Move over PDA, here comes TDA!

Talk about the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and the thing that comes to
mind is a professional pointing the stylus at the dainty little gizmo. The
stylus is what makes the PDA indispensable. Ever used your fingers (or thumbs
for that matter) to choose options or click onto the menu on the PDA's screen?

Well, you might just be on your way using the PDA entirely with your fingers
and the stylus might just become extinct. Get ready for the new generation PDA
­ the Tactile Digital Assistant (TDA)!

What TDA's all about?

Novinit ­ a French company - has developed the world's first TDA based on
touch-screen technology, which relies entirely on the thumb for input. The
uptake is that thumbs are harder to lose than a stylus!

The TDA is named Jackito and comes with two simultaneous touch points ­ so
you can operate it with your thumb - and at the same time there is no need for a
stylus. Using the TDA is very easy, since you can search a database or a large
address book, with just your thumb. The device comes with a variety of features
like finger-touch control, battery life, fast graphics, multi-tasking, real-time
processing, interchangeable skins and much more.

The idea of Jackito was conceived from the fact that the world's first
touch screen based PDA was already developed by a US company called Litton in
1978 for US and German armies. After some years Novinit pondered if there's a
touch screen based PDA for the armies, why not create one for gizmo lovers?

Arnaud de la Fouchardière of Jackito says, "The architecture chosen for
Jackito focuses on user friendliness. Fingertips (as opposed to a stylus) are
used as a natural device for touching the options displayed by the LCD touch
screen. $50 million has been invested in these efforts."

ENGINEERING OF TDA

Jackito runs on seven processors with full parallel-processing capabilities (two
micro-controllers and five accompanying reconfigurable cores), a large 4.5"
color QVGA LCD fingertip touch-screen that offers resolution of 320x240 dpi,
display with landscape orientation and two SD/MMC card slots. The TDA runs on an
operating system called 3ActilOS, has 2.5 MB SRAM and 16 MB NOR Flash memory.

It measures 140 x 80 x 16 mm and weighs just 150 grams and feeds on a single
AA battery, which according to the company, can sustain for several weeks. Using
the touch-screen with your thumb or index fingers means that you don't have to
carry or use a stylus, keyboard or any other input device. Also, Novinit says
that the finger's contact area is hundred times larger than that of a stylus
and a stylus exerts hundred times more pressure on the screen than a finger.

Arnaud further added, "Jackito is not only an electronic device, but
also a personal companion, supporting the three essential ingredients of a
well-balanced lifestyle ­ work's productivity, personal life and
edutainment." Jackito will also come preloaded with about twenty
applications, which includes games, puzzles, address book, clock, to-do list,
synchronization feature, backup application, etc.

AVAILABILITY OF JACKITO

Novinit has not yet appointed any dealers for Jackito, though as of now they
plan to make all the transactions through their website. Jackito is available
for sale on www.jackito.com at a list price of Euro 600, which works out to
almost Rs 33,500 (shipping charges and other taxes extra). Novinit says that if
you are interested in buying the product, you will have to order it online
through their website by remitting $100 and then wait for about 90 days for the
product to be delivered to you.

However, you can choose the screen type (color or monochrome), user
interface, removable front cover and changeable stick-on strips of your choice.
The Jackito is entirely customizable ­ you can choose between add-ons like
internal MP3 player, FM radio, microphone, headset, Bluetooth, solar battery
charger and much more at an extra cost. According to Arnaud, they will target at
"early adopters" for this product, but "the product is destined
for everybody because the product has all the facilities that we lack as human
beings ­ gigantic memory, vast capabilities for computation, learning, games
and communications."

OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD

The development of TDA doesn't stop here. In fact, this is just the
beginning. Novinit expects that by April 2005, it will be able to make available
innovative accessories for the TDA, you will be able to choose from WiFi
modules, GPS, digital camera (CMOS based), micro-printer, micro-scanner, barcode
reader, smart-card reader, TV module and much more.

Though TDA seems to be an 'in' thing with all the features it talks
about, there are certain things that work against the very concept of 'digital
assistant'. Jackito doesn't come with character recognition software
built-in. It means that you will have to type through the virtual keyboard on
the TDA's screen if you want to enter a few important data. This is far more
tedious than just scribbling a few notes on a PDA screen with the stylus and
leaving the conversion part to the handwriting recognition software.

The TDA runs on an operating system called the ActilOS, which no one has even
heard of before. This means that there wont be any third party applications for
the TDA, at least immediately. Moreover the product is similar to a PDA ­ its
just that the TDA can be used with the fingers / thumbs and supports landscape
orientation too.

Though the TDA seems promising enough, time will only tell whether it remains
stable in the market. So if you want to experience the magic of TDA or strike a
deal with them, log on to the Jackito's website and click 'buy'!

CHRIS FERNANDO