What's a Smartphone? What makes it so Smart?
A smartphone is a device that not only lets you make telephone calls, but also adds in features such as the ability to send and receive e-mail and edit Office documents that you would have found earlier only on a personal digital assistant or a computer.
In the beginning, there were cell phones and personal digital assistants (or PDAs). Cell phones were used for making calls and not much else.. while PDAs, like the Palm Pilot, were used as personal, portable organizers. A PDA could store your contact info and a to-do list, and could sync with your computer. Eventually, PDAs gained wireless connectivity and were able to send and receive e-mail. Cell phones, meanwhile, gained messaging capabilities, too. PDAs then added cellular phone features, while cell phones added more PDA-like (and even computer-like) features. The result was the Smartphone.
Worldwide market share by Smartphone sales Source: Canalys report on Smartphone analysis
Worldwide Smartphone penetration Source: Canalys report on Smartphone analysis, Quarterly shipment data
In general, a smartphone is based on an operating system that allows it to run applications. Apple's iPhone runs the iOS, and BlackBerry smartphones run the BlackBerry OS. Other devices run Google's Android OS, HP's webOS, and Microsoft's Windows Phone.
2010 Q4 Worldwide Smartphone sales Market Share by OS Vendor
While almost all cell phones include some sort of software a smartphone will have the ability to do more. It may allow you to create and edit Microsoft Office documents or at least view the files. It may allow you to download apps, such as personal and business finance managers or it may allow you to edit photos, get driving directions via GPS, and create a playlist of digital tunes.
From the hardware vendor perspective, Nokia held the lead position worldwide with 33.1% market share followed by RIM and Apple devices, each with about 16% market share. Samsung and HTC are the other two players in top five. Samsung and HTC each hold around 8% of the market share and are fast growing, thanks to the popularity and adoption of the Android OS.
App Developer preference by Smartphone OS (Power, Beckert, & Flis, 2011)
Most of the Smartphones can access the Web at higher speeds, thanks to the growth of 4G and 3G data networks, as well as the addition of Wi-Fi support to many handsets. A smartphone includes a QWERTY keyboard. A smartphone can sync with your personal and, most likely, your professional e-mail account. Some Smartphones can support multiple e-mail accounts. These are just some of the features that make a Smartphone Smart. The technology surrounding Smartphones and cell phones is constantly changing, though. What constitutes a Smartphone today may change by next week, next month, or next year. Stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment