PDA Phone Power – More than just an organizational tool

Posted on February 8, 2008 at 7:34 am

The traditional PDA was a device conceptualized and designed for our everyday organizational requirements. With our increased reliance on address books, electronic communication and a seamless task and appointment management system, the PDA has exploded onto the market. However, with technological advancement as it is today, PDA’s are no longer a simple tool of organization. They are fully operational handheld computers with media capabilities and wireless connectivity. As such they have the capacity to run us, as much as we run them.

As well as running standard computer applications such as Windows, MS Office, and the like, surfing the ‘net, storing vast media (photo, video, audio), entertainment forums and all of the standard home office tools are generally part of the PDA’s standard spec. What is more, as the competition is so fierce, manufacturers are constantly trying to outdo one another by developing technology that encases the newest craze, tool, look. Making the abundance of features greater whilst making the devices slicker, more powerful, more robust. This ultimately has brought the price down to affordable proportions.

So why do the vast majority of PDA’s still only get used for the basic, everyday run of the mill organisational tasks that the first generation devices could do. Research shows that 8 out of 10 PDA’s in personal use today are used for no more than 20% of the features. Worse still, hundreds of thousands of PDA’s sit collecting dust in drawers. The argument that ‘it does the job that I need it for’ doesn’t wash. Why pay $300 for a PDA when a $20 pocket organizer would do. It is time we explored the PDA in all its techno-glory and people began to embrace their capabilities with a little more gusto!

Synchronization with Personal Computers

OK, so we can begin with the core task – Why they were invented? Answer… to keep us up to speed with appointments, tasks, contacts and email. The PDA is the perfect device for such a ‘roaming’ agenda – light, portable and now with the development of PDA software which comes as standard, they are fully compatible with personal computers for synchronization with your desktop setup. What is more, with wireless connectivity the flexibility to synchronize has even greater benefits as PDA’s can reconcile conflicting data anywhere, anytime, to keep it up to date, be it, calendar or task management, uploading of files and new email, without the need for physical connectivity between devices. In essence it allows the user to automate (to varying configurable levels) their entire schedule and workflow.

Spend the time – Organize

We know the number one reason why PDA’s were invented, to organize our lives better. So it makes sense that with the development of synchronization and more attractive GUI’s organising the information on your PDA could not be simpler. Now with the common ‘Windows’ desktop look of most it has never been easier to arrange information for your own easy access. As such there should be no excuses for saying ‘I can’t configure my browser/email’ or ‘it’s just a minefield of menu’s’. Arrange your information as you would your PC – categorise, bookmark, add to ‘hot lists’ and favourites. As a PDA is now pretty much a miniature PC think of it in those terms and structure everything as you would your PC. It will make you more productive and less frustrated.

Taking ‘entertainment’ to a whole new level

OK, so the professional functionality stuff is out of the way, what about how a PDA can meet our own personal entertainment needs – Listening to music, watching movies, playing games, taking photographs, recording video. Well the PDA has in modern times become a slick pocket entertainment centre. All now have the capability to hold and play mass volumes of media of many formats. Whether it be music, movies, video clips, artwork, photographs, the storage capacity and playback ability of today’s PDA’s is very impressive. What is more, the quality of screen resolution and audio output is such that you lose nothing to ruin your viewing/listening pleasure.

Interactive communications

With the development of secure wireless networks and as most locations now have wireless ‘hot spots’, the PDA has become an all encompassing worldwide connected interactive communications device. Whether connecting to the Internet to browse news, for entertainment, to shop, run messaging/chat services or to upload/download media from millions of resources worldwide it is all possible with a PDA. Furthermore, as new technologies are presented to us (GPS, Bluetooth, etc) there follows a stampede by the manufacturers to make them available on PDA’s, to cater for all user requirements/experiences.

Back it up!

We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again. A PDA is a personal computer in all but name in this technological age. As such it is imperative that after all the hard work you put into synchronising information, organising it systematically, and filling it with all your entertainment needs, the last thing you want is to unintentionally delete information or lose it all without effective disaster recovery or backup storage. In this regard PDA’s come with memory card slots for copy, backup and restore requirements. These cards come in various formats, i.e. CompactFlash, MultiMediaCard and Secure Digital and have storage capacities of up to 16gb. That’s a lot of music, movies, documents, email, etc! that can be stored on one little chip that simply slots in the side of the PDA and seamlessly copies in the same way a USB chip, DVD or CD would via a PC.

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It goes without saying, the PDA is a wonderful organisational tool. But once you explore its potential and tap into the many resources it has, you will enrich your experience ten fold. Don’t be afraid to give it a thorough workout, tap parts of the screen you don’t know, READ THE MANUAL, enjoy your fully operational ‘battle station’ for what it is, a miniature business/entertainment portal.

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