What is a Smartphone?
Smartphone, is it a PDA or is a cell phone?
The Smartphone is a marriage between a PDA device and the wireless voice communications of a cell phone. Possibly the fastest-growing gadget market space today, analysts say that 12 million devices were shipped in the second quarter of 2005. This counts in large part for the steadily declining sales of standalone PDA devices and threatens to take over the PDA altogether. The era of the Smartphone has arrived.
Smartphones trickled into the PDA market as dedicated PDAs like Palm and Blackberry began using both GSM/GPMS voice and data wireless communications. Voice capabilities on most PDAs quickly became an obvious feature added to the data capabilities of these highly connected devices. The Smartphone arrives at the same type of device from the other direction, that of a fully functional and established cellular phone simply adding data to its capabilities.
The true Smartphone will also have an operating system giving it the same features as a personal organizer, and ability to download and run specific applications for the device. Applications can be created by the manufacturer but aren't limited to the manufacturer's designs. The Nokia 6820, for instance, is capable of running Java applets created for their Smartphones by anyone. This is a key strength of the Smartphone - the ability to run third-party applications gives it access to a potentially unlimited supply of organically produced applets fitting any interest or business type.
Because of the power of the voice and data communications, the Smartphone can send/receive email from anywhere just a like a Blackberry and can come with a pre-loaded browser allowing the user to surf the web. Some even use Bluetooth or wi-fi communications for additional options to wirelessly send/receive data to a local network or PC. Like any Bluethooth-enabled devices, Smartphone with this feature can use any of the variety of Bluetooth peripheral - like hands-free headsets - a convenience for voice-connected drivers. Some Smartphones even come with a built-in camera as well as a variety of media playback options such as full-motion video and MP3.
The first-ever Smartphone was an experimental development by IBM called Simon back in 1992. The device was sold by BellSouth as a mobile phone with personal organizer capabilities. The groundbreaking product has finally caught on. Today's Smartphones come from leaders in cell phone technology and PDAs that connect by voice are also technically considered Smartphones. This means devices by Nokia, Palm and even some Windows CE devices can be considered Smartphones.