PDA is the abbreviation of Personal Digital Assistant, literally meaning "personal digital assistant". This handheld device combines computing, telephony, faxing, and networking functions. It can not only be used to manage personal information (such as address book, plan, etc.), but more importantly, it can be used to browse the Internet, send and receive Email, send faxes, and even be used as a cell phone. What's more, all these functions can be realized wirelessly. Of course, not any PDA has all of the above features; even with, but also due to the lack of appropriate services and can not be realized. But it can be predicted that the trend of PDA development and trend is the integration of computing, communications, networking, storage, entertainment, e-commerce and other multi-functionality.
PDAs are generally not equipped with keyboards, but with handwriting or voice input. the main operating systems used by PDAs are Palm OS, Windows CE and EPOC. The origin of PDAs can be traced back to Apple's Newton Message Pad, which was launched in 1993, and soon thereafter similar products were introduced by producers. At present, the price of PDA is still on the high side, but experts believe that it will eventually come into the "common people's home" and become a real "personal digital assistant". Narrowly defined PDA refers to what can be called an electronic organizer, its function is relatively single, mainly to manage personal information, such as address book, notes and memos, scheduling, notes, calculators, audio and thesaurus and other functions. And these functions are cured, can not be added according to the user's requirements of new features. Broadly speaking, PDA mainly refers to palmtop computers, but of course it also includes other small digital devices with similar functions. The term PDA also has different interpretations. The narrow sense of the PDA does not have a keyboard, using handwriting input, voice input or soft keyboard input. The broader definition of PDAs includes both keyboard-less and keyboarded ones. However, in the Chinese market, almost all PDAs do not come with keyboards.
Categorization of PDAs:
PDAs should actually be subdivided into four major categories: electronic dictionaries, handheld computers, handheld computer devices and personal communication assistants. And the latter two have slowly merged together due to the development of technology and market.
Electronic dictionary
In all the PDA products, this is the simplest one. Its main function is to provide the Chinese and English translation, telephone number storage, English words read aloud and other functions, it is characterized by all of its programs are solidified in the memory, so the storage capacity is limited, the function is relatively single and does not have the expandability. But these products also have their incomparable advantages. For example, they are more targeted, providing the required functions, such as games, calculations, note-taking, etc.. In addition, it also has a small size, simple operation and so on. Representatives of this kind of electronic dictionaries are QuickTranslate, Celebrity, Wenquxing and so on. Of course, some new electronic dictionaries nowadays also provide the function of communication. With additional connection kits, you can exchange data with computers and similar products. And there are also some electronic organizers on the market, which focus on note-taking and daily business management. These products tend to have a large storage capacity, but their nature is still the same as the electronic dictionary, its program is solidified in the memory chip, also does not have the ability to expand. The typical representative of this kind of products is the familiar business pass.
Pocket PC
Often, the digital world will only call this kind of handheld computer as PDA, which also represents the real meaning of PDA. This is because it has almost all the features of a typical home computer. The biggest feature of PDAs is that they have their own operating system, which is generally solidified in ROM. The storage device used is mostly expensive IC flash memory, with a capacity of about 16 MB. Pocket PCs generally do not have a keyboard, using handwriting and soft keyboard input, while equipped with standard serial port, infrared access and built-in MODEM, in order to facilitate the connection of personal computers and Internet access. The biggest difference between Pocket PCs and the previous products is the ability to expand its applications. Based on the respective operating system, anyone can develop corresponding applications using programming languages. You can also install and uninstall as many as you like on your Pocket PC. Because of its very complete functionality, it is also more complex in operation and less suitable for beginners who do not know much about computers.
And in the Pocket PC section, it will be divided into Palm and PocketPC according to the different operating systems. Palm adopts the Palm OS system, developed by Palm; and PocketPC adopts the WinCE series system, developed by Microsoft. Because of the performance of the body and the difference in the system, these two kinds of bodies are still quite different.
