What is a PDA vs. Smartphone?

A PDA is a small hand-held device that provides digital organization functions. They were originally designed to replace the paper-way of organizing calendars, address books and other contact functions. Today, PDAs continue to do this, but now offer wireless connections to email and internet browsing. A typical PDA consists of a small liquid crystal display (can be color), an operating system, processor and memory. They include a variety of software, including word processing, video/movie attachments and spreadsheets. PDAs are mainly data-centric and are available in tablet and clamshell models. The tablet PDAs are palm-sized devices with a stylus and touch-screen and usually have either a QWERTY keyboard or stylus-operated keyboard for data entry. Clamshell PDAs usually include a small keyboard, a stylus and a touch screen. The keyboard is usually much smaller, if there is one. These also have a closed-face design.

A smartphone devices are actually cellular phones with some PDA functions. The are voice-centric with the primary function being voice communication. This means that data is only a secondary feature. Many smartphones can be used with only one-hand, while PDAs mainly require both hands for best use. Smartphones have very rich telephony features with some data capabilities.

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