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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Biddle who wrote (30875)	1/7/2003 11:02:24 PM
From: John Biddle	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 197306

PDAs Find Their Place Arik Hesseldahl, 01.07.03, 10:00 AM ET forbes.com SAN FRANCISCO - It's been about ten years since the phrase "personal digital assistant" first entered the public consciousness. It was John Sculley, then-CEO of Apple Computer (nasdaq: APPL - news - people ), who used the phrase in a speech at the 1992 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Apple at the time was almost ready to release its first Newton MessagePad, a handheld computer that took input from a pen and was designed to be a convenient accessory to the desktop computer. We all know what happened to the Newton: It was a bit ahead of its time. Its handwriting recognition capabilities became the butt of jokes in comic strips. After several revisions and upgrades, Apple finally killed the Newton line in 1998--though a hardcore bunch of the device's fans are still using them. But ten years later we're still talking about PDAs. And at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, which starts later this week in Las Vegas, the PDA will make an important evolutionary step. Garmin (nasdaq: GRMN - news - people ), the company behind many products that use the Global Positioning System of satellites for navigation, is planning to announce a PDA of its own. It's called the iQue 3600, and we've been eager to see this product for two years--when we first learned that Garmin had decided to license the Palm operating system. Many of the details about the product aren't known yet, but at least it looks intriguing in pictures. It will be the first Palm OS device to boast an integrated GPS receiver. That means it will be able to tell you where you are and help you find where you want to go by receiving signals from the federally run GPS constellation of satellites. Those satellites--there are more than 20 of them, each circling the Earth twice a day--constantly ping the entire surface of the planet with low-power radio signals. The signals contain highly accurate time measurements as each satellite contains an onboard atomic clock. To accurately gauge its own location, a GPS-sensitive device must be able to receive signals from at least three but preferably four satellites at the same time. It uses those signals to triangulate its location, measured in latitude and longitude. Most GPS readers on the market today can then convert those latitude and longitude measurements into a map. Hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts love them, as do motorists who hate getting lost. The iQue won't be the first GPS product geared towards PDAs. There have been several attachments for devices like Handspring's (nasdaq: HAND - news - people ) Visor, handhelds from Palm (nasdaq: PALM - news - people ) and several others geared towards adding GPS functionality to handhelds that run on Microsoft's (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) PocketPC operating system, such as Hewlett-Packard's (nyse: HPQ - news - people ) iPaq. But Garmin has taken an interesting step that many PDA makers probably wish they had first. Not only will the device be helpful for navigation, but it will have all the usual capability of the Palm-based PDA. It will have your To-Do list, your schedule of appointments, your contacts and probably a copy of Sub Hunt or Bejeweled. If the map depicted in the picture is any indicator, we expect that it will run Palm OS 5, which is as yet only available in Palm's Tungsten T and Sony's (nasdaq: SNE - news - people ) Clie NX60 and NX70 handhelds. Using Palm OS 5 would also imply that the device will be able to play video as well as record and playback sound clips. But we're curious about a few things. Handheld GPS readers have a way of inhaling battery power. When combined with a bright display, we suspect that power management was a big challenge in planning the design of the iQue and we'll be interested to know how Garmin has handled that problem. Another issue will be removable storage. Chances are that the iQue will use the SD memory card technology that both Palm, Handspring and others have selected for their devices. But that also makes us wonder if Garmin is planning on releasing map software for the iQue that is pre-loaded to the cards. Using the Palm OS also marks an interesting first for Garmin. Since the Palm OS is compatible with both the Windows and Apple Macintosh platform, the iQue should be the first Garmin device to support the Mac OS out of the box. We hope that any GPS-specific applications that run on the iQue also interface with the Mac. Previously the only way to get a Garmin GPS reader to work with a Mac was to use third-party software and to buy a confusingly long collection of cables. If nothing else it will be an interesting device. It stands to reason that eventually GPS capabilities will be built into many devices. Already GPS chips are showing up in phones (in fact, Garmin makes a GPS-ready phone that is as yet only being targeted for the European market) and at least one watch. A PDA is a great place for an always-accessible map to help you find your way. It may seem like on oddball idea right now, but Garmin may really be on to something here. The company will officially announce the device on Jan. 8, and will likely clear up our questions then.