Smartphone

Smartphone

A class of wireless phone handsets with many features, and often a keyboard. What makes the phone "smart" is its ability to handle data, not only voice calls. (Cingular)

A smartphone is any electronic handheld device that integrates the functionality of a mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA) or other information appliance. This is often achieved by adding telephone functions to an existing PDA or putting "smart" capabilities, such as PDA functions, into a mobile phone. A key feature of a smartphone is that additional applications can be installed on the device. The applications can be developed by the manufacturer of the handheld device, by the operator or by any other third-party software developer.

Another name for devices that combine pda/phone fuctions is "panda" (a combination of the words "pda and a phone").

Definition and history

It is increasingly difficult to define exactly what qualifies as a "smartphone". Nearly all new mobile phones have some rudimentary PDA functionality such as phonebooks, calendars, and task lists. Furthermore, BREW and Java ME devices allow for the installation of additional applications but are still not considered smartphones. There are many BREW devices with PDA functionality, the ability to run third-party applications in native code and sporting displays as large as 240x320 pixels; yet they are not considered "smartphones". The elusive definition seems loosely tied to the particular operating systems listed below.

Fundamentally, these seem to be the common traits: Smartphones are voice-centric devices (voice is the primary function, data is secondary) that offer PDA-like capabilities, whereas PDAs or Personal Communicators (such as most BlackBerries) may offer voice capabilities, but they are data-centric. Smartphones are generally capable of one-handed operation, while PDAs generally require use of both hands.

Smartphone features tend to include Internet access, e-mail access, scheduling software, built-in camera, contact management, GPS navigation software and occasionally the ability to read business documents in a variety of formats such as PDF and Microsoft Office. In the CTIA conference held in Atlanta, Georgia in March 2004, incorporation of television into the smartphone was among the topics discussed.

The first smartphone was called Simon designed by IBM in 1992 and shown as a concept product that year at COMDEX, the communications industry trade show held in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was released to the public in 1993 and sold by BellSouth. Besides a mobile phone, it also contained a calendar, address book, world clock, calculator, note pad, e-mail, and games. Customers could also use a stylus to write directly on its screen to create facsimiles and memos.

As of 2004 smartphones were an increasingly large part of the mobile telephone market. According to the analysts, Canalys, smartphone shipments increased more than 100 percent from the second quarter of 2004 to the second quarter of 2005 with more than twelve million devices shipped in the latter period [1]. It is expected that in a few years most phones sold (except for disposable phones) will be considered "smart".

Operating systems

The most common operating systems (OS) used by smartphones are Symbian, Palm OS (developed by PalmSource), Windows Mobile (formerly known as Windows CE, and developed by Microsoft), BREW (technically a platform developed by Qualcomm), and Linux.

2005 OS Market Share

Recent information [2]] regarding smartphone market share from IDC show that Symbian was continuing to dominate the smartphone market, shipping 24 million phone centric Series 60 phones, and approximately 3 million more PDA centric phones. This constituted 48.5 and 6 percent of the smartphone market respectively, for a total market share for Symbian of 54.5 percent. This was down slightly from the 56 percent market share in 2004, but it constituted a 120 percent growth in unit shipments year on year.

The next largest smartphone OS in 2005 were Linux based handhelds. 11.6 million of such devices were shipped in 2005, forming 23.5 percent of the market, and a 360 percent year on year growth in unit shipments from 2004.

Following this was the Microsoft Windows Mobile phone platform (available in two versions: the phone-centric Windows Mobile for Smartphone OS, which shipped 4.5 million devices in 2005 (9 percent market share) and the more PDA-centric Windows Mobile Phone Edition, which shipped 2 million devices for a 4 percent market share). This was a 100 percent growth in unit shipments from 2004.

Last was the PalmOS operating system. This shipped 1.75 million devices in 2005 for a 3.5 percent market share. This was a 30 percent increase in unit shipments from 2004, and a 3.5 percent drop in market share from 2004.

There is a further 2.75 million devices which ship with various other OS's. They together formed 5.5 percent of the market, down from 14 percent of the market in 2004, indicating a consolidation behind the three fastest growing mobile OS's, Symbian, Linux and Windows Mobile.

List of smartphones

The following is a list of smartphones.