Handheld computer device
Handheld computer device is called HPC in English, which means Hand held PC. It is a product that is in between a laptop and a handheld computer. Why? Because it has the common operating system of PDA, but with a small keyboard. And its appearance is similar to a traditional laptop. It's more powerful than a PDA, but it's also bigger and heavier, so it's less portable than a PDA.
Personal Communication Assistants
Personal Communication Assistants (PCAs) are one of the most fashionable of all these products. Its concept is the combination of some of the effects of the PDA and cell phones, pagers and produced. The most important feature of this product is that it abandons the general telephone line and adopts the wireless data reception method, which makes the product more adaptable. Although if a single theory, the early products are designed as a starting point for cell phones and products, its business functions to be significantly inferior to the general PDA, only the equivalent of the general electronic notepad function, and the current WinCE-based system and Palm development products, collectively referred to as SmartPhone, its functions and PDA on a par or higher, but also has a communication function and wireless data exchange, more Representing the development direction of future PDAs.
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PDA's Most Popular Features Revealed
IT023.COM
The AvantGo 2004 Mobile Life Survey points out that when it comes to the features of PDA devices, some of the technology that has been implemented on PDAs in the early days is still very popular! However, when asked to name all the features that a "dream model" should have, the respondents' answers were surprising! Let's take a look at the results of this survey!
A total of 3,260 AvantGo users on PDAs and smartphones participated in the survey, which was just completed in September. Of these, 85% of PPC users and 82% of Palm users are happy with the system they are currently using and would not change operating systems even if they changed models.
Besides the usual PDA features, most users would like their devices to have an iPod-sized storage space for music and other content. Other features that users wanted included e-mail, GPS navigation, phone calls, a small form factor, and a larger screen. Surprisingly, eight out of ten users said they would not change operating systems - meaning that most PDA users have a high degree of brand loyalty.
The survey also revealed the top 12 features that a "dream model" should have! These include
1. Calendar/Scheduler
2. Quick and easy synchronization with PC
3. Extraordinary battery life
4. E-mail/SMS
5. Wi-Fi/Bluetooth
6. p>
9, large screen
10, GPS navigation
11, 2G storage capacity
12, digital camera
The feature of calendar/schedule was the most popular! 94% of respondents thought it was a must-have feature. Surprisingly MP3 playback (77%) was more popular than phone capability (76%). In addition, 65% of respondents believe that a PDA must have a GPS navigation system, while 64% and 63% of users, respectively, believe that large storage space and a digital camera are important.
AvantGo provides iAnywhere services to millions of users. This makes it a very important player in the industry, as it is able to conduct large-scale surveys that provide valuable business information to industry peers on, for example, the most popular models and brands of PDAs and smartphones.
There's a lot of information in this survey that's well worth a manufacturer's perusal:
Two thirds of respondents said they plan to buy a regular PDA rather than one with phone capabilities.
31 percent said they want to buy a device that combines both PDA and phone capabilities, while just 3 percent would switch to a Symbian smartphone, and 4.5% would be willing to use a RIM Blackberry device.
50 percent of respondents are using the Palm operating system, 40 percent are using the PPC system, while 10 percent are using other systems.
More than three-quarters (77%) of respondents sourced their PDAs from a "self-purchase" source, 13% got their PDAs as a gift, and only 9% got their PDAs from their employer.
70% of respondents have downloaded four or more programs, while 34% have downloaded more than 10 programs.
Of the respondents who have downloaded software for PDAs and smartphones, 15 percent spend more than $100 a year on this, 38 percent more than $50, and 58 percent more than $25.
A whopping 31 percent spend money to download software related to where they live or travel that provides specific information, such as event news, dining, movies and more.
AvantGo executives said the survey's results appear to be contrary to some rumors within the industry. For example, the popularity of PDAs is declining, and people are now abandoning the early development platform Palm for PPC, or Symbian. In addition, software that provides location-specific information seems to be the next wave of device feature development
AvantGo's executives said the survey results seem to contradict some of the rumors in the industry. >Reference: