Personal navigation assistant

A Personal Navigation Assistant (PNA) also known as Personal Navigation Device or Portable Navigation Device (PND) is a portable electronic product which combines a positioning capability (such as GPS) and navigation functions. Some PNA devices are PDAs with limited features and can be unlocked.

History  

The earliest PNAs were hand-held GPS units (circa mid-1980s) which were capable of displaying the user's location on an electronic map. These units included simple navigation functions such as course-to-steer and course-made-good. This first generation of PNAs were used by the US military.

Market developments

According to the analyst firm Berg Insight, there were more than 150 million turn-by-turn navigation systems worldwide in mid-2009, including about 35 million factory installed and aftermarket in-dash navigation systems, over 90 million Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs) and an estimated 28 million navigation-enabled mobile handsets with GPS.
The term PNA has come into widespread use with the growing popularity of automobile navigation systems. Original PNAs provided users with a map layer, real-time-traffic, and a routing engine with audio/visual cues for turn-by-turn guidance. The latest generation of PNA have sophisticated navigation functions such as parking assistance and personalization engines that enhance the user experience. To reduce total cost of ownership and time to market, most modern PNA devices such as those made by Garmin Ltd., Mio Technology Ltd. or TomTom International BV. are running an off-the-shelf embedded operating system such as Windows CE or Embedded Linux on commodity hardware with OEM versions of popular PDA Navigation software packages such as TomTom Navigator, I-GO 2006, Netropa IntelliNav iGuidance, or Destinator.
Other manufacturers such as Garmin and Magellan prefer to bundle their own software developed in-house. Because many of these devices use an embedded OS, many technically inclined users find it easy to modify PNAs to run third party software and use them for things other than navigation, such as a low-cost audio-video player or PDA replacement.
GPS equipped mobile phones have now eclipsed the sale of dedicated GPS units. Nokia, Samsung Electronics, Motorola and other handset makers were predicted to sell sell 162 million GPS equipped phones in 2007, dwarfing the 20 million units Garmin and TomTom have forecast they will sell combined, according to iSuppli, a leading market researcher in California. The inclusion of Google Maps Navigation in Android devices such as Motorola Droid and Nokia's announcement of free Ovi Maps has led to many people using their smartphones instead of having a separate PNA for trip navigation.

Personal digital assistant

A personal digital assistant (PDA), also known as a handheld PC, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. The term evolved from Personal Desktop Assistant, a software term for an application that prompts or prods the user of a computer with suggestions or provides quick reference to contacts and other lists. PDAs were largely discontinued in the early 2010s after the widespread adoption of highly capable smartphones, in particular those based on iOS and Android.
Nearly all PDAs have the ability to connect to the Internet. A PDA has an electronic visual display, enabling it to include a web browser, all models also have audio capabilities enabling use as a portable media player, and also enabling most of them to be used as mobile phones. Most PDAs can access the Internet, intranets or extranets via Wi-Fi or Wireless Wide Area Networks. Most PDAs employ touchscreen technology.
The first PDA was released in 1984 by Psion, the Organizer. Followed by Psion's Series 3, in 1991, which began to resemble the more familiar PDA style. It also had a full keyboard. The term PDA was first used on January 7, 1992 by Apple Computer CEO John Sculley at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, referring to the Apple Newton. In 1994, IBM introduced the first PDA with full mobile phone functionality, the IBM Simon, which can also be considered the first smartphone. Then in 1996, Nokia introduced a PDA with full mobile phone functionality, the 9000 Communicator, which became the world's best-selling PDA. The Communicator spawned a new category of PDAs: the "PDA phone", now called "smartphone". Another early entrant in this market was Palm, with a line of PDA products which began in March 1996. The terms "personal digital assistant" and "PDA" apply to smartphones but are not used in marketing, media, or general conversation to refer to devices such as the BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone or Android devices.

Typical features

A typical PDA has a touchscreen for entering data, a memory card slot for data storage, and IrDA, Bluetooth and/or Wi-Fi. However, some PDAs may not have a touch screen, using softkeys, a directional pad, and a numeric keypad or a thumb keyboard for input; this is typically seen on telephones that are incidentally PDAs.
In order to have the functions expected of a PDA, a device's software typically includes an appointment calendar, a to-do list, an address book for contacts, a calculator, and some sort of memo (or "note") program. PDAs with wireless data connections also typically include an email client and a Web browser.

1. Touch screen

2. Memory cards

3. Wired connectivity

4. Wireless connectivity

5. Synchronization

Automobile navigation

Some PDAs include Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers; this is particularly true of smartphones. Other PDAs are compatible with external GPS-receiver add-ons that use the PDA's processor and screen to display location information.

PDAs with GPS functionality can be used for automotive navigation. PDAs are increasingly being fitted as standard on new cars.

PDA-based GPS can also display traffic conditions, perform dynamic routing, and show known locations of roadside mobile radar guns. TomTom, Garmin, and iGO offer GPS navigation software for PDAs.