History of the PDA
videolasagna asked:
History of the Personal Digital Assistant
Pda Phones: Personal Organiser and Communicator Rolled Into One
Darlene Kaitlene asked:
More than a decade ago Apple made a pioneering effort to offer a ‘mobile office’ to the people who are frequently on move across the world. In 1993, the era of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) started with the launch of ‘Newton’ by Apple. Later, PalmPilot came into the market and PDAs started to become the cynosure of all eyes.
However, classic PDA did not seem to have a future. As a result, the high-tech gadget market is witnessing a surge of PDA phones. These devices offer the twin benefits of a cellular phone and a personal organiser.
PDA phone designs have improved over time. The screens are better, storage capabilities have expanded and performance speed has enhanced.
The PDA market actually grew 40% as compared to the year-ago quarter. The major cause of this is the strong sales of Windows Mobile 5. So, PDAs running this operating system became popular among the people.
One cannot deny the importance of planning out daily activities, whether personal or professional. Planning enhances productivity and improves efficiency. PDA phones enable to systematise your work to deliver the maximum.
A typical PDA phone has no keyboard. There is a special hardware and pen-based computer software for enabling the recognition of handwritten input. The display screen can be used for input and a stylus is used as the input device.
The portability of PDA phones enables you to carry them to business meetings for referring to and sharing business data and/or for checking e-mails over a wireless network. You can synchronise the data in your phone with your desktop.
Various applications are provided in a PDA, such as word processor, spreadsheet, calendar and address book. These applications enable you to use your PDAs as notepads, appointment schedulers and wireless communicators for sending and receiving data, faxes, and e-mails.
Improved software and lower prices have increased the popularity and demand of PDA phones among the people.
Get the best of both the worlds! Enjoy the benefits of a planner and a communicator…all rolled into your PDA phone.
More than a decade ago Apple made a pioneering effort to offer a ‘mobile office’ to the people who are frequently on move across the world. In 1993, the era of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) started with the launch of ‘Newton’ by Apple. Later, PalmPilot came into the market and PDAs started to become the cynosure of all eyes.
However, classic PDA did not seem to have a future. As a result, the high-tech gadget market is witnessing a surge of PDA phones. These devices offer the twin benefits of a cellular phone and a personal organiser.
PDA phone designs have improved over time. The screens are better, storage capabilities have expanded and performance speed has enhanced.
The PDA market actually grew 40% as compared to the year-ago quarter. The major cause of this is the strong sales of Windows Mobile 5. So, PDAs running this operating system became popular among the people.
One cannot deny the importance of planning out daily activities, whether personal or professional. Planning enhances productivity and improves efficiency. PDA phones enable to systematise your work to deliver the maximum.
A typical PDA phone has no keyboard. There is a special hardware and pen-based computer software for enabling the recognition of handwritten input. The display screen can be used for input and a stylus is used as the input device.
The portability of PDA phones enables you to carry them to business meetings for referring to and sharing business data and/or for checking e-mails over a wireless network. You can synchronise the data in your phone with your desktop.
Various applications are provided in a PDA, such as word processor, spreadsheet, calendar and address book. These applications enable you to use your PDAs as notepads, appointment schedulers and wireless communicators for sending and receiving data, faxes, and e-mails.
Improved software and lower prices have increased the popularity and demand of PDA phones among the people.
Get the best of both the worlds! Enjoy the benefits of a planner and a communicator…all rolled into your PDA phone.
Pda Reviews – Simplifying Your Life
Kris Saelen asked:
PDA phones are the gadgets of the new era that are certainly working effectively for many. These awesome gadgets are capable of accomplishing the entire major task like official activities and making a call to someone to stay connected. These days it’s the markets demand that has propelled many PDA manufacturers to reveal their products to market with more and more sophisticated features. More of all on the Internet you can find good reviews on PDA phones that will certainly help you to find out the right one in this category for your use. Few days back people knew about smartphones but with the initiation of PDA it has taken the whole market with surprise. North America is the country that has been taking shipment of well over 50% of all PDA phones worldwide.
