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Although handhelds offer an abundance of features that increasingly come closer to matching what is possible with a notebook or desktop computer, most individuals still use their handhelds primarily as a replacement for their paper planner. Why is it that users tend not to make the most of their handhelds?
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Handhelds are wonderful devices for keeping track of schedules, recording contact information, and taking notes. After all, handhelds were first created for these specific tasks. However, handhelds quickly evolved, acquired more capabilities, and became more than simply glorified digital planners. Nearly all handhelds on the market today, with the appropriate configuration, allow you to access a local network or the Internet via wireless Ethernet or Bluetooth, record and play back sound such as oral notes or MP3s, take and store digital photos, send and receive e-mail, access Web sites, create and view slide presentations, and much more.
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Let's face it: upon acquiring a new handheld, most people do not sit down and read the documentation from front to back, especially if it is not the first handheld they have used. Often, you only flip through documentation if there is a specific task you want to accomplish. Unfortunately, many people do not spend the time to review the documentation and remain unaware of the number of features offered by the device. The first step to becoming more productive with your handheld is to determine the breadth of possibilities your handheld offers. Although the prospect of sitting down and reading a 100-page technical manual may not seem to be the most enjoyable thing you could do, it is in fact the best way for you to familiarize yourself with the capabilities of your handheld.
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Your handheld is not limited solely to the applications and accessories that came packaged with it. You can easily download or purchase an enormous number of software packages that accomplish a number of tasks. Companies frequently introduce handheld versions of popular office applications, multimedia software, and networking applications into the marketplace, continually expanding the capabilities of PDAs. These applications often look and feel the same as their desktop relatives. For example, Pocket Word and Pocket Excel are scaled down, simplified versions of Microsoft Office applications and offer the abilities to open and edit their respective documents.
Along the same lines, you can choose from a wide array of accessories for handheld devices, from digital camera add-ons, to networking add-ons, to fully capable GPS add-ons. The key is to determine what tasks you want to perform and match them with the accessories and applications that best meet your needs. Do you often work with PowerPoint presentations and want to edit, store, and show such presentations from your handheld? Many applications are available for working with PowerPoint presentations, and a number of accessories are available that allow you to project those presentations directly, or indirectly, from your handheld. Would you like to use your handheld to take notes during meetings, but find the stylus input unwieldy? Several types of portable, foldable keyboards are available for exactly such tasks.
If you want to increase your general productivity and use your handheld to the fullest extent, take the time to discover your handheld's options and features and find out what extra accessories and applications are available and how they may benefit you.
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