Farewell to PDAs, Hello to Smart Phones

Roland Piquepaille writes "Is it time to get rid of your PDA? Apparently yes, according to General Motors, writes Ephraim Schwartz in InfoWorld.The subtitle of this story is pretty clear: "GPS, Java, and push-to-talk give smart phones a clear edge over PDAs." "General Motors announced last week that it will partner with wireless carrier Nextel to use Nextel?s Motorola cell phones with data capabilities to market a field-force management application to its commercial truck fleet customers." GM chose these cell phones because people feel more comfortable with, but also because they can run sophisticated applications. And of course, because they are cheaper than handhelds, both to purchase and to maintain. Check this column for a summary and references."

Comments

Form Factors

[Zarquil]

I used to think I wanted a cell phone and PDA all-in-one device. I've waffled again and flipped back.

I genuinely like my m125. But hold it up to my ear and talk? Nope, it's not a comfortable size and shape. My phone has a scheduler and various unused contact management features, mostly because it's a pain to input.

I drool at the gadget stores each time I see a new version, but so far I've been disappointed in what I've gotten my hands on.

My current thought: Bluetooth running from a PDA to a bug in my ear would be really cool. But cool does not make practical, and I expect to be disappointed with that, as well.

I think I'll stick with single-purpose tools that do their one job well, and hope that everyone gets their poop in a pile and offers good interoperability. It's a time honored tradition!

I dissagree

[angel'o'sphere]

I like seperated devices which act as one together.

Just like a PC + mouse + display are 3 devices but get really usefull as combined: computer.

I expect my phone to be very smal, enough power to phone for 4 to 6 hours and standby time for 3 days or more. It should be easy wearable at my belt or in my trousers pocket. Just liek the Motorola Star TAC or ist similar looking successors.

My PDA should be bigger, I dont want such a smal display like UTMS phones have on my PDA, neither I want a bigger phone to have a bigger display.

My PDA shold be a extension to my personal computer, having snapshots of my important data on it.

I expect PDA and Phone to interact seemlessly via bluethoos, where the phone recognices the adressbook on the PDA as extension ... and the java programs on the PDA as external stored programs, accessible on the phone if fitting, ignored otherwise.

My PDA however should not need to get configured to be internet or local network aware. It should just recognize my phone as network adapter. Also via Bluetooth.

I like to work with that part of the combo I find more appropriated at the certain moment in time.

I dont want a mixed beast where several teams of hardware and software developers work hard to put the combined dissadvantages of both kinds of devices into one device.

Regards,
angel'o'sphere