The Ultimate Guide to Google Services using Windows Mobile

September 19th, 2007 by Ross McKillop | Print This Post

This overview will explain your options when it comes to using Google services such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Reader, Google Search, Google Maps and even YouTube - with your Windows Mobile device. Though the screenshots are specific to Windows Mobile 5.0 on a Smartphone, they will be similar for Pocket PC and Windows Mobile 6.0 devices as well.

It’s also worth noting that all of the services were downloaded and/or accessed without using ActiveSync once - so Mac/Linux users who own Windows Mobile devices aren’t left out.

1. Google Calendar
1. Web based
2. GCalendarSync
3. Using SMS
2. Gmail
1. Web based
2. Google for Mobile
3. Built in POP client - “Messaging”
4. Other POP mail clients (Flexmail)
3. Google Reader
4. Google Search
1. Web based
2. Using SMS
5. Google Maps
1. Web based
2. Google Maps for Mobile application
6. Google SMS
7. YouTube
1. Web based
2. Using Avot mV

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Google Calendar

1. Via web - just visit http://calendar.google.com. Works in Opera Mini 4 beta, I couldn’t get it to work in Mozilla Mobile browser, but could have been related to my phone. Sometimes requires you to clear the Internet Explorer Mobile cache and cookies before it displays correctly. Advantages: will always be in sync with the “normal” Google Calendar web view, because that’s what it is. Doesn’t require any download or special plugin. The links to Maps work and are helpful to access that easily. Disadvantages: doesn’t support reminders, doesn’t show upcoming events on the Today screen (which pulls events from the built in Calendar application).

Google Calendar web view

Google Calendar event, web view

2. GCalendarSync - this is the solution I use. I created a fairly detailed tutorial on getting it up and running. Advantages: two way syncs with the built in Calendar application, which means it displays upcoming events on your Today screen. Reminders sync, so you are reminded of events - and it’s smart enough to follow your phone profiles (if you use the “Meeting” profile, the reminder will be the “vibrate” setting, rather than a ring-tone). Disadvantages: has to be running all the time in the background, doesn’t support “repeating events” (yet).


Plus: displays events on your Today screen.

3. SMS - First register your phone with Google. Then send text message message to 48368 (GVENT). For example, if you send the message “Gov’t Mule concert with Allison at Commodore Ballroom 8pm Friday”, Google Calendar will figure out what you mean and add that event to your calendar. This feature is available in the US only.

   To receive calendar information on your phone via SMS, just send a text message containing one of the following commands to the short-code 48368 (GVENT):

   - Send “next” to get a notification regarding your next scheduled event.
   - Send “day” to get a notification containing all of your scheduled events for the present day.
   - Send “nday” to get a notification containing all of your events for the following day.

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Gmail

1. Via web - just enter http://gmail.com in your mobile browser and a working version of Gmail will appear. Advantages: will always be in sync with the “normal” Gmail web view, because that’s what it is. The Mobile view of Gmail is quite customizable, you can choose to display your inbox, or a combination of filters. The “save password” checkbox works - so you don’t have to enter your pass every time you visit Gmail (note: which may be a security issue for you to consider - it’s a feature I use, but only when I know and trust the network I’m connected to). Doesn’t require you to enable POP on your Gmail account. No download required. Disadvantages: no audio or visual indication of new email - you have to refresh the page.


Gmail in IE for Windows Mobile.


Gmail in IE for Windows Mobile.


Gmail in IE for Windows Mobile.

2. Google for Mobile - download here: http://gmail.com/app. Advantages: in sync with Gmail account - marking an item read in this app marks it as read in ‘regular web based’ Gmail. It also includes quick access to lots of features. Disadvantages: requires Java to be installed on your mobile. It doesn’t notify you of new email, you have to hit refresh to get new messages. No indication of new email on your Today screen.


Another drawback: can’t save user/pass between sessions.

3. The built in POP mail app - “Messaging”. Advantages: it displays new messages on the Today screen. The setup includes a Gmail template, so the only info you really need is your user name and password (and you need to enable POP on your Gmail account). Disadvantages: I’ve yet to figure out a way to be notified of new emails aside from the Today screen entry changing the number of unread emails. It doesn’t sync with your Gmail account at all - mark something read on your “Messaging” version of Gmail, it remains unread in the web version.

Screenshots:

Dashboard Overview	Dashboard Overview
Dashboard Overview	Dashboard Overview
Dashboard Overview	Dashboard Overview
Dashboard Overview	Dashboard Overview

4. Flexmail (POP client). Advantages: Only one of the Gmail via Mobile solutions to support vibration notification of new email (of the software I’ve included in this article so far). It can be set to check for mail every x minutes, along with dozens of other features. In theory supports “Push” but I couldn’t get it to work with my HTC S621 running Windows Mobile 5.0, it may very well work on your phone/mobile device. Disadvantages: doesn’t sync with your actual Gmail calendar - marking items as read in the client doesn’t mark them as read online. It did cause a noticeable “slowdown” on my smartphone while it was running - it’s a bit memory intensive according to the Task Manager. It’s not free - which isn’t a big deal - the price is fair, and it has loads of additional features beyond supporting Gmail.


