The current crop of handhelds spans a wide range of utility and cost. At the high end are PDAs, handhelds with or without wireless connectivity and real computer power, and the new crop of smart phones that include PDA functionality. It's a tough choice for individuals, and even tougher for companies to decide what's best. IT managers shouldn't standardize on a single device or even several devices if it's being done to simplify IT support, says Ken Dulaney, VP of mobile computing at Gartner. Technology is just changing too fast.
Some businesses can establish best-device recommendations.
For now, wireless access is available only via Palm VIIs, which have built-in modems. It only took a weekend to tweak the Web sites into shape for the Palm, and the sites are fast. Choosing between a Palm and a PocketPC is a common decision for technology directors like Duncan. But the lines between the devices are blurring. Palm has more than 120,000 application developers, while a growing number of products are being developed or scaled for PocketPCs.