Smart phone technology: Smartphones are devices that not only let you make phone calls but

offer Web access, applications, email and other technological advances not included with older cell phones. Smartphones are handheld mini-computers, and they offer individuals and businesses a way to stay connected while traveling. Smartphones have a browser installed. Web access on smartphones is slower than a broadband connection, but some websites create smartphone-enabled Web applications to speed up browsing. Some phones have a PC browser such as Safari, but other phones have a customized browser used only on the phone. Data access typically costs more on your cell phone plan, but it lets you search websites for directions, restaurant information, traffic updates and other data required while traveling. A smartphone is a mobile phone built on a mobile operating system, with more advanced computing capability and connectivity than a feature phone.[1][2][3] The first smartphones combined the functions of a personal digital assistant (PDA) with a mobile phone. Later models added the functionality of portable media players, low-end compact digital cameras, pocket video cameras, and GPS navigation units to form one multi-use device. Many modern smartphones also include high-resolution touchscreens and web browsers that display standard web pages as well as mobile-optimized sites. High-speed data access is provided by Wi-Fi and Mobile Broadband.

Smartphone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A smartphone is a mobile phone built on a mobile operating system, with more advanced computing capability and connectivity than afeature phone.[1][2][3] The first smartphones combined the functions of a personal digital assistant (PDA) with a mobile phone. Later models added the functionality of portable media players, lowend compact digital cameras, pocket video cameras, and GPS navigation units to form one multi-use device. Many modern smartphones also include high-resolution touchscreens and web browsers that display standard web pages as well as mobile-optimized sites. High-speed data access is provided by Wi-Fi and Mobile Broadband. The mobile operating systems (OS) used by modern smartphones include Google's Android, Apple's iOS, Nokia's Symbian, RIM'sBlackBerry OS, Samsung's Bada, Microsoft's Windows Phone, Hewlett-Packard's webOS, and embedded Linux distributions such asMaemo and MeeGo. Such operating systems can be installed on many different phone models, and typically each device can receive multiple OS software updates over its lifetime.

Origin of the term

Although devices combining telephony and computing were conceptualized as early as 1973 and were offered for sale beginning in 1994, the term "smartphone" did not appear until 1997, [4][5][6][7][8] when Ericssondescribed its GS 88 "Penelope" concept as a "Smart Phone". The distinction between smartphones and feature phones can be vague, and there is no official definition for what constitutes the difference between them. One of the most significant differences is that the advanced application programming interfaces (APIs) on smartphones for running third-party [9] applications can allow those applications to have better integration with the phone's OS and hardware than is typical with feature phones. In comparison, feature phones more commonly run on [1] proprietaryfirmware, with third-party software support through platforms such as Java ME or BREW. An additional complication in distinguishing between smartphones and feature phones is that over time the capabilities of new models of feature phones can increase to exceed those of phones that had been promoted as smartphones in the past. Some manufacturers use the term "superphone" for their high end phones with unusually large screens [10][11] and other expensive features. Other commentators prefer "phablet" in recognition of their convergence with low-end tablet computers.

What Is a Mobile Phone?

A mobile phone is more frequently called a cellular phone or cellphone. These communication devices connect to a wireless communications network through radio waves or satellite transmissions. Most mobile phones provide voice communications, Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Message Service (MMS), and newer phones may also provide Internet services such as Web browsing, instant messaging capabilities and e-mail.

What Is a PDA?
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Take an interactive tour:: The IBM SmartCloud gives your business the IT resources it needs. Short for personal digital assistant, this is the name given to small handheld devices that combine computing, telephone/fax, Internet and networking features. A typical PDA can function as a cellular phone, fax sender, Web browser and personal organizer. These devices are usually pen-based, which requires the use of a stylus rather than a keyboard for input. PDAs today are available in either a stylus or keyboard version. Traditionally, PDAs have not had phone or fax services.

What Is a Smartphone?

A smartphone is considered to be the combination of the traditional PDA and cellular phone, with a bigger focus on the cellular phone part. These handheld devices integrates mobile phone capabilities with the more common features of a handheld computer or PDA. Smartphones allow users to store information, e-mail, install programs, along with using a mobile phone in one device. A smartphone's features is usually more oriented towards mobile phone options than the PDA-like features. There is no industry standard for what defines a smartphone, so any mobile device that has more than basic cellphone capabilities can actually be filed under the smartphone category of devices.