Flexmail’s Use fast new messages check didn’t work for me


Flexmail notifications can be customized - including your phones vibrate feature.

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Google Reader

www.google.com/reader works perfectly in Internet Explorer Mobile - I suspect it would work in most browsers. It will detect that you’re using a mobile browser, and render the page accordingly.

Unread items	Viewing options
Subscription list	Individual RSS article

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Google Search

1. Just bookmark, if you don’t set it as your Mobile browser home page - http://google.com/pda. It’s a custom www.google.com for mobile browsers and PDA’s.
2. Or, you can use SMS to search - depending on what you’re looking for, and/or where it and/or you are. Confusing? A bit. It’s not like searching the web - you can only search for certain things. And, it’s mostly for US residents only.

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Google Maps

1. Download the Google Maps for Mobile application by visiting http://www.google.com/gmm in your mobile browser. Once the download has completed, it’ll go through an easy to follow installation. The result is a fantastic little program that makes finding locations and getting directions almost painless.

Google Maps for Mobile	Maps for Mobile options
Locate contacts	Zoom way in

2. Via web - just visit http://maps.google.com/ in your mobile browser. You may get a message about not using a supported browser, but most of the functionality will work in Internet Explorer Mobile (at least using Windows Mobile 5.0).

Google Maps web view

Google Maps web view 2

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Google SMS

Some of the SMS features work in the US only, some work in the US and Canada, and others will work across the world. See the Google SMS home page for details.

1. Weather: Send a text message to 466453 with weather, or the shortcuts w or wx - followed by your location. Examples: w houston tx or wx 90210. This one works in Canada.
2. Sports: Send a text message to 466453 with a school or team name, or a city and league name, such as giants mlb duke. This one works in Canada too - I sent the messages toronto mlb and maple leafs nhl and it worked both times (though both arrived 2 hours after I sent the message).

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YouTube

1. Via web - visit http://m.youtube.com in your mobile web browser. Advantages: it works. Disadvantages: it’s really just a sub-set of YouTube. Like a “best of” collection (albeit a fairly large one). They’re not in Flash (which may or may not be a disadvantage depending on how you look at it). Be very careful watching these if you’re using a pay per-kilobyte/megabyte plan. The only time I’d view YouTube videos on my phone is when I’m connected to a free 802.11b/g wi-fi network.
2. Avot mV is a program you can install on some (most?) Windows Mobile 5 and higher devices. Advantages: It allows you to search all of YouTube, and plays back the videos even when Flash isn’t installed on your Windows Mobile devices (?). It’s free. Disadvantages: takes a while to “buffer” even on an 802.11g connection. This could be due to some kind of on-the-fly re-encoding - I honestly don’t know. It doesn’t seem to always work - it’s prone to freezing/not loading videos, and can be sluggish. In this case the advantages do outweigh the disadvantages - at least you have a good chance at being able to watch any YouTube video, not just the ones created specifically for mobile devices.

[tags]windows mobile, google, gmail, calendar, sms, pocket pc, reader, pda[/tags]

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Wikis

The Wide World of Wikis

For many, the wiki has been a surprise hit among the up-and-coming online publishing technologies. The radical concept of a website that anyone and everyone can edit was initially greeted by some with scepticism, but has rapidly proved itself to be a winner. The huge success of the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org) and the highly-publicised wrangles over its merits have propelled wikis into the media spotlight in recent months.

What’s a wiki?
A wiki is an open-access website that all-comers can view and edit, often without needing to register. The essential features are unrestricted editing by users, cumulative revision of articles rather than previous versions being deleted, and rapid quality checking (1). The basic philosophy of wikis involves harnessing the collective brain power of experts from around the world to continuously update and refine their content. Wiki systems encourage users to closely monitor changes, and present a forum for discussing inevitable clashes of opinion as and when they arise.

Box 1: Selected examples of science and technology wikis
*Cosmopedia (http://www.cosmowiki.org/index.php/Main_Page): a physical science resource and encyclopaedia that started in December 2005.
*EvoWiki (http://wiki.cotch.net/index.php/Main_Page): a free reader-built encyclopaedia of evolution, biology and origins, which aims to promote general evolution education, and to provide mainstream scientific responses to the arguments of creationism and other antievolutionists.
*Quantiki (http://cam.qubit.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page): a free-content resource in quantum information science.
*Qwiki (http://qwiki.caltech.edu/wiki/Main_Page): a quantum physics wiki devoted to the collective creation of content that is technical and useful to practicing scientists in subjects including, but not limited to, quantum optics, quantum metrology, quantum control, quantum information and quantum computation.
*Wikiomics (http://wikiomics.org/wiki/Main_Page): a wiki for the bioinformatics community.

Some supporters have gone a step further when defining wikis, pointing out similarities with science itself. From this perspective, a wiki can be seen as a collaborative journey of a community of individuals with a shared passion, which self-corrects by peer review, and ultimately aims to explore and explain the world.

Wikis form part of the new generation of Internet technologies sometimes described collectively as ‘Web 2.0’. Central to the concept of Web 2.0 is user participation and the ‘radical trust’ required to entrust the production and control of information to the online community at large. Skeptics would point out that such trust replaces a decline in the traditional markers of credibility: the anonymity of the creators of the content of the new web, and its fluidity, means that verifying the source of the material, the date of its creation and assessing its objectivity become virtually impossible (2).

A brief history of wikis
Since the first wiki appeared in 1995, the technology has inspired an ever-growing body of private and public online knowledge bases (3). Wikipedia, which is probably the largest and best known, has mushroomed since its launch in 2001, and now includes almost 4 million entries in over 200 languages. The English-language version alone has more than 45,000 registered users, and up to 1,500 new articles were added daily during late 2005 (4).

The non-profit Wikimedia Foundation that hosts Wikipedia promotes many other wiki-based projects. These include the collaborative English-language dictionary Wiktionary (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Main_Page), the Wikispecies (http://species.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) directory of life, and the Wikibooks (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page) textbook collection. There is even an annual international wiki conference — with the next session to be held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on 4–6 August (http://wikimania2006.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) — focusing on issues surrounding open-source software, free-knowledge initiatives and other wiki projects worldwide. Examples of further science and medicine wikis are listed in Box 1.

Wicked wikis
Despite the advantages of the wiki approach, it is clearly vulnerable to electronic ‘vandalism’ and problems with misleading content. Most wikis focus on the rapid correction of mistakes rather than their prevention, which allows users to introduce errors — albeit transiently — either by mistake or for their own dubious purposes (3).

Fighting wiki vandalism is an ongoing battle, and without adequate protection sites can easily become overwhelmed. In June 2005, the Los Angeles Times launched an innovative new online section, named the Wikitorial project, which allowed readers to rewrite its editorial column (5). The site was flooded with inappropriate material faster than the editors could remove it, and was shut down within days. Likewise, although most vandalism to Wikipedia is reportedly corrected within minutes (3), the site was forced to introduce a registration process for editors in December 2005 after detecting malicious changes to a biography (6) — a move seen by some as at odds with the basic wiki principle. Although new defences against vandalism are constantly evolving, deliberately inserted subtle errors continue to be the most problematic and insidious form of attack.

The thorny question of the accuracy of wikis recently hit the headlines when a bitter row erupted between two publishing giants, Nature Publishing Group and Britannica. An investigation carried out by Nature in December 2005 claimed that the scientific accuracy of Wikipedia did not substantially differ from that of the ‘gold standard’ reference work Encyclopaedia Britannica — clearly a great endorsement of the wiki principle (4). However, Britannica dismissed the Nature study as “misleading” and “completely without merit”, and called upon the journal to retract the “fatally flawed” report (7). Despite the surprising vehemence of this rebuttal, Nature has continued to stand by both its data and the conclusions of its report (8).

The issue of accuracy is clearly far from settled, but this clash illuminates the underlying concern that wikis could eventually supersede traditional publishing formats. However, in reality, they are just one of many online technologies that are challenging existing publishing models. The concern over the accuracy of Wikis is also part of a wider debate about the reliability of information on the Internet, an issue that has existed since the inception of the web but that has grown more pressing with the potential for abuse of the radical trust invested in Web 2.0 partcipants. The Center for the Digital Future, which studies trends in Internet use in the US, has reported declining rates of accuracy in the information available on the web over the last three years, paralleled by an increasing tendency for users to mistrust information available online (9). Case studies of other participatory web technologies have also uncovered significant breaches of reliability: for example, a study of Amazon’s product reviews found that a large number had been copied wholesale between products (10).

This example raises another important issue, that of how participation in the new interactive web is controlled and manipulated. Despite Wikipedia’s open standards, the project is overseen by a number of staff editors who are responsible for removing inaccuracies and inappropriate entries. These editors are not required to identify themselves, and some argue that their control of the project extends beyond removing errors to enforcing ideological control by removing entries that they disagree with or even perpetrating slander against those that oppose them (11). The question of the boundaries between fact and opinion is a difficult one, and one that is bound to occur in some of the scientific wikis listed above: EvoWiki’s statement that it is intended to counter Creationism will no doubt come under fire from those who argue that the latter should be accorded respect as an explanation for the origin of mankind. While information can be accumulated as a collaborative venture, one of the problems of wikis is that they obscure differences of opinion (11). Science is about the culmulative production of information, but it is born from a process of ongoing debate, which can be lost in the homogeneity of the wiki format.

In their favour, wikis are free, have almost unlimited scope, are instantly updatable and carry interactive links to numerous other sources. Yet, at present, traditional books and journals are still perceived by most to be more authoritative and reliable.

A Wiki World?
Wikis clearly have the makings of high-quality global resources if the issues surrounding vandalism and accuracy can be settled. The calibre of the individuals contributing to and monitoring wiki entries will also remain of paramount importance, as recognized in Nature’s call for researchers to contribute their expertise in order “to push forward the grand experiment that is Wikipedia, and to see how much it can improve” (12).

