Amid the ongoing growth of diversified portable devices which includes 7-inch DMB navigation systems, home theater compatible MP3 players, and educational-use PMPs, the trend facing standard PDAs are to the contrary.

As overseas manufacturers who were briefly captivated by PDAs are now distancing themselves from any new product launches, on the domestic front large manufacturers like Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics also seem to view little merit within the PDA market.

On top of this, the Samsung Electronics 3G smart phone, 'Blackjack' that took the U.S. market by storm, is set to be launched domestically under the name 'Ultra-Messaging' (Model No.: SCH-M620, SPH-M6200), which spells even more pressure on the PDA market.

As the market outlook appears bleak, any attempt to spruce up a new PDA product by adding telephone functionality can only be seen as a 'tepid measure'.

However, Bluebird has shrugged off such forecasts to announce plans for the release of the 'Pidion BM-500', an upgraded version of their standard 'BM-300' PDA product, this month. As Bluebird promotes PDAs for industrial use, what drives Bluebird to continue its push into the standard PDA market in the midst of its mounting uncertainty regarding viability?

The new BM-500 PDA product can be seen as a good creation of a convergence product, as it offers support for terrestrial DMB as well as including telephone and camera functions, making it a truly multi-faceted 'Mobile Phone + MP3 Player + DMB Player + PDA' product.

Let's take a closer look at the product's hidden features and posit on how it will fare in the future.


As seen in the photo, the complete inclusion of accessories is one of the product's strong suits. (Indeed, recent trends point to most manufacturers pursuing the reduction of prices via cost cutting, which translates into the provision of only the barest of accessories in standard product packages. Hence, the customer is actually forced to spend more additional money.) The accessories included are so comprehensive that you would not mind just spending some more money on a case to really feel like you have it all.


The product is designed to dimensions of 120 x 59.7 x 14.9mm. Though it could be considered slightly larger in comparison to the latest mobile phones, the overall size in itself is nowhere near bulky as the product fits easily into any pants or jacket pocket for easy portability.

The design is sleek and tidy. It is easy to see that the control panel at the bottom is arranged evenly, and the color as well as finish of the product conveys a sense of high class and quality.




Shown above is the front of the device. The upper portion is fitted with a 2.8-inch transflective TFT LCD. As the diffused reflection is low and the visible angle range relatively wide, the product can be used without problems in outdoor settings(The LCD does feel slightly small. However, this is a minor shortcoming if you consider the product as a PDA that supports mobile phone functionality.).

Additionally, the upper portion of the product is where you will find the telephone speaker as well as status LED, which indicates calls in progress, recharging, Bluetooth usage, and DMB viewing in a simple manner.

The lower portion houses various buttons. With the cross-shaped directional pad and the various setting buttons, device control is fairly easy. But, there is some room for improvement as the dense arrangement of the buttons can make control via the thumb a delicate task, as shown in the upper left inlaid photo.


Above is a view of the top of the device. Located here are the IrDA port for infrared transmission and reception and the antenna. The antenna extends in three stages and can be adjusted to practically any angle necessary.


Shown above is a view of the bottom of the device. The microphone apparatus used for calls is positioned here.


The volume adjustment button and mini SD slot are visible on the left side of the device(As the PDA is designed not only for office use but also for multimedia uses, the card slot can be seen as an essential feature. (However, the support of mini SD rather than the SD or T-Flash formats that are most widely used currently is a bit of a surprise.).


On the right side of the device is a slot for affixing the strap of the stylus. In addition, you can find the earphone jack, 24-pin recharger jack, camera button, etc. (Though support of a 2.5mm earphone foreshadowed some inconvenience, the basic inclusion of a remote control with a well-polished design should help to resolve any issues. In addition, as the product uses a standard mobile phone recharger, it can be charged almost anywhere.)


Shown above is the rear of the device. The phone function along with a 1.3 mega-pixel camera is in plain view, as are the reset button and speaker(The sound quality of the speaker is relatively satisfactory. Though powerful low pitches are difficult to feel, the best attribute is the suppression of noise.).

The battery is found when opening the bottom cover. The 1250mAh battery capacity of the BM-300 has been expanded to 1500mAh, facilitating smoother and longer calls and use of the multimedia functions(The slot at the bottom is used only with products which are exported overseas and is not used in the domestic CDMA models.).


The photo above presents a size comparison of the device with other simply mobile phone products. Though there are many who still believe PDA phones to be too large and bulky for convenient portability, it is clearly visible from the above photo that this fits nicely into one's palm.




The package of accessories is a key product feature. In particular, the well-designed remote control and kernel-shaped earphones should be enough to capture the hearts of consumers who have been hesitating to purchase. Additional accessories provided include a data cable and stylus.

Now, let's examine the user interface (UI) and the additional functions. As the device supports telephone functionality, the operating system (OS) has been switched to Windows Mobile 5.0 Phone Edition, and the many subsequent changes in main screen structure are easy to see. (The frequently used wireless setting function as well as programs such as Outlook, MSN, etc. are included in the main screen, and the support of a device locking function is also evident.)

The wireless manager menu can be used to easily set wireless LAN, Bluetooth, and telephone functions. The wireless network structure is extremely simple, and Internet speeds are also quite satisfactory(The exclusive PDA website can be accessed without much delay or errors.).

Not only can you use the buttons on the bottom control panel, you can also conveniently take advantage of the touch screen.


Pictured above is the camera function. Supporting 1.3 mega pixels, photos can be taken up to a maximum resolution of 1280x960 pixels. The brightness can be adjusted, and tinting effects including gray, sepia, and negative are also available.




As shown, the resized appearance of 1280-pixel photos taken with the camera unfortunately displays much noise and a drop in resolution(The picture quality is practically identical to that of the cameras on standard mobile phones today. Though photos taken may not be suited for printing, they are more than sufficient for use with web applications.).


Review Summarization
The telephone function along with the camera function has been added and the battery capacity has been expanded markedly, thus allowing for high marks in the area of device usage.

The fast speed of the PXA270 520MHz CPU is evident, and the thorough incorporation of conventional PDA and mobile phone functions along with the addition of the terrestrial DMB and camera functions is impressive.

Though not directly tested, as the mini SD slot facilitates the saving and playback of audio and video files, the product can be used as a multimedia device. (As only a small number of the mobile phones currently available from SKT support terrestrial DMB, the inclusion of DMB support in the basic package is the biggest differentiating factor. Moreover, the fact that MP3 files are not required to go through a separate conversion process when being saved, as they do with standard mobile phones, allows for the easier or more convenient enjoyment of music.)

Overall, the product proved to be satisfactory. However, in the market arena of mobile phone products, sales are heavily dictated by brand awareness. And so, since the Pidion brand is not currently well known to consumers, much effort will have to be focused on publicity as well as sales materials and promotions. If such steps are taken, it is easy to envision a good response for this product.