Bluetooth PDAs

Bluetooth PDAs
In addition to cell phones, the other category of device that’s really seeing a
lot of action in the Bluetooth arena is the PDA category. In case you’re not
familiar with the concept, the term PDA (personal digital assistant) encompasses
a wide range of handheld computing devices — and therefore, PDAs
are also often referred to as handhelds.
The most common types of PDAs are the following:
PDAs that use the Palm operating system (OS): These are the granddaddies
of the PDA space. Palm’s original model, the Palm Pilot, basically created
the entire multibillion dollar PDA market back in the ’90s. Today,
Palm has been split into two separate groups: Palm, Inc. (www.palm.com),
that makes a line of PDAs; and PalmSource, Inc. (www.palmsource.com),
that develops the Palm OS. One of the reasons why the company has been
split in two is the fact that a host of other companies (such as Sony, with
its CLIÉ line [(www.sony.com/clie]) also manufacture and sell Palm OSbased
PDAs. Speaking very generally (there are a few notable exceptions),
Palm OS PDAs are the cheapest and easiest but also the least powerful (in
terms of raw computing power) of the PDAs available today.
Handhelds that use Microsoft’s Pocket PC operating system: Pocket PC
handhelds are typically (though not always) a bit more expensive and
faster than Palm OS PDAs. The major manufacturers of Pocket PC systems
include Hewlett-Packard (HP; www.hp.com), Toshiba (www.toshiba.com),
and Dell (www.dell.com). In many ways, down to the user interface,
Pocket PCs tend to mirror Windows-based desktop and laptop computers
in a smaller, shrunken-down form. Pocket PC handhelds used to be considerably
more expensive than Palm handhelds, but because of a price war
among the vendors, the price differential has greatly decreased.
PDA/cell phone combinations: As we mention earlier in the
“Discovering Bluetooth Basics” section of this chapter, the line between
PDAs and cell phones becomes a bit more blurry with each passing day.
Companies such as Handspring (www.handspring.com) sell Palm OSbased
devices that are cell phones and PDAs in one, and other companies
such as Siemens (www.siemens.com) sell Pocket PC-based combos.
Some cell phone/PDA combo devices use entirely different operating
systems (such as Symbian, or even the open-source Linux operating
system used on many business server computers).
Despite the variation in and among the PDA world, there’s also a
commonality — PDAs work a lot better as “connected” devices that can
talk to computers and other PDAs. And because PDAs and cell phones are
increasingly converging, or taking on the same functionality, any of the applications
that we discuss in the preceding section (“Bluetooth Mobile Phones”)
might come into play with a PDA.
In particular, the synchronization application that we discuss in that section
is especially important for PDAs because they tend to be mobile, on-the-roadagain
(thanks to Willie Nelson) extensions of a user’s main PC. Most PDAs
today require either a docking cradle (a device that you physically sit the PDA
into, which is connected via a cable to the PC), or at least a USB or another
cable to synchronize contacts, calendars, and the like with the PC. With
Bluetooth, you just need to have your PDA in the same room as the PC, with
no physical connection. You can even set up your PDA to automatically synchronize
when it’s within range of the PC.
Accordingly, we’ve begun to see Bluetooth functionality built into an increasing
number of PDAs. For example, Palm’s newest model, the Tungsten T,
includes a built-in Bluetooth system, as does HP’s Pocket PC OS iPAQ model
and Toshiba’s e740 series of Pocket PC handhelds.
You can also buy some cool Bluetooth accessories for handhelds. One big
issue with handhelds is the process of entering data onto them. Most either
have a tiny keyboard (a thumb keyboard really, which is too small for using
all your fingers and touch typing) or use a handwriting system, where you
use a stylus and write in not-quite-plain English on the screen. Both of these
systems can work really well if you spend the time required to master them,
but neither is optimal, especially if you want to do some serious data entry —
like writing a book! In that case, you really need a keyboard. You can buy one
today (with a wire) but we’ve heard around the grapevine that portable keyboards,
which use Bluetooth and are compatible with any Bluetooth PDA, will
be released in 2003. A dream come true for us — we can’t wait.
If you already own a PDA and it doesn’t have Bluetooth built in, what to do?
Do you really have to go and replace that six-month-old PDA with a new
model? Maybe not. Several manufacturers have begun selling add-on cards
for existing PDAs that enable Bluetooth communications. For example, Palm
sells the Palm Bluetooth Card ($129), which goes into the standard Secure
Digital (SD) card slot found on many Palm OS PDAs. Speaking more generally,
most PDAs have a slot like this — SD, Compact Flash, or Memory Stick — that
is most often used to expand the amount of memory in the PDA but which
can be used for other purposes. Just like the 802.11 cards in these formats
that we discuss in Chapter 5, you can now (or will soon be able to) find
Bluetooth cards in these formats.
Getting a Bluetooth card installed and set up on your PDA is really super
easy. The first thing that you might (or might not) have to do is to install
some Bluetooth software on your handheld. If this step is required, you’ll
simply put the software CD in your PC and follow the onscreen instructions,
which will guide you through the process of setting up the software. After the
software is on your PC, it should be automatically uploaded to your PDA the
next time that you sync it (using your cable or cradle). After the software is
on your PDA, just slide the Bluetooth card into the PDA. The PDA will recognize
it and might (or might not — this process is so automated you might not
notice anything happening) guide you through a quick set up wizard-type
program. That’s it — you’re Bluetooth-ed!
After you get Bluetooth hardware and software on your PDA, you’re ready to
go. By its nature, Bluetooth is constantly on the lookout for other Bluetooth
devices. When it finds something else (like your Bluetooth-equipped PC or a
Bluetooth printer) that can “talk” Bluetooth, the two devices communicate
with each other and let each other know what their capabilities are. If there’s a
match (like you’ve got a document to print, and there’s a printer nearby with
Bluetooth), a dialog box pops up on your screen through which you can do
your thing. It’s usually really easy. In some cases (like syncing mobile phone
address books with your PC), you’ll need to finesse some software on one side
or the other. We find that this is a good time to consult the owner’s manual
and/or the Web sites of the software and hardware companies involved.