The scope of wikis is almost limitless and doubtless much of their potential remains untapped at present. However, during its short history, Wikipedia has achieved massive popularity as an online information resource — ranking 17th among the global top 500 most-visited websites according to the Alexa web-ranking service (http://www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_500) in April 2006. Time will tell whether wikis will co-exist alongside established information resources or whether the future will see a truly wiki world.

References
1. Guest, D. G. (2003) Four futures for scientific and medical publishing. It’s a wiki wiki world. British Medical Journal 326: 932.
2. Shaker, Lee. (2006) In Google we trust. First Monday, 11 (4) URL: http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue11_4/shaker/index.html
3. Wikipedia. Entry for Wiki (last modified 11 April 2006) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki.
4. Giles, J. (2005) News. Special Report. Internet encyclopaedias go head to head.
Nature 438: 900–901 (doi:10.1038/438900a) http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v438/n7070/full/438900a.html.
5. Glaister, D. (22 June 2005) LA Times ‘wikitorial’ gives editors red faces. Guardian Unlimited http://technology.guardian.co.uk/online/news/0,12597,1511810,00.html.
6. Associated Press (5 December 2005) Wikipedia tightens the reins. Wired News http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,69759,00.html
7. Britannica (March 2006). Fatally flawed: refuting the recent study on encyclopedic accuracy by the journal Nature. http://corporate.britannica.com/britannica_nature_response.pdf
8. Editorial (30 March 2006) Britannica attacks... and we respond. Nature 440: 582 (doi:10.1038/440582b) http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v440/n7084/full/440582b.html
9. Center for the Digital Future. 2005 Report. University of Southern California. http://www.digitalcenter.org/pages/current_report.asp?intGlobalId=19
10.David, Shay and Pinch, Trevor (2006). Six degrees of reputation: The use and abuse of online review and recommendation systems. First Monday, 11(3). http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue11_3/david/index.html
11. Andrew Orlowski (13 April 2006. A thirst for knowledge. Guardian Unlimited. http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1752257,00.html
12. Editorial (14 December 2005) Wiki’s wild world. Nature (doi:10.1038/438890a) http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v438/n7070/full/438890a.html

Mobile Web

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Mobile web)

• Learn more about using Wikipedia for research •

Jump to: navigation, search

Pocket Internet Explorer displaying the Wikipedia main page on a PDA

Opera Mini displaying the Wikipedia portal

The Mobile Web refers to the World Wide Web as accessed from mobile devices such as cell phones, PDAs, and other portable gadgets connected to a public network. Access does not require a desktop computer.

Today, many more people have access to mobile devices than a desktop computer.

However, Mobile Web access today still suffers from interoperability and usability problems. This is partly due to the small physical size of the screens of mobile devices and partly due to the incompatibility of many mobile devices with not only computer operating systems, but also the format of much of the information available on the Internet.

Contents [hide] 1 Standards 2 Development 3 Top-level Domain 4 Mobile Web 2.0 5 Faxing via Mobile Web 6 Advertising on the Mobile Web 7 Limitations 8 References 9 See also 10 External links

[edit] Standards

The development of standards is one approach being implemented to improve the interoperability, usability, and accessibility issues surrounding mobile web usage.

The W3C Mobile Web Initiative is a new initiative set up by the W3C to develop best practices and technologies relevant to the Mobile Web. The goal of the initiative is to make browsing the Web from mobile devices more reliable and accessible. The main aim is to evolve standards of data formats from Internet providers that are tailored to the specifications of particular mobile devices. The W3C has published guidelines (Best Practices, Best Practices Checker Software Tool) for mobile content, and is actively addressing the problem of device diversity by establishing a technology to support a repository of Device Descriptions.

W3C is also developing a validating schema to assess the readiness of content for the mobile web, through its mobileOK Scheme, which will help content developers to quickly determine if their content is web-ready. The W3C guidelines and mobile OK approach have not been immune from criticism and an alternative set of guidelines has been made available. This puts the emphasis on Adaptation, which is now seen as the key process in achieving the Ubiquitous Web, when combined with a Device Description Repository. An alternative approach is to adopt a Multi-Web Practice whereby for a given theme a set of URIs for different devices are developed with each URI having content appropriate to its designated device. A bookmark for this set of URIs held in an array is known as an AGI (Array of Graphic Identifiers)

mTLD, the registry for .mobi, has released a free testing tool called the MobiReady Report to analyze the mobile readiness of website. It does a free page analysis and gives a Mobi Ready score. This report tests the mobile-readiness of the site using industry best practices & standards.

Other standards for the mobile web are being documented and explored for particular applications by interested industry groups, such as the use of the mobile web for the purpose of education and training e.g. Standards for M-Learning Project.

[edit] Development

Evolution of mobile web standards

The Mobile Web primarily utilises lightweight pages written in Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML) or Wireless Markup Language (WML) to deliver content to mobile devices.

New tools such as Macromedia's Flash Lite or Sun's J2ME enable the production of user interfaces customized for mobile devices. In any case, with the increasing movement away from website-based content towards delivery via RSS, Atom and other formats in which content is divorced from presentation, the issue of microcontent becomes less of a problem as the device rather than the content-provider is enabled to specify how the content is displayed.

