The hardware
The Kyocer 7135 weighs 6.6 oz. and is 4 x 2.4 x 1.2 inches when closed. It's bigger than most new mobile phones, but smaller than any combination of separate phone and Palm handheld. The Treo is slightly smaller and lighter still.

The hardware feels solid and comfortable in the hand. It's made from injection-molded plastic with a brushed aluminum swoosh. Mine has survived three accidental falls from belt-height to a hard surface. Don't even ask.

When closed, the case protects the screen. The flip opens smoothly and locks at about 150 degrees, but it will stay in place anywhere past about 90 degrees.

The screen is the standard 160 x 160 pixel resolution of most Palm OS devices, not the 320 x 320 or 320 x 480 of the more recent Palm and Sony models. The screen is bright and crisp, with well-saturated 16-bit color. The Treos use 12-bit color. They look good, but not quite as good.

Except in bright daylight, the Kyocera 7135 screen is a pleasure to read, even with the backlight set at minimum brightness, which helps conserve battery life. The Kyocera 7135 screen is close to the size of a Palm m130 screen, slightly smaller than most other Palm OS organizers.

The device comes with 16MB of onboard memory, a Dragonball VZ chip running at 33 MHz, and a modified version of Palm OS 4.1. The modifications integrate the Palm OS functions and the phone. The device will not be upgradeable to OS 5. The expansion slot can accommodate a memory card of any capacity using the SD or MMC standard. Cards of 512MB are commonly available, and 1 GB cards have been announced. There is a standard called SDIO for add-on hardware, but support for it is not a simple yes-or-no. Kyocera updated its firmware to support the Veo Traveler camera and is likely to do so for other devices if need be.

An earbud-microphone is standard. The optional stereo headset, which incorporates a microphone, is a big plus. Twin earbuds make full use of the built-in MP3 player, the sound of which compares well to standalone players I have used. One important limit: the chip cannot keep up with music encoded at more than 128 bits. Playing music is surprisingly easy on power. Two hours at high volume left the battery three-quarters full, with the phone on standby.

The desktop cradle has room to charge a spare battery and comes standard with serial and USB connectors. The tiny AC power supply is detachable from the cradle and has folding prongs, so it travels well.

Gone is the jog dial of the Kyocera 6035, which I liked. The Kyocera 7135 has an "OK" button between the up and down rockers at the center of the four standard Palm hardware buttons. In addition to number keys, dial, and hang up, the phone pad has a "clear" button, a speakerphone toggle, and a button to power off the PDA. If you hold the power button, it turns off backlighting.

The keypad is not good, a surprise in an otherwise classy package. To keep the phone's thickness down, the keys were placed nearly flush to their base. They barely travel and give little tactile feedback. I find I have to slow down and exaggerate my key presses on voicemail systems to avoid mistakes. Dial and hang up keys are the same size and shape as all the rest, which makes them hard to find by touch.