For many of us, a cell phone is used just for calling people, storing contact information, and maybe even a few games, yet beginning in 1992 there was a new idea surrounding cell phones. This new idea began with Simon, the first smartphone. Smartphone offer a wide ability to help us in our busy life's including Bluetooth, internet, and organizational tools to name a few. Although still today, there isn't an exact definition of what a smartphone actually is since the definition as changed over time, but most of us know the famous names surrounding smartphones. These famous names include the Blackberry and iPhone.
A smartphone is different from a regular mobile phone in two ways: how they are built and what they can do. Most smartphones today run on a operating system just like our computers do, unlike regular cell phones which mostly just support java applications. Most smartphones have a complete personal organizer and full featured email, but there are additional features you can find on different smart phones. These include the following:
- Qwerty Keyboard - This is a miniature version of a computer keyboard. The name Qwerty refers to the arrangement of the keys.
- Touch Screen or D-Pad - Touch Screen is pretty self explanatory. You just touch on the screen what you want. A D-Pad is more like a joystick to move through items instead.
- Built in camera - Most cell phones have a camera, but with a smart phone you get the ability to record videos as well as more camera-like features such as zoom and auto focus.
- Internet and email access
- GPS - Global Positioning System for navigation
- Read a variety of documents including PDF and Microsoft Office
- Contact management for your own personal phone book
- Media software for music, photos, and video clips
This history of smartphones began in 1992 with Simon and released in 1993. Simon would now be considered a low end model of a smartphone with very limited capabilities. The Nokia 9000, known as the communicator, it the screen in 1996, but it was the Nokia 9012 that is considered the first true smartphone since it was the first to have its own operating system. The famous Blackberry came out in 2001 and was the first to optimize wireless access to email. The Blackberry achieved 8 million subscribers by 2007. These first smartphones are the first to the many smartphones we see today.
For the busy business men and woman today, the smartphone is way to have the upper hand at keep up to date and on top of business related situations as well as their home life. A smartphone gives them an ability to have access to their email and internet obligations and business material that needs read immediately while using their GPS ability to not just lost when their partner calls them to see if they can make a detour on the way home for milk.
