With modern mobiles, are PDAs going extinct?
Thursday, May 17, 2007
THERE was a time when mobile phones were for making calls and personal digital assistants (PDA) were for managing contacts while out and about. But as mobile phones take over more and more of the PDA's functions, these devices Newtons, Psions or Palms which have been around since the early 1990s might be facing extinction.
"It's a clear trend. PDAs are being squeezed out by smartphones," says Bernd Theiss, testing manager for a Stuttgart-based magazine.
No one thinks twice these days when someone uses a mobile to read an email or check the stock market.
Bitkom, a Berlin-based industry association reported that, in 2007, four of five mobile phone users will be able to access the internet via their mobile. Of those, 40 per cent will actually do so.
Internet access is not what sets smartphones apart from PDAs. After all, many modern PDAs come equipped with wireless internet capabilities.
"It's the mobile transmitting capability that makes the difference," says Theiss. Those technologies, which come with names like GPRS, HSCSD, EDGE, UMTS or HSDPA, let mobile phone users connect from where ever they please and not just when near a transmitter. Smartphones are PDAs and mobile telephones rolled into one.
Smartphones generally use a Symbian operating system. Windows Mobile is used in smartphones and PDAs. Some devices come with pre-installed systems, like Palm's self-titled system or RIM OS in Blackberry smartphones.
Before picking a phone, it's always wise to make sure it supports the programs you need and that the right software is available.
"Mobiles with Java are not smartphones," warns Theiss. Most Java mobiles only support games, an email client, an MP3 player or individual Internet applications.
Unlike smartphones, they cannot support multiple programs simultaneously, which means it's usually impossible to listen to music while checking stock quotes with a Java mobile.
For a long time, the conventional wisdom said small displays would keep smartphones from competing with PDAs. After all, displays are useless if they're so small they make browsing the internet, reading documents and tables or watching videos a recipe for eyestrain.
"But now, smart phones can compete with PDAs, both in terms of software and display," says Theiss. The Symbian-Smartphone Nokia N93i now comes with a 2.4 inch display. The Windows-Mobile-Smartphone Palm Treo 750 has a 2.6 inch display. And Hewlett Packard's PDA iPAQ RX4240 comes with a 2.8 inch display. From that perspective, they're almost equals.
Smartphones have been known to fail user-friendliness tests because they are too complicated.
Stiftung Warentest, a Berlin-based consumer testing organisation, reported great difficulty in getting the Nokia N91 to activate its WLAN capabilities.
"Connections broke down regularly. Error messages were hard to understand. When these problems cropped up, the mobile liked to default to a UMTS connections, which can get expensive," testers say.
"Making a phone call can be difficult because smartphones are so universal," says Theiss. Switching between profiles with some models can become frustrating.
Whereas PDAs use touch screens for entering text, smart phones are largely dependent on tiny buttons. People who dislike both methods can buy a separate folding keyboard that uses Bluetooth to make a wireless connection. Both devices favour flash technology for data storage, which can be expanded with cards.
There are also some devices that don't fit any of the molds. The Ameo smart phone from T-Mobile comes with an 8GB hard drive. Weighing in at 360g, it is noticeably heavier than its peers. On the other hand, the Ameo's five inch display seems positively spacious.
The Ameo also comes with a GPS system, a feature also found in RIM's Smartphone Blackberry 8800.
"It's coming along slowly. That's been a standard feature with PDAs for a long time now," says Theiss.
Plus, by installing the right software and module, almost any device can host GPS nowadays, thus endangering another area where PDAs once had the upper hand. DPA
"It's a clear trend. PDAs are being squeezed out by smartphones," says Bernd Theiss, testing manager for a Stuttgart-based magazine.
No one thinks twice these days when someone uses a mobile to read an email or check the stock market.
Bitkom, a Berlin-based industry association reported that, in 2007, four of five mobile phone users will be able to access the internet via their mobile. Of those, 40 per cent will actually do so.
Internet access is not what sets smartphones apart from PDAs. After all, many modern PDAs come equipped with wireless internet capabilities.
"It's the mobile transmitting capability that makes the difference," says Theiss. Those technologies, which come with names like GPRS, HSCSD, EDGE, UMTS or HSDPA, let mobile phone users connect from where ever they please and not just when near a transmitter. Smartphones are PDAs and mobile telephones rolled into one.
Smartphones generally use a Symbian operating system. Windows Mobile is used in smartphones and PDAs. Some devices come with pre-installed systems, like Palm's self-titled system or RIM OS in Blackberry smartphones.
Before picking a phone, it's always wise to make sure it supports the programs you need and that the right software is available.
"Mobiles with Java are not smartphones," warns Theiss. Most Java mobiles only support games, an email client, an MP3 player or individual Internet applications.
Unlike smartphones, they cannot support multiple programs simultaneously, which means it's usually impossible to listen to music while checking stock quotes with a Java mobile.
For a long time, the conventional wisdom said small displays would keep smartphones from competing with PDAs. After all, displays are useless if they're so small they make browsing the internet, reading documents and tables or watching videos a recipe for eyestrain.
"But now, smart phones can compete with PDAs, both in terms of software and display," says Theiss. The Symbian-Smartphone Nokia N93i now comes with a 2.4 inch display. The Windows-Mobile-Smartphone Palm Treo 750 has a 2.6 inch display. And Hewlett Packard's PDA iPAQ RX4240 comes with a 2.8 inch display. From that perspective, they're almost equals.
Smartphones have been known to fail user-friendliness tests because they are too complicated.
Stiftung Warentest, a Berlin-based consumer testing organisation, reported great difficulty in getting the Nokia N91 to activate its WLAN capabilities.
"Connections broke down regularly. Error messages were hard to understand. When these problems cropped up, the mobile liked to default to a UMTS connections, which can get expensive," testers say.
"Making a phone call can be difficult because smartphones are so universal," says Theiss. Switching between profiles with some models can become frustrating.
Whereas PDAs use touch screens for entering text, smart phones are largely dependent on tiny buttons. People who dislike both methods can buy a separate folding keyboard that uses Bluetooth to make a wireless connection. Both devices favour flash technology for data storage, which can be expanded with cards.
There are also some devices that don't fit any of the molds. The Ameo smart phone from T-Mobile comes with an 8GB hard drive. Weighing in at 360g, it is noticeably heavier than its peers. On the other hand, the Ameo's five inch display seems positively spacious.
The Ameo also comes with a GPS system, a feature also found in RIM's Smartphone Blackberry 8800.
"It's coming along slowly. That's been a standard feature with PDAs for a long time now," says Theiss.
Plus, by installing the right software and module, almost any device can host GPS nowadays, thus endangering another area where PDAs once had the upper hand. DPA
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