More than 15 years after the first device of its kind was introduced, personal digital assistants (PDAs) are now fast becoming an essential "must-have" gadget for those in business circles.
The term PDA describes a wide range of hand-held computing devices that are designed to enhance personal productivity. Once considered just glorified electronic diaries, today's generation of PDAs are a considerable improvement on earlier versions, which did not have many of the essential functions that users today take for granted, such as the ability to "synchronise" data with a desktop PC.
Although there are no official figures for PDA sales in Ireland, analysts and industry sources confidently predict that sales of these devices will double in the next year.
Research conducted by Amarach Consulting in November 2000 estimated that 5 per cent of adults aged between 15 and 74 (or 137,000) owned a PDA, while a further 4 per cent (92,000) were planning to purchase one over the following three months.
The current fight for PDA market share is shaping up in some ways as a battle between PDAs powered by Palm operating systems and those powered by Microsoft's new Pocket PC operating system. Palm, formerly a division of 3Com, revolutionised the market four years ago with the introduction of the touch-screen PalmPilot. Today the company is estimated to have around 70 per cent of the personal organiser market globally, and an even higher share of the corporate market. However, after a false start with its much-criticised Windows CE operating system, Microsoft seems more determined than ever to secure a bigger slice of the market with the Pocket PC.
Windows CE only managed to capture around 3 per cent of the PDA market, but Microsoft claims the Pocket PC captured 18-20 per cent of the UK market in the six months following its launch last May.
Microsoft's European business development manager, Mr Thomas Schnegelsberg, says the company is targeting the corporate market, while Palm devices will remain more attractive to consumers.
He says that companies and business people will be drawn to Pocket PC-powered devices because they are more powerful and can be easily synchronised with Windows applications on their PCs.
Mr Padraig McKeon, a director with PR firm Drury Communications, owns a Palm 5 series, which he bought in 1998. Having owned an electronic diary for 10 years prior to that, he bought the Palm because he wanted more functionality and needed a larger memory for his ever-growing list of contacts. He is also grateful for the ability to synchronise data with his PC, because if he lost the PDA all his contact information would be lost, which, given his line of business, would be a disaster.
There are few downsides, it seems. "It's a bit cumbersome, but that's about it really," says Mr McKeon. Does it improve his productivity, as the makers claim? "Productivity is not a big issue for me really."
On the other hand, Mr McKeon says he is conscious about the issue of data synchronising and that when the time comes to upgrade, he will probably opt for a device powered by Pocket PC for an easier and more stable link-up to his desktop Windows-powered PC.
Ms Suzanne Keena of Carphone Warehouse says the growing number of new PDA products becoming available will help to drive the market, along with an increase in bulk corporate sales.
She says recent sales of PDAs have been driven by business users keen to know more about recently launched new Pocket PC-powered PDAs, available from HP, Casio and Compaq. Being able to send e-mails and browse the Web is being seen as an important marketing tool for these newer and more powerful PDAs. Ms Keena says her company is currently considering offering a package that includes a mobile phone with a PDA.
The newest PDAs on the market have an extensive range of applications, depending on memory and processor size. For example, the Compaq Ipaq has a 206MHz processor and a staggering 32MB of memory, which allows it to handle the Microsoft Office suite, MP3 sound files, and a whole host of other applications capably .
There are also PDAs, such as the Psion Revo Plus, that have small keyboards, but it is the Palm-style models that are proving the most popular. Most of these models also have handwriting recognition software.
PDA prices range from the Palm M100 (only 2MB of memory) at £179 (€227), to the Psion Revo Plus (8MB) at £349, to the top-performing Pocket PC-powered Compaq Ipaq (32MB) at £599.
The next generation of PDA devices, which will incorporate mobile phones, are almost here. It has been reported in the US that phone manufacturers such as Motorola, Samsung, Sagem and Ericsson are making handsets that look like PDAs.
One company, Mitsubishi-owned Trium, has made a head start on the others with the global launch last week of its first combined PDA and mobile phone, the Trium Mondo. The Mondo will incorporate a PDA powered by Pocket PC and a 166 MHz processor, and a mobile phone that allows permanent Internet connectivity as well as voice calls. It is expected to cost between £300 and £500.
