Death of Unconnected Handhelds?

That’s the big question to be asked…PDA, as anyone smart enough would have figured out, is a transitory technology/device, and as such not a medium to bet your company on.

Sony is scaling back its Clie handheld line, a move that will see the company exit the U.S. and European markets for PDAs. The move reflects changes in the market for handhelds, as traditional models make way for devices such as smart phones. It also comes as a blow to PalmSource, which makes the operating system for the Clies.

On the content side, there are some companies which have either closed or are rapidly changing their business models to adapt to the morphing market:

– Mazingo, a small startup trying to develop a video service to PDA, closed down last year.

– Vindigo, the poster child for PDA-based businesses, is betting its whole house on moving from PDAs to wireless connected devices.

– In Korea, e-books are moving from PDAs to cellphones

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