Streaks ahead but can you put it in your pocket?

Is the Android-powered Dell Streak too big to be a phone, yet too small to compete with the iPad?

How does it compare with the Sony Reader Pocket, a dedicated e-reader which also offers a 5" touchscreen?

The Streak, which is available for $0 upfront from Optus on a 24-month plan or $649 outright, looks fantastic. It's all black, with tapered ends to suit its name. The screen is slightly elongated in comparison with other devices (the computer maker describes it as a widescreen tablet), and is just light enough to hold in and turn pages with one hand while reading ebooks.
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The display is backlit and thus more of a strain on the eyes (especially in sunlight) and batteries after an extended stint reading than Sony's $229 e-ink Pocket.

The key difference between these two gadgets, though, is that the Sony is designed primarily for reading, while the Dell Streak is also a phone, with rear and front facing cameras (it can even record video), email, Twitter and Facebook, games, music, video, contacts, calendar and access to the 100,000-plus apps in the Android Market.

The Sony Pocket does feature a stylus which allows for drawing and scrawling of very messy handwritten notes, within the pages of a book or in a separate file. This means it is possible to get an author to sign an ebook on a Sony device for those who like to collect autographs at literary festivals. You can also tap a word in a book to see a dictionary definition, circle a sentence or line, or insert a note about a particular part of the text via the onscreen keyboard.

The Pocket (which comes in silver, pink or dark blue) also includes a picture viewer, but the images are in varying shades of grey given the e-ink screen. Its big brother, the $299 6" Sony Reader Touch (available in red or black), adds a music player to the mix.

Another big difference between the Streak and Pocket is connectivity. The Streak is always online via 3G or WiFi, whereas the Sony Readers must be connected to a PC or Mac via USB to download new content.

Sony's Readers support several file formats, though, so users will be able to read books from just about anywhere. This is in contrast to Amazon's Kindle e-reader, which only allows downloads of books from Amazon, but like the iPad offers WiFi and the option of 3G for wireless downloading of content. Unlike the Sony devices but like those from Kobo, the Kindle relies on buttons rather than touchscreen technology for page turning.

My first thought when I picked up the 155g Sony Pocket was to wonder why anyone would bother carrying a separate device for reading when they could use their iPhone or Android smartphone, with a screen only slightly smaller than the Pocket's.

The iPhone 4, which features mind-blowingly clear rendering of text on its 3.5" display, weighs only 137g. Its latest competitor, the HTC Desire HD, weighs 164g but sports a 4.3" screen. The 220g Streak is heavier even than the Sony Touch, which weighs only 215g.

In contrast, the e-ink Kobo weighs 221g, but is impossible to read on using one hand due to the pressure required to press the page turn button. The WiFi e-ink Kindle with 6"screen is 241g (or 246.6g with 3G) and the 9.7"-screen e-ink Kindle Dx weighs 535.8g. Neither offer a touchscreen. Apple's backlit 9.7" iPad weighs 680g for WiFi only and 730g for WiFi and 3G.

The just arrived Android-powered Samsung Galaxy Tab and Telstra T-Tab and the impending RIM Playbook (big brother to the Blackberry) tablets all feature 7" backlit screens, and weigh 380g, 500g and 400g respectively.

When I first started reading on the Pocket, which is small enough to fit in a shirt pocket, it felt awkward because my hands one on either side of the device seemed too close together.

An hour later, I realised that I had unintentionally begun to hold the Pocket in my left hand only, flicking the pages with my left thumb while resting my right arm (or using it to sip tea, change the television channel or feed my little boy). A novel later, I was hooked on this multi-tasking-friendly (as opposed to multi-tasking) e-reader particularly as the battery was showing no sign of running out, and it was possible to take the book out into the back garden and read in bright sunlight too (the Streak's backlit screen would mean a search for a shady spot).

The Streak seemed harder to hold in one hand at first due to its greater weight, but before long using it to read books was a one-handed affair too. Its elongated screen is remarkably well suited to reading books I think I prefer it to the shape of Sony's. The odd interruption from an email, Facebook message or tweet arriving was distracting, but very handy at times too.

Again, I read an entire novel and by the end found myself feeling quite attached to the Streak, lost without it, even. It is small enough to go everywhere, but large enough to make reading easy.

I wouldn't give up my dedicated camera for it, though. Taking photos is a juggling act and the results poor compared to those of a dedicated camera. Similarly I prefer the iPhone when it comes to smartphone functionality. The iPhone's keyboard is easier to use, and its touchscreen more responsive.

For web browsing and reading larger formats like newspapers and magazines, the 5" screen can't compete with Apple's 9.7" iPad display. There have been reports that Dell has 7" and 10" Streak models in the pipeline, though, and this would take it into direct competition with the Galaxy Tab and iPad.

A final word of warning on the Streak: It currently runs an older version of Android than most other devices on the market, and when British Streak owners upgraded the operating system recently, many reported technical difficulties. It may pay to wait until Dell sells the upgraded version out of the box.