What’s a a Smart Phone? With over 3 million a month sold in the US it is pretty likely that soon you will be able to answer that question yourself!
A smartphone is a device that permits people to make mobile phone calls, while also offering added functionality that essentially are commonly akin to computers. But smartphones are much more than the mere fusion of cellular phone and personal digital assistant (PDA).
To help get a sense of what a smartphone means a short history of its evolution may be of use. While the early mobile phones changed by getting smaller and more powerful, they also added features. The first stage toward cellular phones being referred to as smartphones was the introduction of the personal digital assistant (PDA). While mobile phones main purpose personal digital assistants, symbolized by the Palm Pilot, were designed to be used as personal and portable organizers, and little more. Personal digital assistants stored address book information, ‘to-do’ lists, and could sync with desktop computers. In time personal digital assistants gained wireless connectivity and owners began emailing with them. Just as personal digital assistants were integrated into the mobile office environment, cell phones started sending and receiving e-mails. Personal digital assistants became more like communications devices, cell phones gained computer-like features. The result is the smartphone.
There is not a cell phone industry standard definition for what makes up a smartphone. But there are some typical characteristics among smartphones, including:
QWERTY Keyboard: By most definitions smartphones almost universally include a QWERTY keyboard. This means that the keys are laid out similarly to they are on typewriters and computer keyboards, rather than like a numeric keypad. Paradoxically the QWERTY Keyboard was originally designed in the 1800’s to slow down typists to keep typewriters from jamming. We’ve been struggling with that development ever since, with no hope for respite in the near future!
One more typical function among smartphones is having an Operating System. As a rule, a smartphone will use an operating system that allows it to operate software applications much the same as a computer. The smartphone operating system is the strongest when identifying a smartphone. Some of the big names handset manufacturers use their own proprietary system which is exclusive to their brand – BlackBerry and Apple iPhone. Other operating systems are licensed to hardware manufacturers, Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian operating systems are used by a wide range of handset brands. If you say” I have a BlackBerry”, then they have a BlackBerry operating system. If someone says I have an HTC or a Samsung, it might have Android, Windows Mobile or even a Symbian operating system. However not all BlackBerry operating systems support the same features.
Software and Web Access: Almost all cell phones provide some kind of software, as a contact manager for example , but a smartphone is going to have the capability to do a lot more. Surf the web create and edit documents and spreadsheets, review files, download additional software programs for all kinds of purposes . The expansion of high speed data networks combined with the addition of Wi-Fi, makes smartphones very practical.
Communications and Messaging: Any cellular phone includes SMS text messaging, but smartphones allow email. MMS multimedia message service video and graphics is becoming common too. Exchanging text messages, technically identified as Short Message System (SMS), but more commonly referred to as “texting”, is a straightforward, effortless, and convenient manner to keep in touch among mobile phones. One feature of SMS text messaging that makes it particularly sensible for mobile software programs is that it utilizes mobile fixed identity, the phone number. SMS texting is the most widely used data application in the world, with about 2.4 billion active users, or three quarters of all cell phone subscribers.
A GPS locator isn’t unique to smartphones, but they are making more use of this technology. Soon GPS will become almost as basic as the telephone, or more likely included with every cell phone. GPS can determine positions accurate to a matter of. In fact, incredibly with advanced forms of GPS it is possible to achieve measurements to better than a centimeter! In a sense it’s like giving every square meter on the globe its very own address. These systems can be viewed as Network Based, Handset Based or a Hybrid approach. GPS location is Handset based as it requires software applications installed on the mobile phone in conjunction with GPS hardware. Triangulation and CellID are Network Based as they use the equipment and information from the cellular provider. Hybrid systems combine methods to make best use of available information and to make position cell tracking faster.
