Handheld Web Applications

The Palm Pilot and Pocket PC have revolutionized mobile data collection for large companies like Fedex and UPS. They know that off-the-shelf applications will not be flexible, integrated or simple enough. They have spent the millions of dollars it took to go down the blind allies and learn all the solutions that don't not work. Now it is possible for small companies to deploy inexpensive systems by learning from their mistakes. Digitalfire Rule Number 1 You will never get what you really want or need without a custom application tailored to your business and constantly adapted as it changes.

You will not find an off-the-shelf handheld point of sale product in use in Walmart or McDonalds. Standard software requires that you adapt to it. Is that what you want? Is ordinary forms software all you really need? Hardly. Your business revolves around the software you use so if you grow or change you need a database software solution that will adapt or lead the way.

Digitalfire Rule Number 2
Custom solutions should run as a web applications on a web server so the handheld only needs a standard browser.

Big companies can afford the hassles of a custom written application on the handheld, but small business cannot. In addition typical handheld synchronization methods are not practical for many reasons. The internet is the secret. Do it the right way, focus efforts on a web based application that manages a central database of information.

We don't write Palm or Pocket PC custom applications because this is the wrong way to go for forms and data collection. You should be using the internet. Deploy as a custom web application that any secure-browser-equipped computer or handheld can access. Then use wireless solutions to get connected. However web applications are not built to fit handheld screens so you need custom ones written or existing ones adapted.

Consider some of the advantages of the Digitalfire method:

• Data will always be live and current and protected
• It is build around a powerful, fast, secure SQL database system
• Forms are internet accessible in the field on handheld and in the office
• No fiddling around with hotsync, no synchronization hassles
• Forms are reported in Adobe Reader format
• No custom forms applications are needed for PCs or handhelds, just a web browser (there are so many different kinds of pocket computers; e.g. Treo, IPAQ, CLIE, Symbol SPT, Palm, cell phones; but almost all of them have a browser)
• Login and access control
• All updates to functionality are instantly global
• The solution is automatically world wide
• You need no technicians to fiddle around with custom Palm or PocketPC handheld devices
• When you get new handheld hardware no customization or installation is needed
• Our web hosted solutions can automatically recognize different devices connecting and format accordingly

Who is Digitalfire?

Digitalfire.com is a 25 year old software and internet development company embarking starting down the handheld road. Our products are used on Linux, Windows and Macintosh and sold in 50 countries and taught in hundreds of universities. We have created web hosted applications like search engines, web stores and shopping carts (one site we made from scratch has 50,000 customers and 5000 products), database sites, etc. We are capable of writing world class PC or web hosted database applications (even sites like ebay or amazon). We have a very low overhead and a lot of experience. We are obsessed with detail and quality and learning. Contact me using the form on this page.

The Digitalfire Process

Our system is simple and much less expensive than custom handheld database or forms applications (most applications can be initiated for only a few hundred dollars and finished for a few thousand). Digitalfire uses the popular PHP programming language and the MySQL database engine running on the Apache web server.

Applications of this technology

We've seen alot happen in the computer industry, right now the potential of wireless handheld database management is the next big opportunity (not for us to make money, but for you). Patient encounters, home health care, inventory, customs and immigration, surveys, point of sale, assessments, inspections, evaluations, forms management, shipping and delivery, data collection, laboratory management, factory management are all possibilities for the handheld. While these require filling out forms and keeping track of forms, there is so much more. It centers around the database and the internet, and that is what Digitalfire really knows about.

Handheld Nirvana: Manage and administer your entire business empire effectively from a handheld. Possible? Yes. But only with a custom written solution.

Only custom-written web components can go down any road you choose!

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