Not all handhelds are PDAs

Zatni Arbi, Jakarta

You may still remember Big Blue's version of Palm PDAs? The all-black, sleek PDAs, with the IBM logo on them, were actually made by Palm and were called IBM WorkPads.

IBM sourced the Palm V, m500 and m505 models from Palm and sold them under the IBM WorkPad brand. Just last week, however, CNetNews.com reported that IBM had quit marketing its WorkPad line.

Does this means that the PDA market has lost its steam? On the contrary, the availability of PDAs in computer stores everywhere tells us that it remains alive and kicking.

IDC reported that in 2001 around 11.9 million PDAs were sold worldwide. In Europe alone, according to IDC, sales of PDAs rose by 8 percent last year.

The five dominant players in Europe were Palm, Compaq, HP, Nokia and Casio. And Palm controlled 38 percent of the PDA market, although its market share is currently being eroded by increasingly popular PocketPC-based products.

PDAs are handheld devices. They may incorporate a lot of other features, including wireless Web access and cellphone functions.

The new US$449 Palm, which is called Palm i705 Handheld, allows people in the U.S. to send and receive e-mails, chat with friends and relatives via AOL Instant Messenger, access the Web using an always-on Internet connection.

Each time a new message arrives, the device lets the user know by a light or through vibrations. Unlike Handspring Treo, though, the Palm i705 still does not have integrated cellphone capabilities.

New technologies for the PDAs are introduced almost every week. The processor giant Intel, which has been supplying the StrongARM processors used by many PocketPC-based PDAs, have introduced a new processor called XScale.

This low-powered processor can be used in a PDA or even a cellphone. Fujitsu Siemens reportedly plan to introduce a PDA that uses the 300 MHz version of the XScale processor. Called Pocket LOOX, this device will be more powerful than a mainstream notebook computer five years ago, and it will come with integrated Bluetooth support.

While PDAs are handheld, not all handhelds are PDAs. There are a lot more devices out there that you can hold in your hand and do a lot more things than just telling you the phone number of your boss. Some are MP3 players that contain hundreds of MP3 music files. They may be wireless scanner and meter readers.

There are also dedicated handheld e-book readers from RCA, Franklin and others, which enable you to read downloadable digital books. The problem is, most PDAs today can also function as an e-book reader.

Technologies for non-PDA handheld devices are also marching ahead. Notebook-maker Toshiba, for example, has introduced a 20 GB hard disk that can be easily installed inside a handheld device. Such a high-capacity hard disk will be able to store more than 1,000 songs in a handheld MP3 player. Startup companies with innovative ideas are working on prototypes of handheld devices that will make use of this huge storage capacity.

In a vibrant market like the handheld and PDAs, new products are constantly being developed. Once they are on the market, they usually cause a common problem: What do people do with the ones that they already have in their pockets? Well, if the old handheld or PDA devices have a programmable infrared port, at least they can be used as an expensive remote control for the TV, or simply as glorified calculators.

Still, in a few years down the road, we may have the same problems with PDAs and handheld devices that we have had with the growing population of very old PCs: Where are their junkyards? We may have an even worse environmental nightmare, as most PDAs are still using built-in rechargeable batteries, which will make them hazardous waste.