PDA
In 2100, what do people want in a phone? Three things: Security. Reliability. Repairability.
A Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) is a small, handheld personal computer in the Calamity Multiverse that is analogous to a smartphone, but designed to prioritise utility and reliability over entertainment and convenience. Standard PDAs not only allow for multi-medium, decentralised communication, but are also designed to be robust, rugged safety devices. Popular manufacturers of PDAs include Argus Computing, CORE Infosystems, and InterTeck; some governments, such as the Technocracy of Avalon, build and distribute their own devices to citizens.
Design
The most common design of PDA features a large screen and keyboard both mounted flat in a ruggedised, chunky metal case, slightly bigger than a real-world smartphone. The screen is commonly high-brightness, high-contrast and non-touch, but some brands include the option to order with a touch option. Retractable antennas that stow inside the case allow for convenient storage and easy access to networks when travelling away from populated areas.
The rear often houses two or more battery modules, which can be hot-swapped seamlessly, and allows access to the device’s storage bays, allowing replacement of solid-state, magnetic, or fluidic disks. It also usually contains a camera and sensor array, which is hidden behind a privacy shutter.
Communications
Radio communication systems vary by model, but most incorporate multiple wideband SDRs that prominently support a ubiquitous mesh network standard called Hexagon that has all but replaced conventional cellular systems. Other supported mediums include satellite constellations, general-purpose analogue and digital radio. Most can also unlock the ability to use amateur bands once a valid callsign is provided.
PDAs can also connect to wired networks. Most include a copper RJ-50 port; some high-end models equipped with Quantum Processing Units (QPUs) also feature optical ports and can act as a Quantum Networking Terminal (QNT). Some models designed for the hacker community, especially those made by InterTeck, also include dial-up modems and analog RJ-11 sockets.
Resiliency
The majority of PDAs are designed to work in high temperature, low temperature, dusty, humid, wet, high pressure, high radiation, or vacuum environments, making them truly a versatile individual tool that can be used in crisis situations or while working in extreme locations, such as in space or in the deep ocean, outside the user's PPE.
The heavy ruggedisation of PDAs makes them nearly immune to accidental damage, and some manufacturers advertise a bulletproof glass option for screens as a novelty option to play to the cultural reputation of the resiliency of their brands. This at one point led to an "arms race" with manufacturers one-upping each other to try and build a more durable PDA than their competitors. Even though they are rugged, their weight is kept as low as practically possible due to the use of aerospace materials such as titanium and aluminium in their construction.
Security
PDAs protect their contents with full-disk encryption, and while the most common method of unlocking is a password; intrinsic authentication, which either uses an organic’s IDAS implant or a synthetic’s Cryptographic Identity Authentication Module (CIAM), has become the gold standard for security and effectively makes unlocking impossible without the physical presence of the owner.
In addition, most medium to high end screens implement a technology known as perspective scrambling that can be enabled and disabled; like old privacy screens, this active system prevents information on a screen from being seen unless viewed straight on, but has the added benefit of preventing viewing from a distance.
Some high-end PDAs sold to corporations integrate active anti-tamper systems and emission security countermeasures, bringing a robust physical security model once only possessed by defence and intelligence organisations to individuals. They have become necessary in a world rife with high-stakes corporate espionage.
Modern PDAs feature at least one cryptographic coprocessor that always features conventional encryption and may or may not feature quantum encryption. PDAs manufactured by InterTeck usually feature OpenCrypto modules that support the Convoluted Interleaved Non-Restricted Algorithms interleaved cipher-suite, while Argus or CORE PDAs can integrate Metatron RACryptor modules that support RAC for corporations or Hardline modules for Raven, IRTO, and defence contractors. Multiple coprocessors can be used if multiple classifications of data need to be handled on the same device.
Safety
The safety systems of PDAs are highly advanced and designed to actively respond to different environmental scenarios by prompting their users to take different actions. For example, during a manifold distortion event individuals may be given directions to the nearest bunker or public terminal to shelter in whilst being given information about the approximate epicentre of the disruption. In other cases, PDAs can give other instructions to individuals, such as how to perform critical healthcare on another, how to reboot a damaged local electrical grid, or how to stay quiet in case a sapient anomaly is nearby.
Law
In many jurisdictions affected by frequent manifold distortion events, such as parts of London, carrying a PDA is, for safety reasons, legally required. Non-compliance can carry fines. PDAs must also legally be certified to different standards depending on the jurisdiction that ensures it will not fail in an emergency scenario, as it is considered a life safety device.