A Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), also called a palmtop computer, is a handheld computer. Being the size of a palm, it is compact and easy to carry wherever one goes. It carries out all the basic functions of a computer also. It can be used as web browser, a media player and mobile phone. Availability of Wi-Fi or Wireless Wide-Area Networks allows many PDAs to access the Internet, extranets or intranet.
Business organizations as well as government organizations make use of PDAs in many ways. It is common to find that PDAs are deployed and used in package delivery and supply chain management in warehouses, facilities maintenance and management, medical treatment and record keeping in hospitals and ‘wireless waitress’ applications in restaurants and hospitality venues. It also finds applications in meter reading by utilities, parking enforcement, route accounting, access control and security, and capital asset maintenance. Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) devices like Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Bar Code, Smart Card Readers, voice recognition, magnetic stripes, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and biometrics are finding its way into PDAs. These applications identify objects, collect data about these objects and enter the data automatically.
PDAs initially featured only the Personal Manager Applications such as scheduler, diary, a notebook program, appointment calendar, some games, address and phone book, Calculator, To-do list, Alarms, Organizer and World time. Text readers, a simple camera, game emulation and editors were later included. At a later stage, programs such as common reference material, handwriting recognition software, Drawing application, Notepad, File manager, Finance software, Data synchronization, Voice recorder and Printer connection were added. Wireless Wide-Area Networks or Wi-Fi enabled access to the Internet enabling PDAs to access the net and browse web and send Email besides all online activities that are possible such as online banking, online purchase, e-book downloading and many more. The functionality of PDAs increased with the addition of Spell checker, Word processor, Spreadsheet and Custom dictionary.
With more functionalities being incorporated, the PDA market is zooming. Newer and more sophisticated but user friendly models are being launched. Some of the PDAs in the market are Palm TX, PalmOne M515, Pharos 535e Traveler, Palm Z22, Palm TX Handheld, HP iPAQ 111 Classic Handheld, Nokia N810 Portable Internet Tablet and Palm Tungsten E2 Handheld. You can search for Palm TX review in the Internet for details on Palm TX.
An indispensable tool, PDAs now are able to manage your work space and your personal life more effectively and efficiently. Convergence of technologies makes it even more possible to carry out functions linked to PDA functions to better manage your finances, home, businesses, purchases, health and education amongst others.