The difference between PDA phones and smartphones are few. But PDA is something that is equipped with a lot more sophisticated features that can drive you crazy for it. Corporate persons love to have a PDA with them in order to stay connected with their office desktop even though they are not at the office. PDA is a good way to stay connected with your office. The computer programs touch screen, and a few more extraordinary features have given PDA a good reputation in the market. These are some of the features that you won’t get in smartphones. The price between a smartphone and a PDA vary significantly. The PDA phones are more expensive than a smartphone. And why not, PDA has got more advanced features with comparison to a smartphone. These awesome features can make your life simpler than ever before. With PDA you can avoid using laptop. If you are not too good at text messaging then start using PDA.
The smart thing is that PDA reviews are really helping many to find the right one for their use. More good news is that now you can find discount PDA phones in the market. Online media is the best way to grab your desired PDA at your home comfort. So check for the price and compare the features to grab your own PDA.
PDA phones are the gadgets of the new era that are certainly working effectively for many. These awesome gadgets are capable of accomplishing the entire major task like official activities and making a call to someone to stay connected. These days it’s the markets demand that has propelled many PDA manufacturers to reveal their products to market with more and more sophisticated features. More of all on the Internet you can find good reviews on PDA phones that will certainly help you to find out the right one in this category for your use. Few days back people knew about smartphones but with the initiation of PDA it has taken the whole market with surprise. North America is the country that has been taking shipment of well over 50% of all PDA phones worldwide.
The difference between PDA phones and smartphones are few. But PDA is something that is equipped with a lot more sophisticated features that can drive you crazy for it. Corporate persons love to have a PDA with them in order to stay connected with their office desktop even though they are not at the office. PDA is a good way to stay connected with your office. The computer programs touch screen, and a few more extraordinary features have given PDA a good reputation in the market. These are some of the features that you won’t get in smartphones. The price between a smartphone and a PDA vary significantly. The PDA phones are more expensive than a smartphone. And why not, PDA has got more advanced features with comparison to a smartphone. These awesome features can make your life simpler than ever before. With PDA you can avoid using laptop. If you are not too good at text messaging then start using PDA.
The smart thing is that PDA reviews are really helping many to find the right one for their use. More good news is that now you can find discount PDA phones in the market. Online media is the best way to grab your desired PDA at your home comfort. So check for the price and compare the features to grab your own PDA.
Learn Digital Scrapbooking
Karen Lincoln asked:
Digital scrapbooking does not need the support of many tools and helps in avoiding major purchases like printers, scanners and computers. Digital scrapbooking requires some hardware and necessary software’s for proper functioning. It is affordable and is an ideal way for storing documents. The digital resources are reusable for infinite times. Digital scrapping will help sustain all the supplies and work which occurs in the media storage device. It can be done like any data files. Computers have opened up a whole new era of digital scrapping. Digital scrapbooking is convenient and flexible because the layout size can be changed according to a person’s desire. Any design or color scheme can be applied to the scrap pages.
Digital scrapbooking is pretty neat, and it does not need any additional tools such as a computer, printers or scanners. Thus it helps you to cut costs, by not needing these additional tools. However digital scrapbooking does need some hardware, as well as software in order to function efficiently.
Digital photographs can be edited using digital scrapbooking. The software is the same as the one that is used for creating layout patterns. This saves alot of time, and enhances the photographs by adding special effects. You can archive the layouts into various data files, and thus store them and have them at hand, whenever you want to print these. These photos can also be emailed to friends and family. Digital scrapbooking essentially turns complex tasks into simple processes, that are user friendly and easy to understand.
You can also create titles for your journals via the computer via digital scrapbooking. The titles can be added with banners into the layout. Thus you don’t have to show anyone your incorrigible handwriting. You can download a number of different fonts and styles from the Internet. All this is free and you don’t have to pay a single cent for this. Digital scrapbooking also creates clip art with stickers of different shapes, sizes and designs, without adding to excessive bulk of the scrap page.
Digital scrapbooking has its own language and terminologies, its features are embellishments that are generated via the computer. You can add your photographs, as there is more than sufficient amount of space for them. You can also create gift albums, if you don’t have a printer.
Digital scraps use various different software’s such as Adobe Photoshop, Photo Plus, etc. These software help in cropping photographs as per how you want them to look. With the help of any painting programs, you can resize a large file into a compact one, and store it in the database, ready for printing at any time that you wish. Also, there are third party filters that allow you to create special effects to the photo files. A drawing application will be able to assist you to edit the photographs in any which way that you choose. A digital scrapper is not a program that has all these features. You may have to add these separately, if you need them. And also additional memory, should you need it for a better functioning. Also, it’s cheaper to go in for digital scrapbooking as against paper scrapbooking.
