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"Smartphone" is one of the trendy words of our days' society. Have you ever wondered exactly what a smartphone is, and what exactly makes the difference between a common mobile phone and a smartphone, or between a computing device and a smartphone? What makes a phone to be smart, and why is this word so tossed around a lot? These are the answers I am trying to find in this article, and I hope it will make the things clear.

Briefly, a smartphone is a device which allows you to make phone calls, and has additional features which basically belong to personal digital assistants or to computers, like, for example, the ability to send and receive e-mails and edit various types of files (like Office files, which are very necessary for business users of smartphones).

For understanding what a smartphone is, and make a difference between smartphone and other devices, it would be good to begin with a short history of these devices. Common mobile phones have been improved and in time they transformed into personal digital assistants (PDAs). Cell phones had as main purpose making calls, and nothing else more. PDAs, on the other hand, like the Palm Pilot, were used as personal and portable organizers. A PDA could store your contact info, a to-do list, and it also could sync with your computer. In time, PDAs gained wireless connectivity and they started to have the emailing ability. Sending and receiving e-mails on the mobile phone was an important step in portable devices' development, and in time, these devices got added cellular phone features, and cell phones got more computer-like features. The result, the combination between these two types is the smartphone.



Actually, across the industry, there is no strict definition for the term "smartphone". The key features, the aspect which, I would say, define a smartphone are the following features, described in the next paragraphs. These aspects should be taken into consideration when you want to buy a smartphone, and they represent the most important specifications are attributes of the device.

The operating system is the base of the smartphone. Usually smartphones are based on operating systems which allow you to run productivity applications, and BlackBerry is the most obvious example: it runs the BlackBerry OS, and is supports plenty of business applications, essential for a business person. Other devices run Palm OS or Windows Mobile, and the well known iPhone works on the operating system with the same name, now at the 3.0 version.Other products are working on Linux.

Almost all cell phones include some software applications, and even the most basic models have now an address book or contact manager applications, but smartphones have for sure the ability to do more. It will allow you to create and edit Microsoft Office applications,or at least to open them, it will allow you to edit photos, download applications ( personal and business managers), get GPS directions or listen to music or make playlists of digital tunes.

Not only that a smartphone can access the Web, but the speed is very important. Latest models can do this as high speeds, and this happens thanks to the growth of the 3G data networks, which combined with the addition of Wi-Fi support to many portable devices brings users a higher navigation speed. Not all smartphones have high-speed Web access, but there are various methods for browsing the Internet, and I mean more networks and more means of connecting.

Smartphones usually have a QWERTY keyboard, but lately there have been developed models which have touch screen display and the keyboard is not required anymore. QWERTY keyboard has the same layout like the one on your computer, but in smaller forms, to fit the smartphone's design. The keyboard can be, as I said, hardware, and this means real buttons, physical keys, or software, which means that the keyboard appears on the touchscreen, like iPhone has.

A lot of cell phones can receive and send SMS and MMS, but the aspect which makes smartphones special is handling e-mail, sending and receiving e-mails are more common activities now. Many smartphones can support more than one e-mail account, and the e-mail management system is purely a smartphone ability. Some smartphones include instant messaging services support, like Yahoo Messenger or AOL, and there is a growing tendency of using Skype on the smartphone. This is a very interesting thing, because Skype, as we know, offers also voice services, and it might be a successful replacement for classical carriers.

Smartphones are definetely successful products on handheld devices market. They are very useful to busy individuals, and they are one of the elementary devices one should own in our modern society. A challenge for a smartphone users would be to discover and use all the features of the phone, and I think it's very important to take advantage of what your smartphone offers you. There are plenty of $500 smartphone users who use the devices for voice communications, and who are amazed when one geeky friend shows them what the wonderful device can do. I think this happens because of the lack of interest of the users, and because they spend too little time on exploring their smartphones. This exploration I would say that has the same importance as knowing the tools you use at work.

When deciding if you will purchase a smartphone or a simple cell phone, take into consideration the aspects presented here, and do some online research. There is a lot of useful information, and you can find a lot of interesting things about the products on your purchasing list. Be aware that what defines a smartphone may be old technology in a week, a month, and you should actually think of what you need and what would fit your preferences and needs. Stay tuned!