The Many Faces Of PDAs
A personal digital assistant (PDA), also called a palmtop computer, is a handheld computer. Color screens as well as audio capabilities have been introduced into the newer PDAs so that they can also be used as smartphones or mobile phones, portable media players or web browsers. Many PDAs can now access the Internet, intranets or extranets using Wi-Fi, or Wireless Wide-Area Networks. Touch screen technologies too have been introduced.
The first PDA to be launched was the CASIO PF-3000 in 1983. Nokia introduced the PDA functionality for the first time into mobile phone in 1996. This was called 9000 Communicator and became the world’s best selling PDA. Smartphones, a category of phones, emerged for instance the Nokia N-Series, RIM Blackberry and Apple iPhone. The present PDA has a memory card slot for storing data and the touch screen. Bluetooth, IrDA or WiFi provide the connectivity. The softkeys, directional pad and a numeric keyboard or thumb keyboard for input continue to be used with those PDAs that do not have the touch screen facility. The software programs normally included are appointment calendar, a to-do list, a note program and an address book. The PDAs that have connectivity have E-mail and web support. Information can be stored in PDAs and can be accessed by the user when needed. Realtime automobile navigation is offered by PDAs that are fitted with differential Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers. Such PDAs are available in some of the new cars. Road conditions, roadside mobile radar guns, traffic conditions and dynamic routing are displayed by many PDAs.
Some of the well known PDAs include E-TEN, Abacus PDA Watch, Acer N Series, AlphaSmart, Audiovox (Sprint) PPC Series, Amida Simputer, Encore Simputer, BlackBerry, Fujitsu Siemens Loox, HP iPAQ, I-mate, Nokia E Series, Dell Axim X51, Motorola Rokr E6, MotoRokr E8, SonyEricsson P-series, and Apple Inc.’s iPhone & iPod Touch. You could check out further details as for instance for Dell Axim X51 from Dell Axim X51 review.
PDAs are also used for mobile data applications by businesses and government organizations. Applications include package delivery, supply chain management in warehouses, medical treatment and record keeping in hospitals, route accounting, parking enforcement, facilities maintenance and management, capital asset maintenance, access control and security, ‘wireless waitress’ applications in restaurants and hospitality venues, and meter reading by utilities. Data capture devices such as Bar Code, Smart Card Readers and RFID were also incorporated into many of these PDAs. 77
In man’s everyday transactions, PDA gadgets have contributed a lot to make things work out. A lot of brands can be seen in the market and that is why, selecting a reputable company always works best.