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10/01/2004: "Using a Handheld device to connect to web sites."
You may consider a few different ways to get data from different sites:
Software architecture:
1. Use Pocket internet explorer
This requires that web servers you visit format html to fit tiny screen. This option requires coding on the servers and is reasonably fast to render.
2. Use Windows Forms running on the handheld and access web services running on web servers. This option is a bit faster to render.
3. Use Windows Forms running on the handheld and connect directly to SQL Server database.
Network architecture:
Wireless networking is usually the bottleneck unless the PDA is on LAN. If LAN is not an option, you will need to choose a wireless Internet provider (e.g. T-Mobile, Verizon or ATT). Wireless internet will completely deplete the battery power in under an hour. To get wireless internet, you will also need to purchase a Special extension card that will act like an antenna. These antennas are almost as big as the PDA itself. When reception is poor, data transfer speed is much lower than for a dial-up modem.