Tech savvy people embrace new gadgets

Tech savvy people embrace new gadgets

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In big cities like Jakarta a cellular phone is no longer
sufficient for many people to provide them with quick access to
their e-mails or the Internet.

More and more people have switched from carrying their laptops
to informal business meetings to smaller gadgets such as personal
digital assistants (PDAs).

The reason is simply practicality, considering the small size
of the gadgets, without sacrificing performance.

BlackBerry

Those who are not familiar with the service might relate
blackberry with a muffin. Well, it's not.

We are talking about a wireless connectivity solution in the
form of a business phone that meets the needs of wireless e-mail
and data for users who prefer a smaller handset design.

Available in numerous types, this device enables the user to
access existing e-mail, provides integrated phone, SMS, browser
and organizer applications as well as operates on wireless wide
area networks.

BlackBerry provides government, corporate as well as
individual users with access to a wide range of applications on a
variety of wireless devices.

Analysts have projected that BlackBerry -- which has acquired
a 21 percent share in the global PDA market -- will beat Palm
Source in terms of popularity, which currently has an 18 percent
market share.

Sales of PDAs equipped with wireless local area network (LAN)
or with applications similar to cellular phones, like BlackBerry,
reached 55 percent in the PDA market in the January-March period
of this year.

In Indonesia, the BlackBerry service is provided by cellular
operator PT Indosat.

Web accelerator from google

Apart from a reliable handset, people are also looking for
faster website access. Internet surfers will soon enjoy such a
facility using Google Web Accelerator.

This feature -- provided by Google, the largest online search
engine -- is an application that enables Internet users with
dial-up connectivity to access websites with dozens of pages in
seconds.

The advantage of the application has been proven by many
websites, like Softpedia.com. With 256 kilo byte per second
(kpbs) modem connection speed, the front page of Softpedia.com
could be accessed seven to nine seconds faster while using the
web accelerator.

Even though the web accelerator offers faster access to
websites, it should be remembered that the speed depends on the
number and complexity of the pages. (001)