Just as cellular phones revolutionized communication in the 1990's, smartphones are poised to revolutionize the cellular industry all over again. Smartphones are cellular telephones that have the added capability of operating like a small handheld computer. There are basically four prominent types of smartphones. Among them are those that run on Windows Mobile (a watered down version of Microsoft Windows), those that run on the Palm operating system, those that run on the Blackberry operating system, and the now ubiquitous iPhone operating system. All four types of smartphone have their own benefits as well as their own drawbacks. The articles in this series will examine each type of smartphone and try to point out those features that make it stand out from the crowd.
Features of SmartPhones
All smartphones have the traditional features of storing contact names, phone numbers, and email addresses. All smartphones these days also provide an electronic calendar system of some sort (as do most of their non-smart siblings). What makes smartphones in general stand out from a simple cell phone is the rich variety of software that can be provided for the platform. While it has been possible for many years to purchase add on programs for run-of-the-mill cell phones, smartphone software is generally much more complex and can provide many more features to the end user.
In many cases the software running on the smartphone is as much a reason to buy the phone as the phone is itself. Some brands such as Blackberry have made their software their primary selling point. Other phones such as the iPhone have made the potential third party software a major selling point as in the case of the new Apple iPhone Apps Store.
Regardless of the operating system, smartphones are all about a few basic things, convenience, connectivity, and rapid access to information. Almost any smartphone will provide all three of these things, but some are simply better for certain kinds of users. The next three articles in this series will demonstrate why.
