While the 8525 device does have a camera, its main function is a Pocket PC. The camera has reasonable quality given this fact, but it does have a plethora of quirks. The focusing leaves a lot to be desired, on 2M picture mode (the largest resolution) the focusing is virtually non-functional. A tiny lever around the lens switches from NORMAL to MACRO mode, it provides some level of focusing but is totally inadequate. In addition, there is no zoom in 2 Meg mode. This means the 2M mode is unusable for most practical purposes, and even the 1M mode has focusing problems, although one level of zoom is available (2X).

At S(mall), M(edium) and L(arge) modes, focusing works reasonably well and progressively larger zooming is available. Still, that NORMAL/MACRO lever around the lens is constantly getting nudged around (it sticks out) and one has to keep checking to ensure it is in the right place before taking any pictures.

When the camera detects a memory card, it cleverly asks if you wish to store pictures there - say YES. The still camera modes are weird, the image of the camera is the regular mode for normal pictures. Check the user manual for details on the other modes, if you ever plan on using them. The LED flash is virtually useless unless you are right next to the subject, it just drains your battery.

The picture quality is reasonable, outdoor (and well lit) images are better than indoor (unlit) images. Again, the Cingular 8525 ain't no high end camera - its a fantastic pocket PC that just happens to have a convenient camera built in.

Another quirk with the 8525 video camera is the format that it saves. Video files are saved with a .MP4 extension. RealPlayer and Microsoft Media Player are able to playback these videos, but other mobile devices (such as Sony Ericsson) don't understand it. The options screen for the 8525 video camera do have a selection for video formats - however only MP4 is listed there. Future Windows Mobile updates or Cingular updates may provide additional video formats for saving (such as MPEG).

Pictures and videos taken on the 8525 pocket PC PDA can, obviously, be seen on its own screen - and can easily be transferred to other devices/desktops. When using the ActiveSync syncronization software, the media files can simply be copied over to the desktop PC over USB, InfraRed (IR) or Bluetooth.

In addition, images and videos can be sent to others by email or MMS (if a suitable data plan permits it). But for the kid within us who loves to play with toys - the 8525 pocket PC also allows you to BEAM the image over Bluetooth to any other compatible Bluetooth mobile device within range! While it would be fun to send weird pictures to total strangers, it is probably more fun (and safer) to send it to someone you know. The recipient will have to accept the connection before the image or video is actually sent. Its a quick and easy way to share photos and videos on-the-fly with other family members that are also Bluetooth equipped.

The second was based around the double keyboard and involved using two or four fingers while still looking at the keys. A double keyboard has twice the amount of keys, with the capitals above and lowercase below. Both claimed to be the fastest way to type. This dispute was finally resolved when a Mr. McGurrin (an advocater of touch-typing) and a Mr. Tubb, had a competition using the two methods.

The challenge took place in Cincinnati in July 1888 and attracted worldwide attention. The winner was Mr. Gurin who beat Mr. Tubb with ease and at the same time introduced the method that would be used by typists in various forms from then on.

Though this argument had been settled it did not stop the competitions. Many typewriter manufacturers saw the potential of selling their products by creating typing challenges and the craze continued. However, one person and one type of machine prevailed. Charles. E. Smith continually won the speed-typing competition on an Underwood machine until the public lost interest and the contests stopped.

It has been argued that Sholes' intention in creating such a keyboard was not to produce a more efficient machine but to slow down the typist deliberately so that the flaws in his typewriter were never seen! Either way the QWERTY keyboard is still with us today. Attempts have been made to alter the design but none has been successful at winning over public opinion. Other designs have included one by Dr. August Dvorak, who attempted to simplify the keyboardand increase speed typing by 35%. However, like others before him, his ideas were not well received. He claimed changing the keyboard format was like proposing to "reverse the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule, discard every moral principle, and ridicule motherhood"!

Those machines which adopted the accepted design, such as the Underwood,proved successful; those who tried to break with tradition, such as the Hammond typewriter, generally failed.

It was in America that the idea of employing women to type was first formed. In 1881 the Young Women’s Christian Association bought six typewriters and began a typing class for eight women. Within five years 60,000 were working throughout the United States.

As typing classes began to develop, some typewriting manufacturers' including Remington, began to set up their own schools. It was within these schools that (or this, whichever) the skill of shorthand began to be taught alongside the all-finger touch-typing technique. In some cases companies would train up women and then offer their skills when selling their machines to an office.

The evolution of women in the office has had impact on the development of women's rights in all areas of professional life. Before the advent of the typist most women were working in shops, factories or domestic service. Only if they had received a high level of education could women improve their prospects by pursuing nursing or teaching. With the development of the typist and typing-pools, women could take up a 'respectable’ job which did not demand such high levels of education.

The increasing number of women in the workplace cannot just be explained by the development of the typewriter. What the machine did do was establish a role that allowed further opportunities to grow. However, there was also a drawback to the rise of the typist. Many women began to be sterotyped as only able to carry out this level of work and had to struggle to improve their position.

1. One of the first times a typewriter was mentioned in a fictional book was in the Sherlock Holmes detective story 'A case of Identity' written in 1892. Holmes solved the mystery by identifying the impostor's typewriter.

2. Mark Twain, the American novelist, was the first known author to submit a typed manuscript. He was supposed to have typed his most famous story, 'Tom Sawyer', but it is more likely to have been 'Life on the Mississippi'. Twain’s typewriter was a Remington No.1, invented by Christopher Sholes and Carlos Glidden.

3. During World War One, secret writing machines were developed which wrote unintelligible text. This information could then be deciphered on the same type of machine. Many attempts were made to break the codes written by the secret writing machines.

4. During World War Two, the Japanese thought that they had created the perfect secret writing machines, thinking their codes were unbreakable. However, the Americans did manage to break them, and Japanese war secrets were discovered.

5. The Science Museum's collection includes a Japanese typewriter ca. 1930, which has to accommodate thousands of characters. These characters are called ideograms, which are used instead of letters. One example within the collection includes several trays of ideograms, with each tray containing 2,380 separate ones. Each ideogram is placed within the typewriter and a print is made onto the paper.

You can check your typing speed online Typing Test.