PDAs: The Whole World In Their Palms

<B> PDAs: The Whole World In Their Palms</B>

By David Jonas

Personal digital assistants offer a lightweight, pocket-sized alternative to traditional laptops, enabling business travelers to carry work-related material, read and take notes while maintaining a high level of connectivity with their corporate networks.

While individuals have been the primary consumers of these devices, corporations are starting to look to PDAs as the latest tool to increase the productivity of their road warriors. And some suggest that just as corporations developed policies for purchasing travel in a consolidated fashion, they might well consider corporate purchasing of PDAs as well.

"PDAs are no longer toys or gadgets reserved exclusively for those who like to be on the cutting edge of technology. We absolutely believe this will be the new computing platform for business travelers," said Ed Barrett, marketing manager of emerging technologies at mega agency Rosenbluth International.

As an alternative to laptops, PDAs and other hand-held devices contribute as well as support the trend toward the nomadic traveler. Rather than replacing desktop PCs, like laptops do, PDAs rely on network information. While they do not run popular business applications like Microsoft Word, they can store pages of notes that are easily transferred to PCs over network connections.

The latest wave of PDAs--including the Palm III, developed by Santa Clara, Calif.-based 3Com, and a myriad of palmtops based on the new Windows CE 2.0 platform--is due out this spring. It will provide a wide range of productivity features, including e-mail and Internet access, schedule planners, alarms, handwriting recognition, internal dictation recorders and infrared beaming technology.

The popularity of PDAs--also referred to as personal information managers (PIMs) or connected information devices (CIDs)--is exploding as consumers realize the capabilities and convenience of these devices. According to Outlook, a publication about the mobile computing market, two million units have been sold to date, and sales by the end of 1998 are expected to top five million.

Former Sun Microsystems purchasing manager Norm Rose, who now heads TravelTech Consulting, Belmont, Calif., predicted that the idea of nomadic computing will become more popular in the next two years. "There is a natural relationship between PDAs and business travelers," he said. "The whole idea is to move information from corporate networks to wireless devices."

Rosenbluth's Barrett agreed that the demographics of PDA users and business travelers are "essentially one in the same," and saw the area of PDAs as one into which travel managers might well bring their purchasing expertise.

"IS departments, realizing that PDAs to this point have been individual-driven, are attempting to standardize use across the board," Barrett said. "And somewhere downstream is the travel department."

An understanding of PDAs and their integration into the corporate environment could lead to preferred supplier agreements and customized solutions, he noted.

Using a modem, PDA users can link into their corporate networks and personal computers back in the office. Wireless modems increase flexibility, enabling synchronization from almost anywhere. "When you sync up a wireless modem and a PalmPilot, for example, you can receive bursts of information from your network," said Rose.

In addition, file linking functions enable automatic and reciprocal updates between a user's PDA and the company's server. This capability can be an invaluable tool for managers who need to stay in touch with mobile employees. "It is a more logical way of looking at connectivity," Rose said. "Suddenly there is a way to communicate consistently with business travelers on the road."

With nearly 90 percent of Fortune 1,000 companies already implementing wireless IP networks, Rose predicted that "nomadic computing will play a key role in enabling business travelers to access corporate information as TCP/IP intranets continue to grow."

While corporate network connectivity may be key to managers, the ability to instantly access information when not connected is perhaps the biggest draw for business travelers themselves.

"Boot up time is immediate compared with the minute or so it takes for a laptop to get up and running," Barrett said. "That's extremely important for PDA users who access their devices 10 or 12 times a day for sessions averaging two to three minutes."

The PalmPilot series is currently the hands-down leader in the PDA market, with more than a million sales last year and current estimates in the 1.5 to 2 million range. For its part, Rosenbluth has dedicated a page on its Website for PalmPilot users.

The PalmPilot's newest version, the Palm III, hit the market earlier this month. Working off the new Palm 3.0 operating system, it can store up to 6,000 addresses, a five-year appointment schedule, 1,500 memos and 200 e-mail messages. In addition, it offers infrared technology, enabling users to beam information back and forth between units.

Following the lead of their PC predecessors, PDAs are beginning to partner with software manufacturers to add even more value to the devices. AvantGo of San Mateo, Calif., for example, has released an application that allows PalmPilot users to compress and transmit Internet and intranet pages to the PDA for use on the road or for client presentations.

"We're starting to look at these devices as more than merely organizers," Barrett said. "They are phenomenal tools that can accomplish just about anything a mobile professional might need."

In addition to palmtop machines, there are several other types of portable devices emerging from the realm of science fiction into everyday life. "Wearable technology," smaller than palmtops, for example, brings wireless connectivity one step further. One such device, the Rex PC Companion, manufactured by Starfish Software, Scotts Valley, Calif., is no larger than a credit card. Yet it allows users to download and view more than 3,000 business memos, calendar entries, appointments, names, addresses and phone numbers. The unit, which retails for less than $150, plugs directly into a laptop.

"The Rex, along with a laptop, gives users an unprecedented business solution," said Starfish spokesperson Lesa Wheeler. "While a laptop accompanies a business traveler on a longer trip, this type of device can go to meetings, dinner or wherever else they need to go."

Meanwhile, Seiko earlier this month announced it will start selling the world's first wristwatch PC to the Japanese market. The first version of this Dick Tracyesque device, featuring only limited applications, will hit the street in June.

For business travelers who do not want to part with full-scale applications on the road, a new generation of laptops soon will be available. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel recently rolled out the next version of the Pentium II processor, designed specifically for notebook computers. The processor can run at speeds up to 266 megahertz. According to Intel, at least 18 manufacturers have plans to implement the Pentium II into their laptop systems, and many will retail for less than $3,000.

Palmtop PCs, however, might offer the most ideal combination of price, size and capability, according to Barrett, and yield the closest tie between software and hardware. Future models will integrate various types of real-time information already available on specialized pagers and other devices, he said.

These insiders believe PDAs will play an increasingly important role in the lives of corporate road warriors, as the technology allows for ever greater functionality for employees away from the office. "Essentially," said Rose, "we are moving towards a wireless, networked traveler.