Network Computing is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Networking in the Palm of Your Hand: Page 2 of 6

Unlike ActiveSync, HotSync synchronizes all data (including installed applications) on the PDA. But synchronization does not occur automatically; it happens only when the HotSync program is run by executing the program on the PDA or by pressing the HotSync button on the cradle.

In the enterprise market, synchronizing data between one host computer and one PDA is becoming passé in favor of centralized synchronization and management. Several companies offer management servers that let IT departments centrally distribute applications to PDAs at one time. PIM sync servers are also available and let IT departments distribute information from a database or groupware system directly to a fleet of PDAs (see review, "Enable Your Mobile Apps").

As if the variety of OSs weren't confusing enough, a host of expansion options is available. The most popular standards are MMCs (multimedia cards), SD (secure digital) cards and Compact Flash cards. MMCs are nonvolatile (data is not lost when power is cut) cards used to store data. Capacity ranges from 16 MB to 64 MB, and transfer rates go up to 2.5 MBps.

The successor to MMCs, SD cards, has capacity from 16 MB to 512 MB and a transfer rate of up to 10 MBps. SD also supports content encryption to ensure copy protection and can be used for I/O expansion, as demonstrated by the Palm/ Toshiba SD Bluetooth card. With prices of SD and MMC similar, the SD cards are a better investment.

Compact Flash cards have a capacity ranging from 16 MB to 1 GB and a transfer rate up to 3.5 MBps. They are also used for I/O expansion, as with Symbol's Spectrum24. Compact Flash has the most versatility for I/O applications and offers more storage, so if you are concerned with expansion, go with Compact Flash.