www.thetechzone.com/?m=show&id=228

This article discusses the newer PDA’s come with some sort of touch screen. Many original PDAs, such as the Apple Newton and the Palm Pilot, featured touch screens for user interaction, having only a few buttons usually reserved for shortcuts to frequently used programs. Touch screen PDAs, including Windows Pocket PC devices, usually have a detachable stylus that can be used on the touch screen. Interaction is then done by tapping the screen to activate buttons or menu choices, and dragging the stylus to, for example, highlight. Text input is usually done in one of four ways: Using a virtual keyboard, where a keyboard is shown on the touch screen. Input is done by tapping letters on the screen. Using external keyboard or chorded keyboard connected by USB or Bluetooth. Using letter or word recognition, where letters or words are written on the touch screen, and then "translated" to letters in the currently activated text field. Newer PDAs, such as the Apple iPhone and iPod touch include new user interfaces using other means of input. The iPhone and iPod touch uses a technology called Multi-touch.

www.pdaed.com/features/palmmanifesto.xml

As mobile technology has become very common, it is no surprise that personal computing has become a vital learning tool by this time. Educational institutes have commenced a trend of integrating PDAs into their teaching practices (mobile learning). With the capabilities of PDAs, teachers are now able to provide a collaborative learning experience for their students. They are also preparing their students for possible practical uses of mobile computing upon their graduation. PDAs and handheld devices have recently allowed for digital note taking. This has increased student’s productivity by allowing individuals to quickly spell-check, modify, and amend their class notes or e-notes. To meet the instructive needs sought by educational institutes, software companies have developed programs with the learning aspects in mind. With the increase in mobility of PDAs, school boards and educational institutes have now encountered issues with these devices. School boards are now concerned with students utilizing the internet connectivity to share test answers or to gossip during class time, which creates disruptions. Many school boards have modernized their computer policies to address these new concerns. Software companies such as Scantron Corp. have now created a program for distributing digital quizzes. The quiz software disables the infrared function on PDAs, which eliminates the element of information sharing among individuals during the examination. Many colleges encourage the use of PDA's.

http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/commentary/cultofmac/2002/08/54580

The Apple Newton, or simply Newton, is an early line of personal digital assistants developed and marketed by Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) from 1993 to 1998. Some electronic engineering and the manufacture of the Newton was done in Japan by Sharp. The original Newtons were based on the ARM 610 RISC processor and featured handwriting recognition software. Apple's official name for the device was "MessagePad"; the term "Newton" was Apple's name for the operating system it used (Newton OS), but popular usage of the word Newton has grown to include the device and its software together. The name is an allusion to Isaac Newton's apple. The Newton was pre-loaded with a variety of software to aid in personal data organization and management. This included such applications as Notes, Names, and Dates, as well as a variety of productivity tools such as a calculator, conversion calculators (metric conversions, currency conversions, etc), time-zone maps, etc. In later versions of the Newton OS these applications were refined, and new ones were added, such as the Works word processor and the Newton Internet Enabler, as well as the inclusion of bundled 3rd party applications, such as the QuickFigure Works spreadsheet (a "lite" version of Pelicanware's QuickFigure Pro), Pocket Quicken, the NetHopper web browser, and the EnRoute email client. Various Newton applications had full import/export capabilities with popular desktop office suite and PIM (Personal Information Manager) application file formats, primarily by making use of Apple's bundled Newton Connection Utilities.

http://www.discoverblackberry.com/discover/features.jsp

RIM or Blackberries haven’t all been a success. They have come with a lot of criticisms and in this article I found out some of the main things people don’t like about them. They have been criticized for not including 3G/UMTS on any models other than the 8700 series. However, email delivery on 3G units is often slower than EDGE and even GPRS, as emails are broken down into very small packets, each with its own encryption key. The UMTS networks are more suited to streaming media, so for BES/BIS email delivery there is little or no advantage.[9] On the other hand, new multimedia features--like the ability to email large attachments such as camera phone photos, as well as the ability to tether BlackBerry as a modem for laptop--provide a compelling reason to add 3G support to future BlackBerry smart phones, provided they can keep EDGE support for times when 3G is not favorable. In addition, BlackBerry smart phones do not have a touch screen. This is one area in which some Windows Mobile devices differ, as some Phone Edition devices have a touch screen. However, users may find the BlackBerry interface simpler as there are generally fewer options available during operation. Furthermore, Blackberry devices have had connectivity issues regarding their email client and data reception. Services have been down in February of 2008 and last April, causing frustration among businesses and others who are dependent upon Blackberrys.