Handheld computers to be terminals soon

Very soon, personal digital assistants (PDAs) or handheld computers will be terminals of sorts, to be used as a means of communicating with one’s household appliance like refrigerators, airconditioners, or television sets.

Microwarehouse consultant for mobile computing products Elbert Cuenca explained that with the advent of bluetooth technology, PDAs can now communicate with household devices. "Even when you are outside the house, you can set smart airconditioners, refrigerators, and other appliances using your bluetooth-enabled PDA," he said.

Palm Inc. is a pioneer in the field of mobile and wireless Internet solutions and a leading provider of handheld computers. It accounts for around 60 to 70 percent of worldwide sales of PDAs or handhelds and 97 percent of handheld software titles sold in the US last year.

Professionals on the go may now experience the power of wireless bluetooth technology to communicate, collaborate, and connect by simply inserting a small SD card into their Palm handheld computers.

Once the card (slightly larger than a postage stamp) is inserted, users can connect easily with bluetooth-enabled mobile phones, printers, laptops, and even other Palm handheld quickly and easily within 30 feet.

Palm recently announced the availability in most international markets of the Palm Bluetooth Card, which slides into the expansion card slot featured in the latest Palm handhelds.

Now, a mobile professional can interact with a rapidly growing range of devices, without cumbersome cables. For example, in a taxi, a passenger can quickly check the status of his departure online by using his Palm handheld with his Bluetooth enabled phone. As he waits in the airline lounge, he can tap a phone number in his Palm address book which will directly dial his GSM phone and connect him with his customer to confirm a meeting.

After his arrival, he can use the hotel business office to wirelessly print to a Bluetooth-enabled printer documents stored in his handheld.

Bluetooth technology allows one the ability to communicate, collaborate, and connect wirelessly and allows devices to ‘talk.’ It is set to revolutionize the personal connectivity market by providing freedom from wireless connections. The Bluetooth special interest group (SIG), composed of world leaders in the telecommunications, computing, and network industries is currently driving development of the technology and bringing it to the market.

The Bluetooth SIG includes companies like IBM, 3Com, Ericsson, Intel, Lucent, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Palm, and Toshiba, and more than 1,800 adopter companies. Just last year, a million Bluetooth chips have been sold, proof that it is becoming a pervasive technology.

Cuenca said there are now talks with companies like 3Com to have public access points for wireless local area network (LAN) and bluetooth such as in local airport.

Just recently, Palm unveiled two new handheld models – the Palm m130 and m515, both featuring bright color screens that support more than 65,000 colors. These handhelds have an estimated street price of P16,100 and P22,700, respectively.

According to Cuenca, Palm m130 is the first entry level PDA will full functionality, has an expansion slot, and caters to younger professionals and students. The m515 address the needs of a busy executive’s mobile lifestyle.

Palm’s dual-expansion technology includes the expansion card slot which allows people to carry and share office productivity and education software, eBooks, photos, short videos, extensive reference materials, backup capabilities and extra memory, and the universal connector for attaching add-on modules like the collapsible keyboard and memory.