What is a Smartphone?

What is a Smart Phone? With over 140 million sold every year around the world it is fairly certain that soon you will be able to answer that question yourself! A smartphone is mobile phone with features and functions like a computer or others might refer to them as a miniature computer that acts like a mobile phone. However smartphones represent more than just the fusion of cellular phone and personal digital assistant (PDA). To better understand what a smartphone is all about a short account of its development may be of use. While the early cellular phones evolved by getting smaller while at the same time more powerful, they also added what they could do. The initial phase toward mobile phones turning into smartphones was the development of the personal digital assistant (PDA). Just as cell phones main function personal digital assistants, epitomized by the Palm Pilot, were developed to be used as personal and portable organizers, and little more. PDAs stored contact data, ‘to-do’ lists, and could synchronize with PC computers. Over time personal digital assistants gained wireless connectivity and users started using email with them. Just as personal digital assistants were incorporated into the mobile office environment, cellular phones started sending and receiving e-mails. PDAs became more like communications devices, cell phones gained computer-like features. The result was inevitable. A standard classification of what is a smartphone doesn’t exist. But there are some common functions among smartphones, including: QWERTY Keyboard: By most definitions smartphones almost universally include a QWERTY keyboard. This means that the keys are laid out the same way as they would be on typewriters and computer keyboards, not in alphabetical order. Incongruously the QWERTY Keyboard was originally designed in the 1800’s to slow down typists to keep typewriters from jamming. We’ve been cursing that development ever since, with no hope for respite in the near future! One more typical trait among smartphones includes having an Operating System. In general, a smartphone will be based on an operating system that allows it to control software programs just like a computer. The smartphone operating system is the most determining factor when identifying a smartphone. Some of the big names hardware manufacturers use their own proprietary system which is exclusive to their brand – BlackBerry and Apple iPhone. Other operating systems are licensed to handset 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. Software and Web Access: Almost all mobile phones include some kind of software, as a contact manager for example , however a smartphone is going to have the capability to do many more things. Browse the internet create and edit documents and spreadsheets, review files, download additional software programs for various purposes . The expansion of high speed data networks added to the addition of Wi-Fi, makes smartphones very useful. Communications and Messaging: All mobile phone supports SMS text messaging, but smartphones can handle email. MMS multimedia message service extends SMS text messaging to include longer text, graphics, photos, audio clips, video clips and is becoming common too. Sending text messages, technically identified as Short Message System (SMS), but also acknowledged as “texting”, is a straightforward, easy, and handy means to keep in touch to and from mobile devices. This functionality presents a distinct benefit over other technologies that rely on IP addresses because a mobile device IP address will vary depending on current network. Short Message Service (SMS) is a communication service component of the GSM mobile communication system. It relies on uniform communications rules that allow incoming and outgoing short text messages between mobile phones. While having GPS location tracking isn’t unique to smartphones, but smartphones are taking advantage of this technology. Soon GPS will become almost as basic as the telephone, or more likely included with every cell phone. GPS can calculate locations 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 assigning every square meter on earth its very own address. To track a mobile phone involves several main methods of calculating mobile phone location. GPS Global Positioning System-Satellites, Triangulation, and CellID. All these technologies transform mobile phones into mobile tracking devices.