Handheld

What Does Handheld Mean?

A handheld is any portable device that can be carried and held in one’s palm. A handheld can be any computing or electronic device that is compact and portable enough to be held and used in one or both hands. A handheld may contain cellular communication, but this category can also include other computing devices.

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Techopedia Explains Handheld

A handheld is primarily designed to provide a suite of computing, communication and informational tools in a device about the size of standard palm. Typically, handheld devices are not as powerful as a computer, but modern handhelds increasingly include powerful dual-core processors, RAM, SD storage capacity, an operating system, and native and add-on applications. They are often powered by a dry cell lithium or similar battery. Moreover, these types of devices increasingly use a touch screen interface.

Personal digital assistants (PDA), tablet PCs and portable media players are all considered handheld devices.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…