Windows Phone Thoughts: Verizon Releases Samsung i730 to Businesses; Mossberg Reviews It

"For Americans who want a smart cellphone with a built-in keyboard for typing email, the best choice by far has been PalmOne's Treo 650, sold by most major U.S. wireless carriers...Starting today, Verizon Wireless will introduce in the U.S. the first Microsoft-based smart phone with a built-in keyboard that is about the same shape, size and weight as the Treo. This new phone, the $599 Samsung i730, has one major capability the $399 Treo lacks -- the ability to surf the Web and to send and receive email at broadband speeds."

Mossberg has a pretty decent review of the i730; unfortunately, it's only available via business channels right now, with consumer availability on July 7. Good news? WiFi is there, EVDO is very fast, and the thumbboard is apparently "comparable" to the Treo's. Bad news includes mediocre battery life (seems to be endemic to Samsung; I had to use the extended battery in both my i600 and i700 for heavy use), only WM2003SE (so it's not one-handed), WiFi can't be used at the same time as the cellular network (power issues?) and, while not explicitly stated, it looks like it lacks the Bluetooth DUN profile.

I'm mixed about this -- I really want a new Pocket PC Phone, especially one with EVDO -- but I think I'd like to wait and see if a WM5 upgrade comes out for this unit first, and I'd like to get some more data on the unit's battery life (was he using WiFi or EVDO heavily, etc.). And, as usual for Verizon, the unit's initial price is way too high. I have seen it at various places, though, and it's amazingly compact.