Personal Digital Assistant

Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), handheld computer that helps with such tasks as taking notes, scheduling appointments, and sending faxes and electronic mail. PDAs are also called Personal Communicators and Personal Intelligent Communicators. Most PDAs can connect to other computers, either through infrared, wireless technology such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, or a universal serial bus (USB) cable. PDAs can also access the Internet through Wi-Fi, cellular radio technology, or an Ethernet connection. PDAs equipped with a touch screen are capable of at least limited handwriting recognition, allowing users to enter notes into the computer with a special penlike device, called a stylus, rather than with a keyboard. Most modern PDAs have cellular radios installed and are known as smartphones.