Traditional PC based GIS visualization and analysis is beginning to give way to mobile computing. New tablets like the IPad, and smartphones are offering new possibilities for us to use GIS in the field. We build GIS applications and have started to seriously look at mobile GIS. ESRI are slowly providing mobile tools. Surveyors may benefit directly from mobile ArcGIS; visualization, analysis and data collection could all be facilitated using a mobile GIS system. Both online and offline field work is now possible. We've written a few articles on the work we have been doing:
http://www.webmapsolutions.com/mobile-a ... ine-access
Nothing we have yet done commercially. We've mostly been interested in feedback. Now might be a good time to start this conversation within the surveying community.