PDAs, or Personal Digital Assistants, are becoming more and more common everyday. Many people can no longer imagine life without their PDA. PDAs are equipped first and foremost with email and internet access, but most now also include other helpful and entertaining features. Email on the go using a PDA is a great asset to many people. Respond to your boss and tell them yes you'll be at the meeting. Email your mom to tell her you got her card. And do it anywhere you want with the convenience of a PDA. Browsing the internet on a PDA is becoming more similar to browsing on a laptop or home desktop PC. PDAs originally started with limited browsers, meant for viewing mostly text on websites. But in today's media rich internet, the demand for more media capable PDA browsers came about. Many PDAs are built with browsers capable of viewing most pictures and videos on websites. Some PDAs even have built in shortcuts to social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. No longer just for viewing stock quotes, PDAs can now view pretty much anything you'd want to view on the web.

Applications, such as Excel and Word, can now be found on many PDAs, which allows freedom to individuals that once were restricted to doing their job from their desk. Using their PDAs, professionals are able to not only open attachments on their handheld devices, but on many PDAs the user can even edit spreadsheets and documents while out of the office. The calendar/organizer function is another great feature of PDAs. Business people use it to keep track of important meetings and deadlines; students use it to keep track of assignment due dates and study sessions; moms use it to keep track of their children's activities and doctor's appointments. Pretty much anything you want to keep track of, whether it's a medication schedule, or due dates for bill payments, can be made simple using a PDA. While many of the features of PDAs were originally designed to be great tools for business people, in recent years, more features have been added to appeal to the general public as well. Many PDAs are now capable of being used as an MP3 player, some will even play full length movies. Most PDAs are at least equipped with a camera for still photos, and many even have a video camera. Many cellular service providers even offer GPS Navigation on their PDAs. Depending on the carrier, device, and application, you can get map navigation, turn by turn directions, and even audible turn by turn navigation. Some providers charge a monthly fee for this feature, but on certain PDAs, GPS navigation is included at no additional charge. When you can have features like that in your pocket, many people are finding that they don't need to carry separate devices anymore. Why carry an MP3 player, laptop, digital camera, portable DVD player, GPS device, and cell phone, when you can have one device that really does it all?