What is a smartphone?

A smartphone is a  device that has all the features of a mobile phone and most of the features of a PDA such as calendar, email, web browsing and office applications. With the dual band GSM/GPRS services, smartphones can be used to browse the web or even check your email. When purchacing a Smartphone the following should be considered:

What should be considered when buying a smartphone?

-Operating System:

The first thing you're choosing in a smartphone is an operating system. You can choose between Palm OS, Microsoft Windows Mobile Pocket PC or Smartphone, BlackBerry and Symbian. The choice of operating system will affect the functionality and applications that the phone runs.

• Palm OS: This operating system is popular in Palm smartphones and PDA's (like the Treo 600 and Treo 650). Functionality includes contacts, calendar, memo, calculator, phone, SMS and MMS messaging, still and video capture, world clock, web browser, email and audio/video player.

• Symbian: This operating System is popular in Siemens, Nokia and Sony Ericsson, Motorola and some newer Panasonic Smart phones (Like the Nokia 9300 and 9500; Siemens SX1;  Sony Ericsson P800, P900 and P910; and Motorola A1000). Smartphones in this group tend to have a complete range of phone functions, including SMS/MMS, voice recognition and caller display. The PDA functions include office applications for viewing documents and spreadsheets, as well as calendar, internet, email and to-do lists.

• Microsoft Windows Mobile Pocket PC or Smartphone: This OS is popular in O2 XDA, imate and newer HP PDA/Mobile phones. ( Like the O2 XDA IIs and O2 XDA IIi; The iMate mini; HP Smartphone series; Siemens SX65 and T-mobile MDA phones). They have applications such as Word and Excel that have been optimised for handsets. Typically these models have full phone and computing functionality without the need to convert documents and are intended to sync to desktop computers. Such smartphones run Pocket Outlook, a version of the  desktop Outlook software which has been optimised for handsets. This means a reduced functionality for Inbox, Calendar and Tasks, as well as Pocket Internet Explorer. Microsoft Media Player is the player of choice for audio and video capture and playback, while for desktop synchronisation, Microsoft ActiveSync is the default software.

• BlackBerry: BlackBerry devices download email from an email server, support up to 10 email accounts, and have a range of email options such as email download to a PC. Examples of such devices include the RIM blackberry phone series and the Sienens SX65.

- Network

Smartphones use the GSM mobile phone network for voice communication and the GPRS network for data transmission. Smartphones are either tri-band (900/1800/1900MHz) or quad-band(850/900/1800/1900), ensuring that they work in different continents. A number of smartphones also offer EDGE (Enhanced Data GSM Environment) connectivity which provides for faster data  transfer, particularly for web and multimedia over the GSM network. 3G smartphones offer enhanced multimedia capabilities.

- Email connectivity

One of the featured characteristics of a smartphone is email connectivity. Smartphones are able to deliver email  wirelessly to the handset using an email client. The smartphone handset uses its own email client and connects to the email server for the account to send and receive messages over the GPRS network.

- Synchronisation

Smartphones can be synchronised with a desktop computer for updating contacts, emails and files using the included software when purchacing the phone. Smartphones may use cable or wireless for synchronisation. Wireless synchronisation options include infra-red or Bluetooth, while a cable connection may be via serial or USB ports. It's necessary to have a Bluetooth and/or infra-red compliant desktop or laptop computer to synchronise wirelessly. If this isn't the case, then USB is the other option. Some smartphones also have their own cradle for desktop synchronisation.

- Memory

Storage capacity in smartphones is important. Built-in memory capacity ranges between 20MB and 80MB, while external expansion cards can store up to 2GB, depending on the format. Expansion card formats include Memory Stick Pro Duo, MultiMedia Card, SD and mini SD, and TransFlash. The most common format is the SD/MM slot, which accepts both SecureDigital and MultiMedia Cards, providing more options for storage.

- Display

All new models have colour screens but resolution and lighting vary. Most smartphones have 64K colour TFT screens. These are active pixel screens which are better suited for handheld devices where the screens turns on and off quickly. Most smartphones have a backlit display to illuminate the screen and can be easily switched on and off, but may not be suited to bright outdoor use. Some smartphones also have transflective screens, which use backlight for indoor use and absorb the sun's rays to ensure a readable screen when outdoors. Touchscreen  use a stylus for navigating and data entry.

- Battery Power

At the lower end of the spectrum, you can expect around 3 hours talk time and up to 13 hours at the high end of the spectrum of battery life. The average is around 6 hours. Standby time listed by manufacturers also varies between 140 hours and 400 hours, with the average around 200 hours.