PDAs are used to store information that allows users to access the information at anytime and anywhere.
1. Automobile navigation
Many PDAs are widely used for car kits and are fitted with differential Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers to provide real-time automobile navigation. For standard new cars, they will provide PDAs to provide comfortability for drivers
Many systems are be able to show traffic conditions, dynamic routing and roadside mobile radar guns. TomTom, Garmin, and iGO are well-known popular programs using in U.S. and Europe which can show road conditions and 2D or 3D environments.
2. Ruggedized PDAs
For many years businesses and government organizations have relied upon rugged PDAs also known as enterprise digital assistants (EDAs) for mobile data applications. Ordinary applications include supply chain management in warehouses, package delivery, route accounting, medical treatment and record keeping in hospitals, facilities maintenance and management, parking enforcement, access control and security, capital asset maintenance, meter reading by utilities, and “wireless waitress” applications in restaurants and hospitality venues.
3. Medical and scientific uses
For medical area, PDAs are used as a device to diagnose and select the drugs. Furthermore, some studies have concluded that PDAs are also used for patients in order to record symptoms which effectively help develop communication with hospitals A range of resources have been developed to cater for the demand from the medical profession, including Epocrates and ABX guide, which supply drug databases, treatment information and relevant news in formats specific to mobile devices and services such as AvantGo translate medical journals into readable formats and provide updates from journals. Pendragon and Syware provide tools for conducting research with mobile devices, and connecting to a central server allowing the user to enter data into a centralized database using their PDA.
Recently the development of Sensor Web technology has led to discussion of using wearable bodily sensors to monitor ongoing conditions like diabetes and epilepsy and alerting medical staff or the patient themselves to the treatment required via communication between the web and PDAs.
