PDA and Handheld Computer Technology
When this PCTechGuide page was first created back in 2000 the mobile computer revolution was barely dreamed of. Mobile phones now have features unimaginable at the time even in the most advanced PDAs. MP3s, wandering 3G Internet connections, handheld video phone conversations and online multiplayer games - it seems strange to think that so little time ago these things were hardly even conceived.
But, the PC Technology Guide has moved with the times too, so where once this was a single page covering the topic, now you'll find that the content has been split into several pages, and indeed into several sections, but nonetheless it's all still here!
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PDAs and Handheld Computers
PDAs
The first truly ubiquitous PIMs were the leather-bound YUPPIE must-haves, the Filofax. When personal and business organisation moved into the digital age the PIM tool of choice for the go-getter professional was a PDA - a Personal Digital Assistant.
The devices were cumbersome by today's standards, had basic functionality, and had absolutely pitiful storage capacity. But, in days where the dream of a paper-free, digital office was still expected to happen, the PDA was a big hit. In fact, their essential functionality has become in many ways central to a great deal of computing - creating a database of contacts and meetings. And, now that mobile computing is ubiquitous to modern life, their development has in part fed and in part been fostered by the rise of the PC.
Learn more on the new PDA and Handheld Computer section.
Origins
The PDA is a UK innovation, with a first-of-kind launch in 1984 by Psion in 1984. Mold forming, the Psion 1 defined handheld technology. It shipped with:
- 10K of non-volatile character storage in cartridges
- two cartridge slots
- a database with a search function
- a utility pack with math functions
- a 16-character LCD display and
- a clock/ calendar
This in itself was enough to have defined the new genre of handheld computer, but adding the optional Science Pack turned the Psion into a genuine computer with its own BASIC-like language, OPL. Although of course advanced significantly, this remains the fundamental heart of any PDA or handheld computer's purpose and function.
Learn more on the new PDA and Handheld Computer Origins page.
Evolution
Psion's success soon brought its imitators, but also new innovators - particularly Apple and Palm Computing. They vied to achieve the best solutions to the inherent problems of computing on the small scale: getting information in, and getting information out. Keyboard, screen and handwriting recognition technologies were fast developed and adopted, while the corporate beasts fought and consumed one another to get a bigger slice of the pie.
Learn more on the new PDA and Handheld Computer Evolution page.
Palm Pilot
Palm Pilot became probably the most recognised name in PDA computing during the late 1990s. Their 1996 Pilot 1000 and Pilot 5000 models caught the rising PC wave, and critically were devised to synchronise with PC based organisers.
With further innovations in becoming literally "palm" sized, and with a useful desktop docking cradle, the Pilot led a resurgence in handheld computing.
Palm's fortunes faltered in the so-called dot.com crash around the turn of the millennium, with competition from Windows CE devices and mobile phones both increasingly eating away at the Palm Pilot's territory.
Learn more on the new Palm Pilot page.
Operating systems
The particular demands of handheld computing require an operating system built with small in mind. There are three major players in this arena:
- Windows CE
- EPOC/Symbian and
- PalmOS.
Make no mistake, this is a major software race with potential prizes to rival the PC operating system market. Yet, they have very different business models, with Microsoft again cast as the predatory corporate giant whilst Symbian is freely available on an open source license. There's no denying the open competition in this software war.
Learn more on the new PDA and Handheld Computer Operating System page
Handwriting Recognition
Typing on a handheld device little bigger than, well, a palm can be very slow and frustrating. It didn't take a genius to realise that simply writing data into a handheld device would be much quicker and more efficient. However, it took several geniuses and a whole lot of money and effort to realise a workable handwriting recognition technology.
Learn more on the new page on PDA and Handheld Computer Handwriting Recognition.
Synchronisation
When handheld computer manufacturers realised that the handheld computer was of most use when it could be connected up with its desktop cousins, then their usefulness really took hold. Work produced on a journey or sat in the garden, or meetings arranged whilst away from the office, could be uploaded to and synchronised with PC data.
Commonplace with many portable devices now, this idea was a breakthrough in the late 1990s. It gave a new lease of life to portable computing, and as wireless connectivity proliferates the handheld computer - in whatever form - has become a go-anywhere extension of both the home and office.
Learn more in the new page on Handheld Computer and PDA Synchronisation.
PDA Applications
Though retaining them at heart PDAs have moved on considerably from functional PIM applications. From games to word processors, web browsing and even graphics, spreadsheet and database apps, the PDA can provide a strong array of functionality bound up in a very tiny box.
Learn more on the new page on Handheld Computer and PDA Applications.
XScale
Similar in concept to SpeedStep, Intel introduced XScale in 2000 in an attempt to create the fastest and most energy-efficient hardware in the handheld computer market. Essentially, it allows the chip to control its own power consumption based on the specific tasks it is handling. Power management at the handheld level is clearly of utmost importance, so their innovation was well received, and brought about some efforts at significantly increasing device battery life.
Read more on the new page Intel's XScale.
Last Update: Thu Apr 9th 2009