The 8525 (and the previous Cingular 8125) provide decent messaging capabilities, both with SMS text messaging as well as full blow POP email access.

However, some irritating quirks and limitations exist in the internal Windows Mobile Outlook software - which can cause baffling error message pop ups and strange behavior. Below are some quick fixes and tips to tame the Mobile Outlook beast within the 8525 mobile pocket PC device.

Cingular forces their Xpress mail personal email service and software. you (or they) really don't need it, the 8525 smart phone has the Windows Mobile operating system which includes the Windows Mobile Outlook email client. The Cingular Xpressmail setup is very easy to setup however, so if one is a techno-phone it may be the preferred option.

After completing the options setup for the mail account, your 8525 device will ask if you want to download mail. SAY NO! If you have other mail accounts, set them up now, always saying NO to download new mail after each is complete.

There is some weird problem with the Windows Mobile Outlook software, the settings that you have entered have not actually taken effect yet. Press and HOLD the power button till the phone grumbles about being shut down - say YES. Wait a few seconds till it finally dozes off. Then use the stylus and poke the reboot button (the little hole next to the USB) and wait for the Cingular 8525 to restart.

To save time and headaches later, ensure you select the correct format (POP or IMAP) and select a short and meaningful name for each connection (instead of the default POP3) - since these two options CANNOT BE CHANGED AFTERWARDS. Enter the login name and password and check the STORE box, or it will drive you crazy later.

Before you can pick up mail - yet another bug has to be squashed in the 8525 email Outlook client. Send an email to yourself on your desktop PC. If no mail is found the first time, mobile Outlook will constantly give "Messages could not be downloaded" errors. Finally, go to Messaging on your Cingular 8525 mobile PDA device and tap MENU, tap SEND RECEIVE MAIL on the pocket PC. With any luck, your initial test email will be picked up. Repeat for all mail accounts setup on the 8525 phone. Once you can receive email, try sending an email outbound.

If you get mail errors, go into the OPTIONS and tap the mail account, ensure all settings and passwords are correct, then save, power off, reboot and try again. It will eventually work, so be patient with it!

Unlike the telephone or the automobile, the invention of the typewriter has never received worldwide acclaim. This may be because the product is one associated with work rather than social life. Initially typewriters were slow sellers. When first shown to the public at an industrial fair, the machines attracted little interest, unlike the newly invented telephone, which received international attention. One reason given was that many professionals felt typing would appear rude to potential clients, as there would be no personal touch.

The first patent for a 'writing machine' was given to Henry Mill in 1714. Sadly there are no surviving details to prove its existence as a working machine. The first known typewriter was invented in the United States of America by William Burt in 1830. This was called a Typographer and printed one single letter after another. From this point on there was a flood of designs both in the United States and Europe, causing some dispute over who invented what components. These machines were usually one-offs and it was not until 1874 that a typewriter became a commercial success.

This was achieved by the inventors Christopher Sholes and Carlos Glidden, who made an agreement with the Remington company to have their model, the 'Type-writer', manufactured in quantity.

The first machine produced wrote in capitals and was heavily influenced by the workings and appearance of the sewing machine, which was also produced by Remington. Sholes was also famous for introducing the layout of the letters on a keyboard, QWERTY, which is still in use today.

It was this machine which eventually began to inspire the public and started appearing in offices around the USA and Europe. With its growing popularity came a new source of employment, typing.

During the 1880's many different types of typewriters were designed, but the one which developed the style we know today was the Underwood No.1, invented by F. X. Wagner and produced by the Wagner and Underwood Company.

The Underwood was invented by the American Franz X. Wagner. He began to develop a mechanism which placed the bars that supported the moulded letters around the front of the machine. When a letter was depressed on the keyboard the bar would strike the front sheet, print and then fall back. This is how most modern manual typewriters work today.

Wagner showed this model to the manufacturer of inks and typewriter ribbons, John Underwood. He instantly recognised the importance of such a design and supported the scheme. It is arguable whether Wagner was the first to think of the idea of visible typing, but he was the first to perfect it.

This advance was not the only one seen on the Underwood. The machine also speeded up the type bar so that typing could be done with a lighter touch. It also had two shift keys giving capital letters and lowercase, and a tabulator key, which prevented rapid travel of the carriage (the top part of the typewriter).

The machine keyboard also adopted the QWERTY layout, recognising its popularity and usability.

The machine was a success and the company had to move twice to expand, changing its name in the process from the Wagner Typewriter Company to the Underwood Typewriter Company. By 1939 five million Underwood machines had been produced and marketed all around the world.

The success of such a machine led to the decline of many of the earlier more unusual typewriter designs. Most manufactures recognised that they could not better the Underwood and instead set about adapting it so that they could manufacture it under their name.

Another advance in design and mechanics came with the development of the electric typewriter. The advantage of an electric machine was greater speed and legibility. Early attempts date back as far as 1871 when George Arrington and Thomas A. Edison (famous for inventing the light bulb) obtained a patent for an electrically driven typewriter. The public was slow to accept the machine, as many did not trust its reliability. It took until the middle of the 1950s for them to be successful, with some of the most popular being those produced by IBM.

Today the standard typewriter has disappeared from the office and the home. Instead the personal computer dominates. Writers are no longer desk-bound but free to work wherever they lay their laptops. This revolution has caused the typewriter to become a collectable rather than an indispensable product. An original Remington No.1 is now of considerable value.

Museums also collect these machines as they are examples of great design, scientific achievement and reflect the social development of the workplace. The Science Museum has a collection covering all the major phases of their development.

Recently the popularity of typewriters has undergone a resurgence. Many people have become nostalgic for a bygone era of journalists reporting in remote areas of the world or poverty-stricken authors working away at their greatest novel. From its slow beginnings the typewriter has become an icon of these times.