[edit] Top-level Domain

The .mobi sponsored top-level domain was launched specifically for the mobile internet by a consortium of companies including Google, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, and Vodafone. By forcing sites to comply with mobile web standards, .mobi ensures visitors a consistent and optimized experience on their mobile device.

[edit] Mobile Web 2.0

An example Web 2.0 technology used on the mobile web is the blog, resulting in the term moblog. Critics point to the difficulties of transferring Web 2.0 concepts such as open standards to the mobile web. On the other hand, advocates present it as a means of pushing information up onto the web in addition to bringing information down to the user.[1]

[edit] Faxing via Mobile Web

With the advancement of internet faxing, faxes are being sent online. Furthermore, they can be sent and received through Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs).

[edit] Advertising on the Mobile Web

Advertisers are increasingly using the mobile Web as platform to reach consumers. A recent study by the Online Publishers Association [2] reports that about one-in-ten mobile Web users said they have made a purchase based on a mobile Web ad, while 23% said they have visited a Web site, 13% said they have requested more information about a product or service and 11% said they have gone to a store to check out a product.

[edit] Limitations

This page is under construction. This article or section is currently in the middle of an expansion or major revamping. However, you are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well. Please view the edit history should you wish to contact the person who placed this template. If this article has not been edited in several days please remove this template. Please don't tag with a deletion tag unless the page hasn't been edited in several days. While actively editing, consider adding {{inuse}} to reduce edit conflicts.

Though internet access "on the go" provides advantages to many, such as the ability to communicate by email with others and obtain information anywhere, the web, accessed from mobile devices, has a large number of limitations. These include:

• Small screen size - This makes it difficult or impossible to see text and graphics dependent on the standard size of a desktop computer screen.
• Lack of windows - On a desktop computer, the ability to open more than one window at a time allows for multi-tasking and for easy revert to a previous page. On mobile web, only one page can be displayed at a time, and pages can only be viewed in the sequence they were originally accessed.
• Navigation - Mobile devices do not use a mouselike pointer, but rather simply an up and down function for scrolling, thereby limiting the flexibility in navigation.
• Types of pages accessible - Many sites that can be accessed on a desktop cannot on a mobile device. Many devices cannot access pages with a secured connection, Flash or other similar software, PDFs, or video sites.
• Speed - On most mobile devices, the speed of service is very slow, often slower than dial-up internet access.
• Broken pages - On many devices, a single page as viewed on a desktop is broken into segments, which are each treated as a separate page. Paired with the slow speed, navigation between these pages is slow.
• Compressed pages - Many pages, in their conversion to mobile format, are squeezed into an order different from how they would customarily be viewed on a desktop computer.
• Size of messages - Many devices have limits on the number of characters that can be sent in an email message.

[edit] References

• First Author, Mobilizing Scholars: using mobile devices in scientific research, May 2006.
• Jo Rabin, mTLD Mobile Top Level Domain (dotMobi), Mobile Web Best Practices, 2 November 2006
• Hoschka, Philipp, The W3C Mobile Web Initiative (MWI), W3C, 2005.
• Passani, Luca, Global Authoring Practices for the Mobile Web, October 2006.
• Jaokar, Ajit, Mobile web 2.0: Web 2.0 and its impact on mobility and digital convergence, December 25 2005.
• Low, Leonard & O'Connell, Margaret, Learner-Centric Design of Digital Mobile Learning, Queensland University of Technology, 2006.
• De Waele, Rudy, About context and the mobile web, March 15, 2006.
• De Waele, Rudy, Understanding Mobile 2.0, December 11, 2006

This article was originally created and edited using the Web on mobile devices.

[edit] See also

• Mobile browser
• .mobi
• Wireless Application Protocol
• Mobile dating

[edit] External links

• Mobile Web Forum - Mobility.mobi
• Use of mobile web tools for education
• Mobile Web Americas Show
• Online Publishers Association Mobile Web Research
• Advice for mobile Web design by Cameron Moll

Personal digital assistant

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Find out more about navigating Wikipedia and finding information •

Jump to: navigation, search

Look up Personal digital assistant in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

User with Treo (PDA with smartphone functionality)

Personal digital assistants (PDAs) are handheld computers, but have become much more versatile over the years. PDAs are also known as pocket computers or palmtop computers. PDAs have many uses: calculation, use as a clock and calendar, accessing the Internet, sending and receiving E-mails, video recording, typewriting and word processing, use as an address book, making and writing on spreadsheets, scanning bar codes, use as a radio or stereo, playing computer games, recording survey responses, and Global Positioning System (GPS). Newer PDAs also have both color screens and audio capabilities, enabling them to be used as mobile phones (smartphones), web browsers, or portable media players. Many PDAs can access the Internet, intranets or extranets via Wi-Fi, or Wireless Wide-Area Networks (WWANs). Many PDA's employ touch screen technology.