Symbian OS

FOMA (non-UIQ)

* FOMA D901i
* FOMA D901iS
* FOMA F2051
* FOMA F2102V
* FOMA F700i
* FOMA F880iES
* FOMA F900i
* FOMA F900iC
* FOMA F900iS
* FOMA F900iT

Nokia Series 60 (now S60)

* Lenovo P930
* Nokia 3230
* Nokia 3250
* Nokia 3600
* Nokia 3620 (GSM 850/1900 successor of the 3650)
* Nokia 3650
* Nokia 3660 (GSM 900/1800/1900 successor of the 3650)
* Nokia 6260
* Nokia 6600
* Nokia 6620
* Nokia 6630
* Nokia 6638
* Nokia 6670
* Nokia 6680
* Nokia 6681
* Nokia 6682
* Nokia 7610 (First with 1MP camera)
* Nokia 7650
* Nokia E60
* Nokia E61
* Nokia E70
* Nokia N70
* Nokia N71
* Nokia N80 (First S60 Smartphone with WLAN (Wi-Fi), 352 x 416 resolution and 3 Megapixel camera. Appears Q1 2006)
* Nokia N90
* Nokia N91 (First Symbian phone with hard drive)
* Nokia N92 (First Symbian phone with DVB-H)
* Nokia N-Gage
* Nokia N-Gage QD
* Panasonic X700
* Panasonic X800
* Samsung SGH-D700
* Samsung SGH-D710
* Samsung SGH-D720
* Samsung SGH-D730
* Sendo X
* Sendo X2
* Siemens SX1

Nokia Series 80

* Nokia 9210
* Nokia 9290
* Nokia 9300
* Nokia 9500

Nokia Series 90

* Nokia 7700 (produced in very limited numbers, this was the first series 90 phone. Though never available to consumers it was used in several commercial applications as a test of the interface.)
* Nokia 7710

UIQ

* Arima U300
* BenQ P30
* BenQ P31
* FOMA M1000
* Motorola A920
* Motorola A925
* Motorola A1000
* Motorola A1010
* Sony Ericsson P800
* Sony Ericsson P900
* Sony Ericsson P910
* Sony Ericsson P910a (GSM 850/1800/1900 for North and Latin America)
* Sony Ericsson P910c (GSM 900/1800/1900 for China Mainland)
* Sony Ericsson P910i (GSM 900/1800/1900)
* Sony Ericsson P990
* Sony Ericsson P990a (GSM 850/1800/1900 for North and Latin America)
* Sony Ericsson P990c (GSM 900/1800/1900 for China Mainland)
* Sony Ericsson P990i (GSM 900/1800/1900)
* Sony Ericsson W950i (GSM 900/1800/1900)
* Sony Ericsson M600i (GSM 900/1800/1900)

Palm OS

* Handspring Treo 180
* Handspring Treo 270
* Handspring Treo 300
* Kyocera 6035
* Kyocera 7135
* PalmOne (Handspring) Treo 600
* PalmOne Treo 650
* PalmOne Treo 700
* Samsung SGH-i500
* Samsung SGH-i505
* Samsung SPH-i300
* Samsung SPH-i330
* Samsung SPH-i500
* Samsung SPH-i550

