 with a new account or upgrade. For those of who want to wait, the next few months should bring color Palm-based phones as well as Microsoft's "Stinger" project; i.e. PocketPC-based phones.

Yep, it's getting wild out there.