Contents [hide] 1 History 2 Typical features 2.1 Touch screen 2.2 Memory cards 2.3 Wired connectivity 2.4 Wireless connectivity 2.5 Synchronization 2.6 Customization 3 Uses 3.1 Automobile navigation 3.2 Ruggedized PDAs 3.3 Medical and scientific uses 3.4 Educational uses 3.5 Sporting uses 4 Technical details 4.1 Architecture 4.2 OS 5 Decreasing popularity? 6 Shortcomings 7 Popular consumer PDAs 8 Discontinued 9 Rugged PDAs for business, government and military applications 10 See also 11 References 12 External links

[edit] History

The term "personal data assistant" was coined on January 7, 1992 by Apple Computer CEO John Sculley at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, referring to the Apple Newton.

PDAs are some times referred to as "Palms", "Palm Pilot" or "Palm Tops" after an early PDA created by USR and Palm Inc called the Palm Pilot.

[edit] Typical features

Currently, a typical PDA has a touch screen for entering data, a memory card slot for data storage and IrDA, Bluetooth and WIFI for connectivity.

[edit] Touch screen

Many original PDAs, such as the Apple Newton and the Palm Pilot, featured touch screens for user interaction, having only a few buttons usually reserved for shortcuts to often used programs. Touch screen PDAs, including Windows Pocket PC devices, usually have a detachable stylus that can be used on the touch screen. Interaction is then done by tapping the screen to activate buttons or menu choices, and dragging the stylus to, for example, highlight. Text input is usually done in one of two ways:

• Using a virtual keyboard, where a keyboard is shown on the touch screen. Input is done by tapping the letters.
• Using letter or word recognition, where letters or words are written on the touch screen, and then "translated" to letters in the currently activated text field. Despite rigorous research and development projects, end-users experience mixed results with this input method, with some finding it frustrating and inaccurate, while others are satisfied with the quality.^[1] Recognition and computation of handwritten horizontal and vertical formulas such as "1 + 2 =" was also under development.

PDAs for business use, including the BlackBerry and Treo, have full keyboards and scroll wheels or thumb wheels to facilitate data entry and navigation, in addition to supporting touch-screen input. There are also full-size foldable keyboards available that plug directly, or use wireless technology to interface with the PDA and allow for normal typing. BlackBerry also has additional functionality as push based email and applications.

Newer PDAs, such as the Apple iPhone include new user interfaces using other means of input. The iPhone uses a technology called Multi-touch.

[edit] Memory cards

Although many early PDAs did not have memory card slots, now most have either an SD (Secure Digital) and/or a Compact Flash slot. Although originally designed for memory, SDIO and Compact Flash cards are available for such things as Wi-Fi and Webcams. Some PDAs also have a USB port, mainly for USB flash drives.

[edit] Wired connectivity

While many earlier PDAs connected via serial ports or other proprietary format, many today connect via USB cable. This served primarily to connect to a computer, and few, if any PDAs were able to connect to each other out of the box using cables, as USB requires one machine to act as a host - functionality which was not often planned. Some PDAs were able to connect to the internet, either by means of one of these cables, or by using an extension card with an ethernet port/RJ-45 adaptor.

[edit] Wireless connectivity

Most modern PDAs have Bluetooth wireless connectivity, an increasingly popular tool for mobile devices. It can be used to connect keyboards, headsets, GPS and many other accessories, as well as sending files between PDAs. Many mid-range and superior PDAs have Wi-Fi/WLAN/802.11-connectivity, used for connecting to Wi-Fi hotspots or wireless networks. Older PDAs predominantly have an IrDA (infrared) port; however fewer current models have the technology, as it is slowly being phased out due to support for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. IrDA allows communication between two PDAs: a PDA and any device with an IrDA port or adapter. Most universal PDA keyboards use infrared technology because many older PDAs have it, and infrared technology is low-cost.

[edit] Synchronization

An important function of PDAs is synchronizing data with a PC. This allows up-to-date contact information stored on software such as Microsoft Outlook or ACT! to update the database on the PDA. The data synchronization ensures that the PDA has an accurate list of contacts, appointments and e-mail, allowing users to access the same information on the PDA as the host computer.

The synchronizing also prevents the loss of information stored on the device in case it is lost, stolen, or destroyed. Another advantage is that data input is usually a lot quicker on a PC, since text input via a touch screen is still not quite optimal. Transferring data to a PDA via the computer is therefore a lot quicker than having to manually input all data on the handheld device.

Most PDAs come with the ability to synchronize to a PC. This is done through synchronization software provided with the handheld, such as HotSync Manager, which comes with Palm OS handhelds, Microsoft ActiveSync for older versions of Windows or Windows Mobile Center on Windows Vista, which comes with Windows Mobile handhelds.

These programs allow the PDA to be synchronized with a Personal information manager. This personal information manager may be an outside program or a proprietary program. For example, the BlackBerry PDA comes with the Desktop Manager program which can synchronize to both Microsoft Outlook and ACT!. Other PDAs come only with their own proprietary software. For example, some early Palm OS PDAs came only with Palm Desktop while later Palms such as the Treo 650 has the built-in ability to sync to Palm Desktop and/or Microsoft Outlook. Third-party synchronization software is also available for many PDAs from companies like Intellisync and CompanionLink. This software synchronizes these handhelds to other personal information managers which are not supported by the PDA manufacturers, such as GoldMine and Lotus Notes.

