At a time when mobile phones and digital assistants are morphing into each other in looks and performance, it is refreshing to welcome a new wireless device that looks like nothing else on earth (except, possibly, an unexploded land mine). The Pogo works well and is innovative enough to have a good chance of becoming a must-have device for early adopters prepared to pay the initial price of £299 plus internet provider service charges of £8 to £10 a month.
Pogo's main attraction is full-colour mobile access to the internet at speeds five times faster than normal mobiles. This is made possible by its unique compression technique. It squeezes more out of existing GSM (global system for mobile communications) technology rather than using GPRS (general packet radio service) - though that may come later.
The quality of the web pages is very impressive for a device of this size (it has a 3.8 inch screen). I doubt whether the early versions of the next third generation phones will be able to beat it. Downloading email from the web was also very impressive (one of the best I have come across on a mobile device). However, writing email is constrained by the limitations of the touch-screen keyboard.
Pogo could become the only diary and contacts book you need to have because records will be kept on the web so any authorised person who needs to see your personal details can do so. The web versions and the Pogo versions are synchronised when you log on.
Pogo also has a built in facility for MP3 (though downloading on the move from the web is not yet on the cards). Curiously, the least impressive features were the ones we normally take for granted. Using the Pogo as a phone (it's clunky but you get used to it) and for text messaging proved a bit flaky - presumably because we were using a pre-production model.
At 240g it weighs the same as the new Nokia 9210 - which means it is a little bit too heavy for a normal pocket. The 9210 has the advantage of a keyboard and other features such as compatibility with Excel and Word but the Nokia is much more expensive at £400 and doesn't have MP3. In terms of talktime they are similar (upwards of four hours), though the 9210 has much better standby time.
Another highly unusual feature of Pogo is that it is made in Britain (in King's Lynn) and Pogo's head office is in Clerkenwell, two minutes' walk from the Guardian's London office. With credentials like that we can't do anything else but wish it well. It deserves to succeed.
It will be available in the new year through an exclusive deal with Carphone Warehouse though, with luck, there may be news of pre-Christmas availability on their website. Post early for Pogo.
