This year promises to be the year of the all-in-one device. Personal digital assistant (PDA) shipments have declined consistently over the past two years, according to International Data Corp figures, as consumers increasingly opt for mobile phones with some PDA functionality.
Many of the latest phones have these so-called PDA functionalities: basic personal information management (PIM) applications that include calendars, appointments diaries, address books, to-do lists and messaging on a colour screen.
If you go by that loose definition, the Nokia 6600 qualifies as an all-in-one device. I disagree, however. I think all future phones will have the basic PIM functions described above but this will not quite qualify them as all-in-ones.
A true all-in-one device should have the full functionalities of a PDA and a mobile phone. It should be able to do everything your Palm or Pocket PC can do, such as spreadsheets and reading powerpoint and PDF files, and allow you to make calls, surf the Web and send messages.
Significant inroads were made in the all-in-one category last year, but there was nothing I would really buy.
Over the past two years, we have seen many stabs from Palm, Handspring, Nokia and O2 at developing the perfect all-in-one, but most have generated criticism from customers.