Smartphones and tablets: what makes a phone smart?

AuthorColby, Kent L.
PositionTELECOM & TECHNOLOGY

There is no accepted single definition of what qualifies or makes a mobile phone "smart." Multi-tasking devices have been around for some time with the merger of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and the cellular phone. One of the most notable advances moving the phone into the smart category came from Research in Motion's (RIM) BlackBerry and the advent of omnipresent email. Add to the mix: cameras, browsers, texting, the functionality of a day-planner, portable media players, GPS navigation, high-resolution screens, gigabytes of document and entertainment storage, most all components of an office suite, Wi-Fi, and the functionality of a phone. Now, that little quarter pounder is truly smart.

In the business world, RIM's BlackBerry was the phone of choice for the past decade or more; and was smart, but not as smart as today's generation phone. The packaging and marketing of the iPhone perhaps did more than any other innovation to revolutionize the concept of the smartphone. The iPhone's multi-touch interface, styling and cost were instantaneously accepted as the new performance baseline for smartphones. For a time, the iPhone operating system (lOS) took over the marketplace. Not to be outdone, other manufacturers have perfected phone operating systems (OS) to compete with RIM and Apple. Google jumped into the race with its Android OS in 2007 and, according to many reports, is now the best-selling smartphone platform worldwide. The competition between the two operating systems is, however, as close as the recent Ohio Republican primary election. A couple of years ago, Microsoft entered the smartphone race with Windows Phone 7, offering a more business-focused outlook and superior integration with Microsoft's range of offlee products. The reviews are generally favorable, but the market share has yet to break 5 percent.

TABLETS

Bigger than a phone, smaller than a computer, as powerful as a computer, more portable, and a flat touch-screen all meld together in the form of a...

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