PDA PRIZEFIGHT

摘要

Microsoft may rule the desktop world, but in the battle for handheld supremacy, it's still anybody's game. Although the Palm operating system-found in hand-helds from PalmOne, Kyocera, Sony, Samsung, and other manufacturers-has held a market-share advantage since the beginning, Windows Mobile 2003 (nee Pocket PC) is no longer just nipping at its heels-it's nipping away at its sales. In the third quarter of 2003, PalmOne and Sony commanded about 47 percent of the PDA market, while Pocket PC makers Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Toshiba combined to make up about 33 percent, according to the market-research firm IDC. If you put the Palm OS in the ring with Windows Mobile, which PDA operating system would survive the bout? Is one notably stronger than the other when it comes to business applications? What about fun stuff like listening to music and watching movies? Is there a clear-cut winner for PDA power users? It's a title fight worthy of Madison Square Garden.