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The
Market
Recently,
industry analysts and leading technology companies alike have identified
a void in the way we work with electronic information. At present,
users still go back and forth between hardcopy and electronic versions,
revising and disseminating documents and other data. People often
print out hardcopy to mark it up, as using a pen to circle a word,
add a quick sketch, or scribble a quick note is often faster, more
intuitive, and more versatile than using the PC-based editing tools.
The need is to directly incorporate freestyle, handwritten input
into the digital document.
Part
of the solution lies in readily available hardware that can recognize
handwritten input. Personal Data Assistants (PDAs) are the most
viable alternative, as they are stylus-based, highly portable, and
widely used. According to Gartner Group, PDA shipments nearly doubled
to 9.4 million units in 2000 compared to 5.1 million the previous
year. Both Gartner and International Data Corporation (IDC) expect
PDA shipments to be in the 30-million range worldwide by 2004.
At
the same time, wireless connected mobile computing is set to surge
as hand held computing and telephony converge. UK-based research
firm Strategy Analytics forecasts that in 2004 more than 78 million
dual-purpose personal organizers-mobile phones will be sold worldwide,
compared with just two million last year.
The
remainder of the solution lies in the software that provides the
user interface and underlying technology that can capture and integrate
the handwritten data into documents and images in a simple and meaningful
manner. Informal Software's cross-platform technology is uniquely
poised to meet this need, with solutions available today and foundations
in place to take full advantage of emerging technology and market
trends.More information on market trends and user needs can be found
in the White Paper, Pen & Paper, The Stylus and Today's Computing
Needs(in PDF format)
Click
here to download self-extracting zip (340K)
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