There are some surprises on the exhibit floor. Sprint and AT&T are both here, pitching new devices and touting data service plans. Both carriers are promoting Pocket PC Phone Edition devices--Sprint has a Hitachi phone, and AT&T has Siemens. Sprint's 3G data network is already deployed nationwide. AT&T says its EDGE 3G network, with a maximum data rate about twice Sprint's, is in trial deployment. Fort Worth/Da There are some surprises on the exhibit floor. Sprint and AT&T are both here, pitching new devices and touting data service plans. Both carriers are promoting Pocket PC Phone Edition devices–Sprint has a Hitachi phone, and AT&T has Siemens.Sprint’s 3G data network is already deployed nationwide. AT&T says its EDGE 3G network, with a maximum data rate about twice Sprint’s, is in trial deployment. Fort Worth/Dallas is among the test markets, so I might be lucky enough to be in the beam. Both carriers charge more for access from computers than for phones.Both new phones are as fat as every Pocket PC 2002 device, which is to say that if you’re used to carrying a Palm or Blackberry, a Pocket PC phone will feel like a brick. When I mentioned this to an HP sales rep at another show, she said that purses are back in fashion for men. My former boss always wore a suit so he’d have a breast pocket for his Pocket PC. The Siemens SX56 looks like every other Pocket PC 2002 PDA. The Hitachi skunks it for looks. It’s a Pocket PC but with a Blackberry-like thumb keyboard. There is an option for an integrated camera as well.An agent at the Sprint booth confessed that he wouldn’t swap his Treo 300 (much smaller and lighter) for the new Hitachi. “It’s too big,” he said. “I wouldn’t carry it around like I do this one.” He’s also in love with the HTML browser and Treo’s e-mail client. I keep running into people who rave about the Treo. I still haven’t tried one. I’m afraid my Blackberry would get jealous.Even though it’s a bit on the hefty side, the Hitachi strikes me as the first credible Pocket PC phone. I dumped the PPC for the Blackberry just for the keyboard. Microsoft’s handwriting recognition is good, but text input is faster and more accurate with a keyboard. It also offers the promise of stylus-free, one-handed operation, the lack of which is a prime PDA deal-killer for me. Microsoft is selling a Pocket PC Phone Edition devloper’s kit for $499. I haven’t gotten a rep to crack one open for me yet, but it looks like it has the Hitachi phone. This must be a response to the Metrowerks/Nokia development kit that recently came out. Microsoft’s kit might be a better idea than the plan to give away some thousands of Viewsonic Pocket PCs to developers. A cynic might see that strategy as a bit desperate.Update:Microsoft and its PR firm ignored my request to bring its phone developer’s kit in for a review ——– Technology Industry