"As more people rely on instant access to computing power, and as
hand-held computers become more versatile, personal and cost effective, sales of hand-held will attain even higher growth rates," Lu believes.
Hand-held PC: A small
hand-held computer with a keyboard that runs the Windows CE operating system.
Instead of fiddling with tiny buttons, people will control their phones, MP3 players and
hand-held computers by using surround-sound headphones and body movement.
With Windows and the Intel XScale processor serving as a platform, the new unit is an entry-level
hand-held computer that has the power to run advanced applications.
Last year, two-thirds of companies surveyed by Forrester Research said they planned to implement
hand-held computer applications in 2003, double the number of 2001.
Rapid advances in technology will greatly improve the devices--such as
hand-held computers and smart cards--that monitor and communicate resident care needs.
Sony Corporation announced that its
hand-held computer using the Palm operating system will be available late this month (September) at a retail cost of $399, and will have capabilities that are not readily available on other hand-held devices.
Shoppers at Scotty's Home Market (www.scottyshomemarket.com), a consumer-direct grocery retailer based in Lake Zurich, Ill., can use a new wireless Palm III
hand-held computer with a barcode scanner to develop their grocery list.
The Newton MP 120 has the widest variety of medical software available of any
hand-held computer. Pocket Doc 1.1 ($450 single-user license, $250 for residents and students; Physix Corporation, Houston, Tex) is a complete medical record that includes pharmacy and International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision (ICD-9) code information.
Currently, the best unit consists of a receiver the shape of a car radio, a
hand-held computer about the size of an electronic calculator, and a small antenna.
What's unusual about Z4CK, by 33-year-old Kevin Milne, is that it's both about, and written on, a Linux-based Sharp Zaurus
hand-held computer. Kevin, from Livingston, wrote the book on his Zaurus while travelling by train to his job.
With a direct-connect phone line, a
hand-held computer, and a modern, users gain immediate two-way remote transmission between multiple field sites and a host computer.