API, IP and silicon licensing. Confidential product appraisal. The PDA and the Mobile Phone have converged into 'The Communicator', and pretty much everybody has one. A ubiquitous and compact device capable of voice together with a full compliment of swift data services operating on a broadband wireless network. Many high-end models feature color video cameras for video conferencing and image capture as well as GPS mapping etc.
Color displays are standard, as is reliable voice recognition and command.
Widespread adoption of secure distributed unified messaging allows users to store and retrieve all voice, Email and scheduling from one central location accessible easily by the communicator. All Communicators support the de-facto combined authentication and cashless SmartCard standards enabling secure financial transactions and remote banking to be performed. The generic PDA term has become a tired acronym and is relegated to describe a genre of information devices reserved for children and the small percentage of the population not yet relying on wireless as opposed to wired technologies. The basic mobile phone is fast disappearing along with the pager. Their limited functionality fails to impress a more sophisticated and feature-hungry consumer.