PDAs are small hand held devices that allow one to store an appointment calendar, thousands of address and phone number, and many to-do lists. Some versions of these versatile gadgets can be hooked up to your personal computer to transfer data between the two, incorporate a modem for Internet access, have a color screen, play music, play videos, display pictures, and take dictation. Some newer PDAs have incorporated a cellular phone allowing for wireless Internet access and e-mailing. In other words, a PDA is a pocket computer optimized for certain users. The size of PDAs varies from the size of a stack of ten business cards to the size of a paperback book. PDAs range in price from $100 to $600, with the more expensive ones having more features and capabilities.

Two different types of PDA operating systems dominate the market. The Palm OS operating system (Palm can be found at http://www.palmos.com) and Pocket PC, a mini version of Microsoft Windows also known as Windows CE (Pocket PC page is located at http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/pocketpc/default.asp ). Palm claims that over 21 million devices with the PalmOS have been sold. The PalmOS PDAs tend to be smaller, lighter, and less expensive than Pocket PC models. The primary brands of PalmOS PDAs are HandEra, Handspring, Sony, Kyocera, Nokia, Samsung, and Palm. The Pocket PC type PDAs tend to be more powerful and have more memory than PalmOS units. The primary brands of Pocket PC PDAs are HP and Compaq. Pocket PC PDAs tend to be higher in price than the PalmOS PDAs. There are a few other PDA operating system platforms, but the two discussed above are predominate ones.

Memory capacity and battery life appear to be the main two limiting factors to a PDAs capability. Batteries are usually rechargeable lithiumion, with recharging done by the docking station (a combination battery charger and two way communications port) or portable charger. Battery life of monochrome screen PDAs averages 24 hours of use. Regular recharging of the batteries and backing up data to another source is important because a dead battery may mean a loss of the data contained on the PDA.

Memory is very limited on PDAs. The PalmOS PDAs include 7 to 16 MB of usable memory and the Pocket PC PDAs includes 32 or 64 MB. Many PDAs allow the memory to be expanded with cards (some even allow use of non-volatile flash memory). Pocket PC PDAs are better at using expended memory than PalmOS PDAs. Even though a PDA can use the Internet or e-mail, its uses are very limited because the memory and processing power of a PDA are significantly less than that of the standard desktop computer.

Several ways exist to enter data into a PDA. One option is using a stylus (a special type stick or pen) on the touch-sensitive screen. An external keyboard may be attached to the PDA. Information can be transferred from a computer by an infrared link (this process is called beaming) or by connecting cables between the computer and PDA docking station. Note that PalmOS PDAs can communicate to PC and Macintosh computers while the Pocket PC only communicates to PCs.

Because of the limited memory on PDAs, the Internet handling is somewhat different than the traditional desktop. "… WAP stands for Wireless Application Protocol, it is the leading standard for information services on wireless terminals. Wireless terminals use a Micro Browser and WAP allows pages to be created for the Micro Browser. A Micro Browser is a small piece of software that makes minimal demands on hardware, memory and CPU. It can display information written in a restricted mark-up language called WML. WML is a mark-up language inherited from HTML, but WML is based on XML, so it is much stricter than HTML." Source: http://www.w3schools.com/wap/wap_intro.asp. Files will end with WML file extension.

There are many download software programs for PDAs to truly customize it for the user. Some of the download software is free (called shareware), some is available for a fee. Information services for PDAs is fee based. The numerous offerings range from spreadsheet and word processing software, to financial based items (like ways to get stock quotes, trades, and open orders), information based items (like current interest rates, current sport scores), and personal items (such as currency exchange calculators, downloads of books, a calorie counter, astrology, motivational quotes, a golf score keeper and up to date snapshots from the shuttle). A few of the places to download PDA software are http://downloads.sympatico.ca/pda/ and http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/2001-2005-0.html?tag=dir .

PDAs can be acquired from a variety of sources. One option is to purchase on line from numerous offering, a few of these I found interesting were www.DealTime.com and http://www.handheldcomputerdepot.com/ . PDAs can also be purchased retail at Office Max, Staples, Circuit City, Target, and other locations.

Items to consider when choosing a PDA are memory, battery, screen, and expansion capabilities. Many functions of PDAs are limited by the memory size, so a valid estimate of functionality requirements is needed. Some PDAs have a sealed battery (which must be replaced by the manufacture if the battery fails) while other PDAs use replaceable lithiumion or alkaline batteries. The user must define the intended uses of the PDA to know how much expansion is going to be required, by asking questions like "Will there be more memory added?" "Will a modem be needed?".

PDAs are not just for wealthy executives anymore, the prices are now affordable for many and their capabilities are increasing. One way that developers are advancing the use of PDAs is to make them more integral in business functions. In the past, they were mainly use to organize. For some time PDAs (or close form of it) have been used for package delivery – where the signature of the receiptant is recorded on a computer pad, stored, and later downloaded to the main computer. Now with the addition of wireless communication, PDAs can transfer data to and from business headquarters easily and quickly. Imagine the improvement in salesmen placing orders and checking on manufacturing or delivery progress from the field. Even personnel inside the manufacturing plant are using PDAs as remote terminals. The medical community has latched onto this technology to quickly update central patient records and gain easy access to lengthy tables and needed calculations.

Palm has entered into joint ventures to advance the application of PDAs. Some of their joint venture partners are SAP, IBM, Oracle, Sun, Ericssson, and SprintPCS, companies who want to integrate their product or service with the PalmOS PDA. The mobility of PDAs give an obvious competitive edge to companies and Palm’s partners want to integrate these advantages into their own products. PDAs are improving the efficiency of the businessperson who does not work in the office. This segment of the world is often referred to as mobile business or m-business. The global market for wireless operations support system, the IT infrastructure that performs functions in wireless network, is hot. Insight Research Corporation (http://www.insight-corp.com/) projects the market revenues to exceed $12.4 billion.

The first PDA was introduce in 1993, it was Apple’s Newton (source http://www.msu.edu/~luckie/newtgal.htm). This product was not a commercial success for many reasons; including it performance fell short of consumers expectations. Palm introduced their first PDA in 1996 and is the company which spurred the growth of it. Palm believes they have been successful in the PDA market because their product (the PalmOS) is power and flexibility. A report on the benefits of mobilizing by a research group (study can be found at http://www.palm.com/enterprise/tools/benefits_ent_apps.pdf) discusses decision factors used in selecting a PDA for a business system and why PalmOS solutions are often selected.

For more information:

On the diverse things being done with PDAs: http://www.planetpdamag.com/,

PC World Magazine ranks their top ten choices of PDAs:http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,92905,00.asp

Non-online journal sources:

"A show of handhelds" Consumer Reports. June(2002): pg 22-25.

Hasset, Mimi. "PDAs: Leading the Information Revolution" Nursing. 32:2 (2002):6.