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According to Microsoft, the Pocket PC is "a handheld device that enables you to store and retrieve e-mail, contacts, appointments, play multimedia files, games, exchange text messages with MSN Messenger, browse the WebWeb can refer to: Spider web: A mesh built by a spider, composed of spider silk and usually used for catching prey. World Wide Web: A Hypertext system that operates over the Internet, used for serving webpages and transferring files. WEB: A computer progr, and more." [1]

From a technical standpoint, "Pocket PC" is a standard from Microsoft that sets various hardware and software requirements for mobile devices bearing the "Pocket PC" label.

For instance, any device which is to be classified as a pocket PC must:

• Run Microsoft's Windows CE (PocketPC version) operating system
• Come bundled with a specific suite of applications in ROM
• Include a touchscreenTouchscreens Touch screens Touch panels or Touchscreen panels are display screens that have a transparent overlay that is pressure-sensitive so that you can enter instructions and data by touching the screen. Though these are less common on PCs, they are
• Include a directional pad
• Include a set of hardwareHardware is equipment such as fasteners, keys, locks, hinges, wire, chains, plumbing supples, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts, especially when they are made of metal. In the United States, hardware has been traditionally sold in " hardware stor application buttons
• Be based on a StrongARMThe StrongARM microprocessor is a faster version of the Advanced RISC Machines ARM design. It was created by Digital Equipment Corporation, but later sold to Intel who continue to produce it today as the XScale. History The StrongARM was a collaborative p compatible CPU (older Pocket PCs have a MIPSMillion instructions per second, a measure of microprocessor speed Microprocessor without interlocked pipeline stages, a computer processor architecture MIPS Computer Systems Inc. currently MIPS Technologies Inc. the company behind this architecture Mater or SH3 processor)

Microsoft's current release is Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition , which adds native landscape support to those features already present in the original release of WM2003. The first device to come with 2003SE is Dell Axim X30.

The previous operating system, Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC, consists of the Windows CE.NET 4.2 operating system bundled with scaled-down versions of many popular desktop applications, including Microsoft Outlook, Internet Explorer, Word, Excel, Windows Media Player, and others. Past Pocket PC operating systems include Pocket PC 2002 (launched October 2001) and Pocket PC 2000 (launched April 2000), both running Windows CE 3.0 underneath.

The next version, Pocket PC 2004, has codename Magneto. Not much is known about it yet (Aug 2004).

Pocket PCs are manufactured and sold by several different companies; the major manufacturers include HP (under the iPAQ and now defunct Jornada brands), Toshiba, ViewSonic and Dell. In Mid- 2003, Gateway Computers and JVC announced that they too are releasing Pocket PCs. Prices in 2003 ranged from around $800 USD for the high-end models, some of which are combined with cell phones, to $200 for low-end models. A $100-$200 model is rumored to be released within 2004 or early 2005.

Before Pocket PCs were released, there were other Windows-based machines of the same form factor made by HP, Philips, and others called Palm-size PCs. These devices ran Windows CE 2.0-2.11 and had an interface that was nearly identical to the then-current desktop version of Windows, Windows 98.