Smart phones

Now a days’ we often hear the term “Smartphone”. So what is this smart phone? And how is a Smartphone different from a cell phone? A Smartphone is a high-end mobile phone which is  a combination of the functions of a personal digital assistant (PDA) and a mobile phone. A Smartphone is a device by which we can make telephone calls, and it also has  some features that could have been found only in a PDA or in a computer that offer facilities like sending and receiving e-mail and edit Office documents.

Today’s smart phones work as portable media player and camera phone with high-resolution touch screens, web browsers which can access and properly display standard web pages rather than only mobile-optimized sites, GPS navigation, mobile broadband access and Wi-Fi. But in the past when cell phones were used to make calls the PDAs as personal portable organizer in which someone could store contact info and a to-do list, and could also contemporize with computer. Then gradually PDAs gained abilities like, wireless connectivity and were able to send and receive e-mail. In the meantime, Cell phones too added on messaging facilities. PDAs then bestowed cellular phone features, while cell phones added more PDA-like features. Thus the Smartphone was created.

The first Smartphone was the IBM Simon; designed in 1992, launched in 1993 and sold by BellSouth. In 1997 the term ‘Smartphone’ was used for the first time when Ericsson unveiled the concept phone GS88, the first device with ‘Smartphone’ label. So what is the definition of a Smartphone? There is no definition but all smart phones must have some features in common from which we can identify them. Like, the operating system, to run any application all smart phones should be based on operating systems, like Nokia Smart phones with the Symbion OS, Apple’s Smart phones runs iOS, Black Berry Smart phones runs Black Berry OS, Other brand’s Smart phones run Google’s Android OS, HP’s webOS and sometimes BADA operating system.

In the apps genre by a Smart phone must allow us to download apps, such as personal and business finance managers, handy personal assistants or it should allow us to edit photos, get driving directions via GPS, and create a playlist of digital tunes. A smart phone must give us the access to internet through 4G and 3G data networks or any other kind of access, as well as the addition of Wi-Fi support. A Smartphone must have a QWERTY keypad just like the computer keyboard; the keyboard can be hardware or software. Handling of e-mail sets a Smartphone apart from other cell phones. A Smartphone can contemporize with our personal and, most likely, our professional e-mail account. Some smart phones can support multiple e-mail accounts. Others include access to the popular instant messaging services, like AOL’s AIM and Yahoo! Messenger but we all know that cell phone technology is changing everyday so we can’t tell what will be the features of a Smartphone in future.