|
PDA - PERSONAL DIGITAL
ASSISTANT 
Overview
In 1996 Palm Computing, Inc. - then a part of US
Robotics - led the resurgence of handheld computing with the
introduction of its Pilot 1000 and Pilot 5000 devices. Designed as
companion products to personal computers, Palm PDAs enable mobile
users to manage their schedules, contacts and other critical
personal and business information on their desktops and remotely.
They automatically synchronise their information with a personal
computer locally or over a local or wide area network at the touch
of a button. Their most distinguishing features include shirt-pocket
size, an elegant graphical user interface and an innovative desktop
docking cradle which facilitates two-way synchronisation between the
PC and organiser.
The Pilot devices introduced the 'palm-sized' form factor, the early
devices being about the size of a deck of playing cards and weighing
around 155g. By 1999 sizes had become smaller still, the Palm V
weighing in at 115g at a size of 115mm x 77mm x 10mm. At that time
devices were equipped with a 160 x 160 pixel backlit screen and came
complete with a comprehensive suite of PIM software including date
book, address book, to-do list, expense management software,
calculator, note-taking applications and games. The software bundle
also included an enhanced version of Palm Computing's award-winning
Graffiti power writing software, which enables users to enter data
at up to 30 words a minute with 100 percent accuracy. Its ease of
use and functionality have made it the de facto standard in the
handheld computing market.
 By
the end of 1999 - by which time it had first been subsumed into 3Com
and subsequently spun off from its parent into an independent
company - Palm Computing had consolidated its market leadership
position with the launch of its much anticipated Palm VII device,
adding wireless access to the Internet to the familiar suite of PIM
applications. Several Web content providers collaborated with Palm
to offer 'web-clipped' versions of their sites - designed
specifically for the Palm - for easy download. With sales of Palm
devices estimated to rise to 13 million by the year 2001 it looked
as though Palm Computing was set to dominate the palm-size segment
of the PDA market for some time yet.
Operating systems
Although the choice of PDA device is increasing
all the time, the struggle for dominance in the operating system
space continues to be a battle between just three protagonists:
 It
was not only hardware companies that were prompted to enter the PDA
market by Psion's decade of success. Microsoft - sensing an
opportunity that was too good to miss - also entered the fray with
Windows CE, its first purpose-built embedded operating system. At
the time of its launch in the autumn of 1996, 40-odd companies
signalled their support with the promise of developing CE-compatible
hardware or software. However, the first CE devices were not well
received, owing to limitations of the operating system and
battery-hungry hardware. Despite improvements, and in the face of
growing support for the rival PalmOS, CE has continued to lose
partners - including big names such as NEC, Motorola and Philips -
and momentum.
The original CE 1.0 supported monochrome devices. However, colour
displays have been supported since the CE 2.0 version and this could
prove to be an important factor in Microsoft's favour in the battle
for market share - at least in the short term. Support for
RISC-based processors was added in version 2.1.
Many feel that CE's major flaw stems from Microsoft's decision to
mimic the look and feel of the traditional Windows GUI on a much
smaller form factor. The consequence is an OS that is simply too
complex for PDA class devices, notwithstanding the fact that CE's
scaleable architecture allows companies to use the modules they need
rather than taking the entire system, including the GUI, which can
be separated from the core CE kernel. Microsoft has sought to
address the problem by evolving CE into two variants - the Handheld
PC Pro (H/PC Pro) being designed for keyboard-based PDAs and the
Palm PC (P/PC) version for palm devices. The company is hoping that
the simplified GUI in the forthcoming CE 3.0 palm version, codenamed
Rapier and due in early 2000, will help jump-start interest in CE.
In this version certain icons and functions are more accessible in
menus than they are in Wyvern, the current version of the GUI.
PDA - PERSONAL DIGITAL
ASSISTANT
|
