Firm targets PDAs, "smart" phones

What: SplashData, based on Bainbridge Island

Who: John Chaffee, 42, co-founder

Employees: six. All work from their homes because there is no office.

A volatile start: When Chaffee and co-founder Ray Marshall started the company in 2000, the personal-digital assistant (PDA) market — think Palm and Pocket PC — was on fire. SplashData planned to develop applications for that market, raise funding and grow quickly. But the dot-com bubble soon burst. "We banged our heads against the wall for about three months to raise funding, and then we thought, 'You know, we just need to bootstrap this,' " Chaffee said.

The pocket wallet: SplashData initially developed only for Palm's operating system and created programs to turn a PDA into a wallet of sorts. Its software suite includes a personal-finance manager, a digital-photo program, a virtual shopping list and a system that securely saves Web passwords, credit-card numbers and other personal information.

In a volatile market: The PDA market started to decline the day SplashData opened, Chaffee joked. Palm began losing market share, and so SplashData broadened to the Windows Mobile and Symbian platforms. Now, the company is targeting so-called smart phones in addition to PDAs. "The types of people who use these devices are early adopters, and they're very enthusiastic about it, so it's pretty easy to target and reach them," Chaffee said.

Photo blogging: There's a bigger opportunity out there with camera-enabled cellphones, Chaffee said. SplashData is working on a Java-based program that would allow cellphone users to send their pictures to blogs and other Web sites. The company, which is profitable and self-funded, is seeking outside funding for this phase, Chaffee said.

Showing off: SplashData was at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this month demonstrating its programs in Palm's exhibit booth.

Quote: "I predict that in a year or two, the quality of cellphone images will rival that of a compact digital camera," Chaffee said. "We're quite ahead of the curve right now."

— Kim Peterson