[edit] Customization

As with personal computers, it is possible to install additional software on most PDAs. Software can be bought or downloaded from the Internet, allowing users to personalize their PDAs to their liking. An example of this would be the display theme for the PDA. Almost all PDAs also allow for adding some form of hardware. The most common is a memory card slot, which allows the users to get additional and exchangeable storage space on their handheld devices. There are also miniature keyboards that can be connected to most mainstream PDAs for quicker text input. PDAs with Bluetooth use Bluetooth-enabled devices like headsets, mice and foldable Small Textkeyboard

[edit] Uses

PDAs are used to store information that can be accessed at any time and any where.

[edit] Automobile navigation

Many PDAs are used in car kits and are fitted with differential Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers to provide realtime automobile navigation. Most systems can also display traffic conditions, dynamic routing and roadside mobile radar guns.^{[citation needed]} This information is usually downloaded from the Internet prior to travel, or can be downloaded on the fly with PDAs equipped with GPRS technology. Popular software in Europe for this functionality is TomTom software showing road conditions and 3D environments. PDAs are increasingly being fitted as standard on new cars.

[edit] Ruggedized PDAs

For many years businesses and government organizations have relied upon rugged PDAs for mobile data applications. Typical applications include supply chain management in warehouses, package delivery, route accounting, medical treatment and record keeping in hospitals, facilities maintenance and management, parking enforcement, access control and security, capital asset maintenance, meter reading by utilities, and "wireless waitress" applications in restaurants and hospitality venues. There are even PDAs designed to take significant amounts of punishment, probably meant for military use. Unfortunately, these devices often lack the features of other PDAs, and come with a steep price tag.[1]

[edit] Medical and scientific uses

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (tagged since May 2007)

In medicine, PDAs have been shown to aid diagnosis and drug selection and some studies have concluded that their use by patients to record symptoms improves the effectiveness of communication with hospitals during follow-up. The first landmark study in testing the effectiveness of PDAs in a medical setting was conducted at the Brigham & Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospitals in affiliation with Harvard Medical School. Led by the team of Steven Labkoff, MD and Sandeep Shah, the Constellation project used Apple's Newton (first PDA in the market) to cater to the demands of the medical professionals.

Constellation's objective was to test how clinicians in various medical environments (wired vs un wired) would use medical reference books on a hand-held device. The study validated the hypothesis that PDAs with medical content would be used to a greater degree (>40% more often) in unwired environments.

Today, the company evolved from the effort Skyscape offers a wide range of resources including drug information, treatment options, guidelines, evidence based information and journal summaries including the drug & safety alerts. Other entrants include Epocrates and ABX guide, which supply drug databases, treatment information and relevant news in formats specific to mobile devices and services such as AvantGo translate medical journals into readable formats and provide updates from journals. WardWatch organizes medical records to remind doctors making ward rounds of information such as the treatment regimens of patients and programs. Finally, Pendragon and Syware provide tools for conducting research with mobile devices, and connecting to a central server allowing the user to enter data into a centralized database using their PDA. Additionally, Microsoft Visual Studio and Sun Java provide programming tools for developing survey instruments on the handheld. These development tools allow for integration with SQL databases that are stored on the handheld and can be synchronized with a desktop/server based database. Recently the development of Sensor Web technology has led to discussion of using wearable bodily sensors to monitor ongoing conditions like diabetes and epilepsy and alerting medical staff or the patient themselves to the treatment required via communication between the web and PDAs.

[edit] Educational uses

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.

As mobile technology has become almost a necessity, it is no surprise that personal computing has become a vital learning tool by this time. Educational institutes have commenced a trend of integrating PDAs into their teaching practices (mobile learning). With the capabilities of PDAs, teachers are now able to provide a collaborative learning experience for their students. They are also preparing their students for possible practical uses of mobile computing upon their graduation.

PDAs and handheld devices have recently allowed for digital note taking. This has increased student’s productivity by allowing individuals to quickly spell-check, modify, and amend their class notes or e-notes. Educators are currently able to distribute course material through the use of the internet connectivity or infrared file sharing functions of the PDA. With concerns to class material, textbook publishers have begun to release e-books, electronic textbooks, which can be uploaded directly to a PDA. This eliminates the exhausting effort of carrying multiple textbooks at one time.

To meet the instructive needs sought by educational institutes, software companies have developed programs with the learning aspects in mind. Simple programs such as dictionaries, thesauri, and word processing software are important to the digital note taking process. In addition to these simple programs, encyclopedias and digital planning lessons have created added functionality for users.

With the increase in mobility of PDAs, school boards and educational institutes have now encountered issues with these devices. School boards are now concerned with students utilizing the internet connectivity to share test answers or to gossip during class time, which creates disruptions. Many school boards have modernized their computer policies to address these new concerns. Software companies such as Scantron Corp. have now created a program for distributing digital quizzes. The quiz software disables the infrared function on PDAs, which eliminates the element of information sharing among individuals during the examination.[2]

[edit] Sporting uses

PDAs are used by glider pilots for pre-flight planning and to assist navigation in cross-country competitions. They are linked to a GPS to produce moving-map displays showing the tracks to turn-points, airspace hazards and other tactical information.