Digital scrapbooking does not need the support of many tools and helps in avoiding major purchases like printers, scanners and computers. Digital scrapbooking requires some hardware and necessary software’s for proper functioning. It is affordable and is an ideal way for storing documents. The digital resources are reusable for infinite times. Digital scrapping will help sustain all the supplies and work which occurs in the media storage device. It can be done like any data files. Computers have opened up a whole new era of digital scrapping. Digital scrapbooking is convenient and flexible because the layout size can be changed according to a person’s desire. Any design or color scheme can be applied to the scrap pages.
Digital scrapbooking is pretty neat, and it does not need any additional tools such as a computer, printers or scanners. Thus it helps you to cut costs, by not needing these additional tools. However digital scrapbooking does need some hardware, as well as software in order to function efficiently.
Digital photographs can be edited using digital scrapbooking. The software is the same as the one that is used for creating layout patterns. This saves alot of time, and enhances the photographs by adding special effects. You can archive the layouts into various data files, and thus store them and have them at hand, whenever you want to print these. These photos can also be emailed to friends and family. Digital scrapbooking essentially turns complex tasks into simple processes, that are user friendly and easy to understand.
You can also create titles for your journals via the computer via digital scrapbooking. The titles can be added with banners into the layout. Thus you don’t have to show anyone your incorrigible handwriting. You can download a number of different fonts and styles from the Internet. All this is free and you don’t have to pay a single cent for this. Digital scrapbooking also creates clip art with stickers of different shapes, sizes and designs, without adding to excessive bulk of the scrap page.
Digital scrapbooking has its own language and terminologies, its features are embellishments that are generated via the computer. You can add your photographs, as there is more than sufficient amount of space for them. You can also create gift albums, if you don’t have a printer.
Digital scraps use various different software’s such as Adobe Photoshop, Photo Plus, etc. These software help in cropping photographs as per how you want them to look. With the help of any painting programs, you can resize a large file into a compact one, and store it in the database, ready for printing at any time that you wish. Also, there are third party filters that allow you to create special effects to the photo files. A drawing application will be able to assist you to edit the photographs in any which way that you choose. A digital scrapper is not a program that has all these features. You may have to add these separately, if you need them. And also additional memory, should you need it for a better functioning. Also, it’s cheaper to go in for digital scrapbooking as against paper scrapbooking.
Part I – What Do You Most Look for When Selecting a Business Cell Phone
Michael Lemm asked:
What features/factors do you consider most important when choosing a business cell phone….and why?
I asked this question of a rather large business networking group …. and you can guess the answers were all over the board. There were some similarities and some interesting differences too.
Here’s a few for your education and enjoyment:
* “When I had to choose one, I looked one with full qwerty, touchscreen, windows mobile so I could run word, excel and one that was easy to sync with my outlook and has a full browser.
I chose the HP 6945 communicator that has, above the mentioned features, GPS and built in camera.
I use it a lot, and I mean A LOT, and I´m completely satisfied with it.”
* “How well does it receive signal, how do I sound to callers as well as how do they sound to me. Does it sync with exchange wirelessly – email, contacts, calendar. Size and speed. Can I use my voice to dial by contact name or number. Lastly – what is the monthly service bill?”
* “It depends on your business requirements. In the past, our requirements has been good service, good connectivity, less drops, good value for money, and good service. Yes, service is important.
We also have no need for picture phones, music players, video players, and a lot of the other bells and whistles. Our business has multiple phones, only one of which requires use of txt messaging. We turn off all the others.
We have been doing well with these. We have a simple LG vx3300 or LG vx3200, which has been an incredible phone for us.
We are currently researching an upgrade to a smart phone, which supports pda like features. We are a systems admin firm, we need support for secure shell access to remote servers. We are looking at the blackberry. We currently use a palm device for some remote access. We are looking for full qwerty
keyboard.”
* “First of all, globally, I look at:
- Battery Autonomy: don’t want to be disconnected during an important conversation
- Is there any kind of calendar, tasks and contact sync/management within a PC with an USB connection..?
