CEO John Sculley at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, referring to the Apple Newton. The term PDA was first used on Januby Apple Inc. The latter began to resemble the more familiar PDA style, including a full keyboard.

The first PDA, the Organiser, was released in 1984 by Psion, followed by Psion's Series 3, in 1991. Sometimes, instead of buttons, PDAs employ touchscreen technology. By the early 2000's, nearly all PDA models had the ability access the Internet, intranets or extranets via Wi-Fi or Wireless WANs, and generally include a web browser. Most models also have audio capabilities, allowing usage as a portable media player, and also enabling many of them to be used as telephones. PDAs have been mostly displaced by the widespread adoption of highly capable smartphones, in particular those based on iOS and Android, seeing a rapid decline in use after 2007. Apple Newton MessagePad (1993) – Computer History MuseumĪ personal digital assistant ( PDA), also known as a handheld PC, is a variety mobile device which functions as a personal information manager.

Microsoft activesync keyboard