[edit] Technical details

[edit] Architecture

Many PDAs run using a variation of the ARM architecture (usually denoted by the Intel XScale trademark). This encompasses a class of RISC microprocessors that are widely used in mobile devices and embedded systems, and its design was influenced strongly by a popular 1970s/1980s CPU, the MOS Technology 6502.

[edit] OS

The currently major PDA operating systems are:

• Palm OS - owned by PalmSource
• Windows Mobile Professional and Classic for use on Pocket PCs, (based on the Windows CE kernel) - owned by Microsoft
• BlackBerry OS - owned by Research In Motion
• Many operating systems based on the Linux kernel - free (not owned by any company) These include
  • Familiar (comes in three flavours: GPE, Opie and barebone)
  • OpenZaurus (for Zaurus PDAs)
  • Intimate (for PDAs with an exceedingly large amount of memory)
• Symbian OS (formerly EPOC) owned by Motorola, Panasonic, Nokia, Samsung, Siemens and Sony Ericsson

[edit] Decreasing popularity?

The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.

PDA sales fell 43.5% from 2006 to 2007. Approximately 4 million PDAs are sold per year, while smartphone sales are approximately 60 million per year.

According to a Gartner market study, the overall market for PDAs grew by 20.7% in the third quarter (Q3) of 2005, compared to Q3 2004, with marketshare resolving as follows (by operating system):^{[citation needed]}

• Palm OS for Palm, Inc. PDAs and some other licensees- 14.9% (declining)
• Windows Mobile for PDAs that comply with the Microsoft's Pocket PC specifications - 49.2% (increasing)
• RIM BlackBerry for BlackBerry PDA (produced by Research In Motion) - 25.0% (increasing)
• Symbian OS - 5.8% (increasing)
• Various operating systems based on the Linux kernel for various special designed PDAs (many other supported) - 0.7% (stable)
• Other - 4.4% (stable)

[edit] Shortcomings

Perhaps, more than any other computer devices, the PDA lacks the fully-blown infrastructure of a Wireless Broadband network. This could be offered in future by WiMax. Nowadays prices of laptops are coming down. Though somewhat bigger in size, laptops have better visibility and are more powerful. However, the OQO Model 2 has been released as an IBM-PC compatible PDA with a USB port so that people can play computer games from ubiquitous operating systems such as Windows XP and connect typical PC peripherals.

[edit] Popular consumer PDAs

• HP iPAQ
• Psion
• Abacus PDA Watch
• Acer N Series
• AlphaSmart
• Amida Simputer
• BlackBerry
• Casio Pocket Viewer
• Dell Axim
• Fujitsu Siemens Loox
• GMate Yopy
• High Tech Computer Corporation's series of Windows Mobile PDA/phones
• Palm, Inc. (Tungsten E2, TX, Treo and Zire)
• OQO Model 2; one of the few IBM PC compatible devices in the form factor of a PDA.
• PocketMail (email PDA with inbuilt acoustic coupler)
• Sharp Wizard and Sharp Zaurus

[edit] Discontinued

• hp Jornada Pocket PC (phased out/merged with iPAQ line in 2002)
• Sony CLIÉ
• Tapwave Zodiac
• LifeDrive
• Apple Newton
• Dell Axim
• NEC MobilePro

[edit] Rugged PDAs for business, government and military applications

• Hand Held Products (HHP)
• Intermec
• Psion Teklogix
• Symbol Technologies

[edit] See also

• Automotive navigation system
• Danger Hiptop
• Desknote
• Graffiti (Palm OS)
• Hipster PDA
• Information appliance
• Laptop
• Mobile software
• Mobile learning
• Mobile web
• PADD (Star Trek PDA)
• Personal area network
• Personal Communicator
• Personal information manager
• Smartphone
• Sony Clie
• Subnotebook
• Tablet PC
• Ultra-Mobile PC
• Wearable computer
• Sena Cases
• Timex Datalink

[edit] References

1. ^ HWR accuracy:
   • See comments in Wired's Apple Newton Just Won't Drop (4 yrs later)
   • See text under "Handwriting Recognition" in Pen Computing's First Look at Newton OS 2.0
   • See "Opportunity Squandered" in Pen Computing's Why did Apple kill the Newton?
   • See comments under "Software" in MacTech's MessagePad 2000 review
   • Comments by Pen Computing's editor
   • See user testing results discussed in part 6 of this A.I. Magazine article on Newton HWR
   • MessagePad 2000 review at Small Dog Electronics
   • See comments under "Note-taking" in MessagePad 2000 review at "The History and Macintosh Society"
   • What's Right With The Newton: HWR

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Personal digital assistants

• The evolution of PDAs, 1975-1995
• PalmInsider.com (Palm OS Blog).
• PDA in Space.
• Project Pengachu and open hardwares.