- If travelling: triband or quadband phone (US, EUR, Asia…)
- Connexion options: bluetooth to connect accessories or use mobile as a modem, 3G or UMTS to connect to useful sites (directories, maps, email…)
- And if needed: a push email solution (treo, blackberry..)
So, you can find good phones in this list: Apple iPhone (not UMTS for the moment), Nokia N95 or any smartphones.”
* “I have a fetish about people trying to claim that they are unable to get a hold of me, which I find more often than not, a cop-out. To combat this, in a business phone, I tend to gravitate toward smartphones with software upgradability, Wi-Fi, quad-band GSM, some sort of broadband capability
(EDGE, HSDPA, etc.) and a QWERTY keyboard interface.
For now, I am using a Nokia E90. Although the phone is on the bulky side, it allows me to receive e-mail, surf the web, access enterprise mail, tether to my laptop, edit MS Office files, as well as, Skype (to keep my phone bill under control when overseas), and basic GPS functions. In emergencies, I
even use it to sub for a laptop.
Its not perfect by any means, particularly in size and form factor, but its probably one of the better phones I have had in a while.”
* “It would be the Apple logo. Because the iPhone reaches further into my workflow than others can, that workflow being mac and online services based. There is no better alternative.
Perhaps for corporate research purposes you could swing buying both a Mac mini and an iPhone, for the cost of another high end business phone.
Just as a heads up (my having read some of the later entries now) the next release of iPhone software includes Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync technology, including push email, push contacts/directories, push dates/calendar, and remote wipe/erase functionality and all that other good networking, VPN and centralised policies stuff.”
* “I like the BlackBerry 8320. Mainly because the calendar syncs up with exchange/outlook. Not to mention its keys are easy enough to be used with one hand. The battery life is good as long as you dont go installing GoogleTalk or Gmail as a third party software that continually goes out to the web. The only thing this needs to be a perfect device is the tethering capability. There are ways around it but its not designed to be an easy thing.”
* “I’m still looking for the Holy Grail of cell phones!
It naturally has to function well as a cell phone. But if it could also function as my laptop, GPS, and media player for travels, it would then become invaluable.
The iPhone is very close. It has the phone, VM, messaging, media and usability down quite well. But, it’s not 3G (yet), so connection throughput can be improved dramatically. The GPS is done through triangulating cell towers instead of a satellites (not nearly as quick or accurate).
On the very positive side, browsing with an iPhone has taken the device to the lead for business users. You get a real browser in Safari that blows IE mobile away.
Our MarketShare stats are showing that over 1 in every 1000 page views browsed today is coming from an iPhone. That’s incredible!
Anyway, can’t wait till the 3G / GPS version comes out – rumors are that it will be soon.
Side note – I have an HTC on the AT&T network, and am browsing quite successfully with Opera Mobile currently. Great solution as well!”
More real life comments on the question will be shared in Part II of this series. So stay tuned.
For anyone currently looking for a business cell phone……drop by Broadband Nation and we’ll give you a hand.
What features/factors do you consider most important when choosing a business cell phone….and why?
I asked this question of a rather large business networking group …. and you can guess the answers were all over the board. There were some similarities and some interesting differences too.
Here’s a few for your education and enjoyment:
* “When I had to choose one, I looked one with full qwerty, touchscreen, windows mobile so I could run word, excel and one that was easy to sync with my outlook and has a full browser.
I chose the HP 6945 communicator that has, above the mentioned features, GPS and built in camera.
I use it a lot, and I mean A LOT, and I´m completely satisfied with it.”
* “How well does it receive signal, how do I sound to callers as well as how do they sound to me. Does it sync with exchange wirelessly – email, contacts, calendar. Size and speed. Can I use my voice to dial by contact name or number. Lastly – what is the monthly service bill?”
* “It depends on your business requirements. In the past, our requirements has been good service, good connectivity, less drops, good value for money, and good service. Yes, service is important.
We also have no need for picture phones, music players, video players, and a lot of the other bells and whistles. Our business has multiple phones, only one of which requires use of txt messaging. We turn off all the others.
We have been doing well with these. We have a simple LG vx3300 or LG vx3200, which has been an incredible phone for us.