Windows CE / Windows Mobile

* Asus P505
* Asus P505 Dual CPU
* Audiovox PPC4100
* Audiovox SMT5050
* Audiovox SMT5600
* Audiovox PPC6600
* Audiovox PPC6601
* Audiovox Thera
* Axia A108
* Casio DT-5200
* CECT P08
* Cingular 2100
* Cingular 2125
* Cingular 8100
* Cingular 8125
* Compal AR-11
* Daxian CU928
* Dopod 515
* Dopod 535
* Dopod 565
* Dopod 575
* Dopod 577w
* Dopod 585
* Dopod 586w
* Dopod 686
* Dopod 696
* Dopod 696i
* Dopod 699
* Dopod 700
* Dopod 818
* Dopod 828
* Dopod 828+
* Dopod 830
* Dopod 838
* Dopod 900
* e-plus PDA III
* E-TEN e88
* E-TEN e88 plus
* E-TEN G200
* E-TEN G500
* E-TEN M300
* E-TEN M500
* E-TEN M600
* E-TEN P300
* E-TEN P300B
* Europhone SG 4000
* Everex E500
* Everex E900
* Everex E960
* Everex SP360
* Gigabyte Einstein
* Gigabyte gSmart
* Gizmondo
* Hitachi G1000
* HP iPaq hw6500
* HP iPaq hw6900
* HTC Alpine
* HTC Amadeus
* HTC Apache
* HTC Athena
* HTC Blizzard
* HTC Breeze
* HTC BlueAngel
* HTC Canary
* HTC Charmer
* HTC Falcon
* HTC Faraday
* HTC Feeler
* HTC Harrier
* HTC Hermes
* HTC Himalaya
* HTC Hurricane
* HTC Magician
* HTC Muse
* HTC Refresh
* HTC Robbie
* HTC Prodigy
* HTC Prophet
* HTC Sonata
* HTC Star Trek
* HTC Tanager
* HTC Tornado Noble
* HTC Tornado Tempo
* HTC Typhoon
* HTC Universal
* HTC Vivida
* HTC Voyager
* HTC Wizard
* i-mate JAM
* i-mate JAM 2
* i-mate JASJAR
* i-mate K-JAM
* i-mate New JAM
* i-mate PDA2
* i-mate PDA2k
* i-mate PDA2k EVDO
* i-mate Phone Edition
* i-mate Smartphone
* i-mate Smartphone2
* i-mate SP2
* i-mate SP3
* i-mate SP3i
* i-mate SP4m
* i-mate SP5
* i-mate SP5m
* Kinpo iDo S600
* Krome Intellekt iQ200
* Krome Intellekt iQ700
* Krome Navigator F1
* Krome SPY
* Kyocera KC8100
* Lenovo ET980
* MiTAC Mio 8380
* MiTAC Mio 8390
* MiTAC Mio A700
* MiTAC Mio A701
* moboDA 3360
* Motorola MPx200
* Motorola MPx220
* Motorola Q
* Motorola i930
* Neonode N1
* Neonode N1m
* Neonode N2
* Orange SPV
* Orange SPV Classic
* Orange SPV E100
* Orange SPV E200
* Orange SPV C500
* Orange SPV C550
* Orange SPV C600
* Orange SPV M500
* Orange SPV M600
* Orange SPV M1000
* Orange SPV M2000
* Orange SPV M2500
* Orange SPV M5000
* Palm 700w
* Panda e88
* Panda e88 plus
* Pidion BM-150
* Pidion BM-200
* POZ X501
* Qtek 1010
* Qtek 2020
* Qtek 2020i
* Qtek 6080
* Qtek 7070
* Qtek 8010
* Qtek 8020
* Qtek 8080
* Qtek 8100
* Qtek 8200
* Qtek 8300
* Qtek 8310
* Qtek 8500
* Qtek 9000
* Qtek 9090
* Qtek 9100
* Qtek 9600
* Qtek S100
* Qtek S110
* Qtek S200
* Qtek S300
* Qtek S310
* Sagem My S-7
* Samsung m8000
* Samsung SCH-i600
* Samsung SCH-i640
* Samsung SCH-i645
* Samsung SCH-i700
* Samsung SCH-i730
* Samsung SGH-i300
* Samsung SGH-i300x
* Samsung SGH-i310
* Samsung SGH-i600
* Samsung SGH-i700
* Sharp W-ZERO3
* Siemens SX45
* Siemens SX56
* Siemens SX66
* Sierra Wireless Voq A11
* TATA Indicom EGO
* Telefonica TSM400
* Telefonica TSM500
* T-Mobile SDA (also available as a model without the built-in camera.)
* T-Mobile SDA II
* T-Mobile SDA Music
* Torq P100
* Torq P100w
* Torq P120
* Toshiba 2032
* Verizon VX6600
* Vodafone VPA
* Vodafone VPA III
* Vodafone VPA Compact
* Vodafone VPA IV
* Vodafone VDA
* GSPDA Xplore G99
* GSPDA Xplore M98

Linux

The embedded Linux OS for Motorola's smartphones is currently being developed at the company's Personal Communication Sector (PCS) in Beijing, China. NEC and Panasonic phones are for the FOMA 3G network in Japan.

* Motorola A760 — The first phone to use Linux.
* Motorola A780
* Motorola E680
* Motorola E680i
* Motorola E895
* E28 E2800
* NEC N901iC
* NEC N700i
* NEC N900il
* NEC N901iS
* Panasonic P700i
* Panasonic P901i
* Panasonic P901iS
* TCL e787

(Wikipedia)