Instant Messaging and Consumer Devices

If you ask a typical consumer about wireless communications, you might hear about Wi-Fi or wireless Ethernet, but it's just as likely that cell phones, smartphones, or PDAs with onboard wireless networking would also be part of the conversation. These devices offer web browsing, email, video and still image capture, and text messaging, and they can share information with PCs.

These are some of the more popular PDA and smartphone vendors:

• BlackBerry (www.blackberry.net) The BlackBerry series of devices use Java applications and are produced by a company called Research In Motion (RIM). Some BlackBerry devices include features such as digital walkie-talkie and GPS.

  

  For more information about BlackBerry, see "BlackBerry PDAs," p. 349.

  
  

• Palm (www.palm.com) Palm uses an operating system developed in-house for the PDAs and smartphones it manufactures. The OS has also been adopted by many other manufacturers, such as Garmin, Kyocera, Lenovo, LG, PiTech, and Symbol. A unique port for the Palm operating system is a wristwatch-size device available from Fossil Tech (www.fossil.com).

• Windows Mobile (www.microsoft.com) Developed by Microsoft, Windows Mobile is the family name for various mobile devices that run Windows, including Pocket PCs, Pocket PC Phone Edition, smartphones, and Portable Media Center. You can purchase Windows Mobile-based devices from many vendors, including HP, Toshiba, Dell, Audiovox, Motorola, Orange, Samsung, Siemens, Asus, and others. Windows Mobile operating systems command the largest number of manufacturers at this time.

Comparing Mobile Information Devices

Given the wide variety of wireless mobile devices on the market and the different operating systems available for them, it can be confusing to determine the exact boundaries between types of wireless mobile devices.

Generally, PDAs have the following features:

• Email

• Calendar

• Contact list

• Photo display

• Web browsing

• Instant messaging

• Digital music storage and playback

• Support for various productivity and entertainment software

• Data synchronization via a wired cradle, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi (varies with model)

PDAs with integrated telephones typically add these features:

• Voice communications

• Digital camera (note that some PDAs without an integrated telephone might also include digital photography capabilities)

Note

Some PDAs and PDAs with integrated telephones include a built-in mini-keyboard or a portable external keyboard.

A smartphone differs from a PDA with integrated phone in that it lacks the capability to use productivity applications other than email and web browsing and doesn't have a keyboard, but it can usually play games. A smartphone includes the capability to synchronize via a cradle, but usually does not support Wi-Fi wireless connections. Many smartphones support Bluetooth, enabling you to use a wireless headset for hands-free and wire-free communications.

A portable media center is optimized for digital music, digital video, and still picture playback. It usually includes the capability to act as a personal video recorder (PVR). However, it lacks the capability to work with other types of information, and is not designed to connect wirelessly with other devices.

With the feature sets available on PDAs with integrated phones and smartphones, the market for classic PDAs which lack telephone and integrated wireless data support is bleak. Sony discontinued its CLIE series of PDAs in the summer of 2004, and PalmOS has lost significant ground to Windows Mobile-based and BlackBerry devices. The future of PDAs is a wireless one.

BlackBerry PDAs

RIM's BlackBerry product line is the most popular PDA product family in the world. Their unique combination of smartphone, wireless PDA with keyboard, wireless web surfing, and wireless text messaging makes them extremely popular with corporate and government users. BlackBerry devices are so powerful that users have a hard time putting them away, inspiring the nickname CrackBerry. BlackBerry Connect technology for wireless email is also available in the Nokia 6820, 6822, and 9300 smartphones.

Part of the power of BlackBerry comes from its level of email integration. Not only do BlackBerry devices work with existing personal and business email accounts, but BlackBerry also provides management and control for BlackBerry devices through its Enterprise Server product line for Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, and Novell Group Wise.

The BlackBerry Alliance Program provides access to a wide variety of third-party business applications for BlackBerry, including many vertical market solutions. The Handago Store for BlackBerry (www.handango.com/blackberry) provides access to individual productivity, communications, entertainment, and education applications.

To learn more about BlackBerry, including comparisons of the BlackBerry devices, see the BlackBerry website at www.blackberry.com. BlackBerry devices are available from most major wireless communications vendors, including Sprint and Nextel (www.sprint.com), Verizon Wireless (www.verizonwireless.com), and Cingular Wireless (www.cingular.com), among others.