We are currently researching an upgrade to a smart phone, which supports pda like features. We are a systems admin firm, we need support for secure shell access to remote servers. We are looking at the blackberry. We currently use a palm device for some remote access. We are looking for full qwerty
keyboard.”
* “First of all, globally, I look at:
- Battery Autonomy: don’t want to be disconnected during an important conversation
- Is there any kind of calendar, tasks and contact sync/management within a PC with an USB connection..?
- If travelling: triband or quadband phone (US, EUR, Asia…)
- Connexion options: bluetooth to connect accessories or use mobile as a modem, 3G or UMTS to connect to useful sites (directories, maps, email…)
- And if needed: a push email solution (treo, blackberry..)
So, you can find good phones in this list: Apple iPhone (not UMTS for the moment), Nokia N95 or any smartphones.”
* “I have a fetish about people trying to claim that they are unable to get a hold of me, which I find more often than not, a cop-out. To combat this, in a business phone, I tend to gravitate toward smartphones with software upgradability, Wi-Fi, quad-band GSM, some sort of broadband capability
(EDGE, HSDPA, etc.) and a QWERTY keyboard interface.
For now, I am using a Nokia E90. Although the phone is on the bulky side, it allows me to receive e-mail, surf the web, access enterprise mail, tether to my laptop, edit MS Office files, as well as, Skype (to keep my phone bill under control when overseas), and basic GPS functions. In emergencies, I
even use it to sub for a laptop.
Its not perfect by any means, particularly in size and form factor, but its probably one of the better phones I have had in a while.”
* “It would be the Apple logo. Because the iPhone reaches further into my workflow than others can, that workflow being mac and online services based. There is no better alternative.
Perhaps for corporate research purposes you could swing buying both a Mac mini and an iPhone, for the cost of another high end business phone.
Just as a heads up (my having read some of the later entries now) the next release of iPhone software includes Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync technology, including push email, push contacts/directories, push dates/calendar, and remote wipe/erase functionality and all that other good networking, VPN and centralised policies stuff.”
* “I like the BlackBerry 8320. Mainly because the calendar syncs up with exchange/outlook. Not to mention its keys are easy enough to be used with one hand. The battery life is good as long as you dont go installing GoogleTalk or Gmail as a third party software that continually goes out to the web. The only thing this needs to be a perfect device is the tethering capability. There are ways around it but its not designed to be an easy thing.”
* “I’m still looking for the Holy Grail of cell phones!
It naturally has to function well as a cell phone. But if it could also function as my laptop, GPS, and media player for travels, it would then become invaluable.
The iPhone is very close. It has the phone, VM, messaging, media and usability down quite well. But, it’s not 3G (yet), so connection throughput can be improved dramatically. The GPS is done through triangulating cell towers instead of a satellites (not nearly as quick or accurate).
On the very positive side, browsing with an iPhone has taken the device to the lead for business users. You get a real browser in Safari that blows IE mobile away.
Our MarketShare stats are showing that over 1 in every 1000 page views browsed today is coming from an iPhone. That’s incredible!
Anyway, can’t wait till the 3G / GPS version comes out – rumors are that it will be soon.
Side note – I have an HTC on the AT&T network, and am browsing quite successfully with Opera Mobile currently. Great solution as well!”
More real life comments on the question will be shared in Part II of this series. So stay tuned.
For anyone currently looking for a business cell phone……drop by Broadband Nation and we’ll give you a hand.
HTC Advantage X7501 Unlocked GSM Smartphone
TigerDirectBlog asked:
Visit http://tiger.tv/more_info/?287 to get this impressive Smartphone solution. Harness the power of the HTC Advantage, the ultimate mobile office. This cutting edge mobile device is a first for business functionality with high-speed global connectivity and PC-style power — yet it will easily fit in your pocket. Smaller and lighter than a laptop, but packed with many business and multimedia features you’d find on your laptop, it’s the essential tool for the upwardly mobile business professional. A huge 8GB hard drive and handy miniSD are great for storage. The on-board 3.0-megapixel camera and second VGA camera allow you to make video calls, add 3G, Wi-Fi and stereo Bluetooth 2.0 and a world of communication opens up! As you can see the days of the laptop are numbered. Smart work, smarter life, the smartest choice. The HTC Advantage.