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Pen-Based PDA Market on Death Bed

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the pens-are-so-90s dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The traditional pen-based PDA market is destined to evaporate within the next four years, according to HP, and it will be focusing its handheld efforts on converged smart phone devices, such as its latest BlackBerry rivals unveiled this week -- the iPAQ rw6800 and the iPAQ hw6900." From the article: "This won't come as a surprise to many, as HP hasn't given its traditional pen-based product line a refresh since the launch of the iPAQ hx4700 towards the middle of 2004. It released the iPAQ rx1950 in September of last year, but this was very much an entry-level product and made few waves among the high-end, tech-savvy consumers that dominate the PDA segment."

5 of 281 comments (clear)

  1. Tablet PCs by PlayCleverFully · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Pen Based PDA's will be replaced by better tablet pcs.

    I am not sure why they have not caught on a lot more, they offer tons on functionality, and decent uptimes.

    Take handwritten notes and have them stored in digital format stored immediately?

    Why not?

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    1. Re:Tablet PCs by hcdejong · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'll believe it when I see a Tablet PC
      - small enough to stick in a pants pocket
      - that doesn't need charging every 4 hours

    2. Re:Tablet PCs by lawpoop · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The Nokia 770 fits your first criteria. However the battery life is only 3 hours.

      I've seen it at CompUSA, and it is very sleek! It is horizontally oriented and sits comfortably into my hand.

      The only problem is that it lacks apps. I think partly because it was designed as a web browsing device, and partly because Nokia thought it would fail, there were no apps built for it. However, since it runs the somewhat open-source Maemo platform, there is a lot of opportunity for community development.

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  2. Just as long as not everyone believes them.... by Daniel_Staal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Fine, get out of the market. Just please, someone stay in. I'd be lost without my PDA, and I don't want a 'smartphone'. I want something I can reference while holding the phone...

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    'Sensible' is a curse word.
  3. You know... by mangus_angus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    not all of us WANT all in one devices. I like my phone, MP3 player, and PDA being separate devices. If one breaks I'm not screwed three times over.