The Pocket PC is a combination of Windows CE and an added functionality, which is similar to that of Microsoft Office on full-blown desktop and laptop computers. Pocket PCs contain, among other applications, e-mail, a calendar, an Internet browser, Word, and Excel. The name confusion between Pocket PC and Windows CE really doesn’t matter, and Microsoft has been extremely successful in promoting the Pocket PC as the platform for future mobile devices. The most encouraging fact concerning sales is that the Pocket PC seems to be the platform of choice in the enterprise market when it comes to connecting devices to back-office systems. In the personal domain, that is, for people who want a PDA for personal use, the
competition from Palm is stiffer. Read the rest of this entry

Palm currently enjoys the biggest share of the PDA market. The usage of Palm’s devices is mainly limited to PIM (Personal Information Management), a functionality that enables you to access your calendar, e-mail,
address book, and to-do lists. Even though most users synchronize the Palm with their PC by placing the device in a cradle that connects the device to the desktop (or laptop) computer, they do have the possibility of connecting wirelessly in order to exchange e-mail and update their calendar. Read the rest of this entry

A PDA is a small computer with a screen that is substantially larger than that of a cell phone. PDAs are the most fascinating devices when it comes to hardware development over the next few years. We will see fierce competition in this area, which will give rise to lighter PDAs that have higher resolution, increased memory, longer battery life, and more processing power. Another challenge that PDA manufacturers will face is the integration of phone functionality into the PDA. This certainly is a daunting task, but cell phone and PDA manufacturers will probably combine their efforts to find a solution. There is no question that PDA suppliers Read the rest of this entry

The laptop computer is the companion of many a mobile worker. It allows people to work wherever and whenever they want to. Most of the information they need resides in the laptop, and there is also the possibility of connecting to the Internet to gain access to e-mail and other information available online. Primarily due to their large screens and full-size keyboards, laptops are great for data-input heavy activities, such as the creation of documents, spreadsheets, or presentations. They do, however, have some drawbacks that reduce their usefulness to mobile workers. The computers’ large size and often quite Read the rest of this entry

If you look at how PCs were equipped some years ago and compare them with today’s Pocket PCs, you will see that they have the same performance. Pocket PCs typically have a 200-MHz processor and 64MB of memory, which was the standard for PCs some years ago. Now that color screens are available on these devices, a whole new set of opportunities for how to use these devices arises. The next step for handheld computers is to integrate a telephone functionality in the device—examples of this are already available on the market. Read the rest of this entry

Introduction

This chapter describes the different alternatives you have when deploying mobile solutions. There is no “one size fits all.” On the contrary, all user groups need to define their specific needs and equip themselves accordingly.

Our belief is that you will use many different devices to connect to the Internet. Here, it is necessary to clarify that we refer to the Internet as one possible communication channel (mostly wireless) that will link all devices to different services. Furthermore, there are no great differences between the devices you will use Read the rest of this entry

If you’ve been following the wireless market space the last couple of years, you probably know that it’s one of the most exciting and dynamic industries to hit the radar screen. There’s never a dull moment when it comes to new developments and new products becoming available. With those kinds of dynamics, customer demands and expectations are constantly changing as well. Once a new product is released, a newer and more functional version is released by a competitor. From the consumer’s perspective, the choices are never-ending. From the producer’s perspective, competition is fierce. Read the rest of this entry

• Devices with operating systems. Although it is technically true that smartphones have operating systems, and paging devices may have operating systems, the distinction we’re drawing here is to separate devices that are primarily of the PDA and personal computer ancestry rather than that of the phone. Some of these operating systems include the Palm OS, EPOC, the Pocket PC, Linux and the various versions of Windows and Macintosh. For many of these devices, the native mode of access would be assumed Read the rest of this entry