SD U4O1 KK02- types and characteristics of mobile computing devices, including:
- PDAs
- mobile phones
- laptops
- gaming consoles
PDA
- Personal digital assistant - a.k.a. palmtop computer, handheld computer, personal information manager (PIM).
- Usually has wi-fi, internet and email connectivity and inbuilt web browser.
- Now often also have phone and media playing capabilities.
- Downloadable apps (applications)
- Portable, light, low electrical requirements.
- Small storage capacity (SD card, Flash RAM, a little RAM)
- Often have proprietary plugs & sockets.
- Very limited display size and data entry controls.
- Many have touchscreen. Older varieties used QWERTY soft or physical keyboards, or a stylus.
- Some models have handwriting recognition.
- Usually can synchronise data with another computer.
- Often now indistinguishable from smartphones: PDAs without phone facilities account for a tiny percentage of sales.
- Often used to manage stock, collect signatures at post offices when packages are collected, issue parking tickets etc.
- Software is usually restricted to a single make or model.
- Apple OS applications are controlled by Apple.
- Android OS applications are less controlled.
- Some run cut-down versions of 'regular' operating systems (e.g. Windows Mobile)
- Common examples: Palm Pilot, Blackberry.
Mobile Phones
- Obviously, can make wireless phone calls
- Many now are smartphones/PDAs - the border between them all is blurring more every day.
Laptops
- a.k.a. Notebook computers
- Not phone-capable.
- Run a full computer operating system (e.g. Windows, Mac OS, Linux)
- Portable, battery powered.
- Often have optical drives, several USB ports, HDMI, VGA out, audio ports.
- Large amounts of RAM (1 to 6G) and secondary storage (SSD or HDD)
- Can be as powerful as a desktop PC
- Large display (compared with a PDA) - e.g. 13" to 18"
- Nearly full QWERTY keyboard (sometimes keys are smaller than a normal keyboard)
- Tablet computers also have rotatable touch-sensitive screens for data entry and display.
- Lower-powered laptops are merging with higher-end netbooks.
Gaming Consoles
- Primarily designed for gaming - strong on graphics, sound etc
- Often internet-connectable
- Many have special controllers for data/movement entry
With tablet computers (e.g. iPad, Samsung Galaxy tablet) the distinctions between laptops, phones, PDAs etc are further blurring. For example, the iPad is not phone capable and cannot be used as normal computers (to run spreadsheets for example) but newer tablets (e.g. Samsung) are phones as well as fully-functional computers. |
