"I call it the 'leg top,'" said Kjell Johnson, marketing manager for Alaska Communication Systems. "Anyway that you cut it, this device is fast and can't be rivaled." ACS sells the new Audiovox PPC 6600.

The Pocket PC is a 4.9-inch by 2.75 inch by .74-inch device with a small retractable keyboard, voice recorder, digital still and video cameras, and a telephone that can access the Internet, send e-mail and is Bluetooth- and infrared-compatible.

Operating on ACS's CDMA, or Code Division Multiple Access, network, the device will operate in all voice and data modes in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay. The phone portion of the device will operate everywhere there is ACS service.

"Not only is this a cell phone, but it is a laptop in your hand," said Frank Washington, an ACS account executive.

Johnson said the device has five different ways to input data for messaging or writing a document, including character recognition capabilities using an electronic pen.

With 128 megabytes of memory it can up and download Internet or data files almost three times faster than the similar and popular Blackberry device. The device has a removable memory card for storage and virtually every tool that a PC has, but with more mobility. And, it runs off of Microsoft Windows software so all the controls, icons and editing devices are familiar and quick to comprehend.

"This is a very intuitive device," Washington said.

The 6600 comes loaded out of the box with Microsoft Word and Excel for portable devices.

The PPC 6600 costs $299 from ACS, and requires a $79.95 monthly fee with a two-year contract. According to Johnson, the device costs $630 in the Lower 48.

Whatever the price, Johnson said the PPC can help cut costs.

"The cost savings comes in what this device can do while you are on the fly," Washington said. "For example, if you are real estate agent and a client wants to see a floor plan for a building, just e-mail or call the office and have the files sent electronically back to the PPC 6600. This cuts out having to drive back, print the plans out and drive to the client again."

Earl Mansur of the property management firm, Bruin Enterprises LLC, echoes Washington.

"I am really happy with my Pocket PC," said Mansur, a supervisor for Bruin. "If you put 150 miles a day on your vehicle running around town you can stay in constant contact with the office or on site projects. I have a laptop and I have not even turned it on since I started using the 6600."

Mansur says that an additional savings comes in the form of less gas usage, driving back and forth to the office to access information on a computer. Now he can do everything he needs on the run, going from location to location for meetings.

The Pocket PC can also wirelessly print to any printer.

"Using InDoc or Printme or other software, the 6600 could print a document and send it to a printer in Greenwich, Connecticut, from here in Alaska," Johnson said.

For those set up to do it, the device can also be used to remotely access office computer networks.

"All you would have to do to print out a profit-and-loss statement from your secure server would be to call up the server, enter your encryption code, and go to the file and send it to the person who needs it, right now," Johnson said. "Of course while you are at a stop light, not while you are driving."