PDA

Public display of affection

Personal Digital Assistant pocket-sized devices for recording of typed or handwritten messages that can later be ported to computers. See Wireless Glossary of Terms . The most innovative device was the Newton developed and later abandoned by Apple Corporation.&nbsp Two leading devices that emerged are linked below: The Psion Series gives you the computing power that you need without the excess weight. It has a touch typekeyboard and full page width touch-sensitive screen, yet weighs less than 13 ounces (or less than 360g), has around 35 hours of battery life and fits into your pocket. The Psion handheld computer is compatible with all leading Windows 95/NT4 word processors, spreadsheets and databases, and synchronizes with schedule and contacts software on your desktop PC, including Microsoft, Lotus, Corel, WordPerfect and other applications. PsiWin 2 - included as standard - docks your Psion to your PC.&nbsp See http://www.psion.com/series5/index.html The market share leader in the latest PDA devices is Palm.&nbsp The Internet connections to the world are wireless and use only AAA batteries. &nbsp I wish it had a keyboard when it is not connected to a PC.&nbsp But theres are some great features in spite of not having a keyboard.&nbsp For a Palm product review, see http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/990521palm .The Palm home page is at http://www.palm.com/ .&nbsp

Portable Document Aassistant PostScript formatting technology that attempts to provide a viable way of exchanging documents across operating systems and different types of software. The of the best known PDA option is the Acrobat tools from Adobe Corporation that gives rise to PDF documents in Protable Document Format file extensions. Acrobat also provides other utilities such as the Distiller tool that translates PostScript files into a PDF format, the Exchange tool that facilitates insertion of hypertext linkages, the PDF Writer containing printer drivers, and other utilities. For a review of Acrobat, go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/wwwsoft.htm . Also see Cross-platform . I have been playing a little more with Version 4 of Adobe Acrobat. &nbsp The most common way to generate an Acrobat PDF file is to create a document in a word processor (say a DOC file) or a spreadsheet (say a XLS file).&nbsp With Adobe Exchange installed, you can simply save a second copy of the document as a PDF file. &nbsp In the past, I pretended there was a glass barrier in which the original images were behind the glass (and could not be modified with Adobe Exchange) versus Acrobat Exchage things that you could do in front of the glass (such as add annotations, hyperlinks, bookmarks, audio, video, etc.).&nbsp Prior to Version 4, any changes in content of the file behind the glass could not be made using Adobe Exchange.&nbsp Version 4, however, allows certain types of changes such as "touching up" words, insertion of pages, and renumbering of pages.&nbsp However, most serious modifying and editing of text or data are still best accomplished by returning to the word processor or spreadsheet program.&nbsp For example, if I added text in a sentence I could not get the longer sentence to easily wrap around and adjust the lines for the added text.&nbsp Have any of you found a way to make such text wrappings automatice in PDF text editing? Version 4 of Adobe Acrobat (particularly the Adobe Exchange module) certainly makes it easier to publish web documents in PDF form rather than HTML or dome other DTD.&nbsp Version 4 is a significant upgrade.&nbsp The main advantage is that the original document produced on a word processor or spreadsheet program does not have to be edited and touched up in the same manner that an HTML conversion often requires fixing up and images.&nbsp For example MS Word tables and Excel tables do not have to be fixed up in a PDF file, but these tables almost always have to be fixed up following a conversion to a HTM file.&nbsp Images do not have to be stored in separate files like they do for HTML documents.&nbsp Another advantage arises in that the hard copy printout of the PDF file is nearly perfect in terms of looking just like the original DOC or XLS printout.&nbsp More...

Short for personal digital assistant, a handheld device that combines computing, telephone/fax, and networking features. A typical PDA can function as a cellular phone, fax sender, and personal organizer. Unlike portable computers, most PDAs are pen-based, using a stylus rather than a keyboard for input. This means that they also incorporate handwriting recognition features. Some PDAs can also react to voice input by using voice recognition technologies.The field of PDA was pioneered by Apple Computer, which introduced the Newton MessagePad in 1993. Shortly thereafter, several other manufacturers offered similar products. To date, PDAs have had only modest success in the marketplace, due to their high price tags and limited applications. However, many experts believe that PDAs will eventually become common gadgets.PDAs are also called palmtops, hand-held computers and pocket computers.