You probably hear the term "smartphone" tossed
around a lot. But if you've ever wondered exactly what a smartphone is, well,
you're not alone. How is a smartphone different than a cell phone, and what
makes it so smart?
In a nutshell, a smartphone is a device that lets you
make telephone calls, but also adds in features that, in the past, you would
have found only on a personal digital assistant or a computer--such as the
ability to send and receive e-mail and edit Office documents, for example.
But, to really understand what a smartphone is (and is
not), we should start with a history lesson. 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.
Key Smartphone Features
While there is no standard definition of the term
"smartphone" across the industry, we thought it would be helpful to
point out what we here at About.com define as a smartphone, and what we
consider a cell phone. Here are the features we look at:
Operating System: In general, a smartphone will be
based on an operating system that allows it to run applications. Apple's iPhone
runs
You won't get your hands on the new version of
Apple's iPhone operating system, 4.0, until this summer. But it should be an
update worth waiting for, as Apple has added several new, and much-needed,
features to its mobile OS. Among them, a multitasking capability, which will
allow you to run more than one third-party app at a time. Other new features in
the update, which will be available this summer, include folders for organizing
all of your apps, a new Mail client, and a Game Center.
Here's the lowdown on what you'll find in iPhone OS 4.0.
Multitasking
Multitasking has long topped the wish lists of manyiPhone users,
something that Apple acknowledged during the launch event for iPhone OS 4.0.
"We weren't the first to this party, but we're going to be the best,"
Apple CEO Steve Jobs said, noting that multitasking too often drains battery
life and causes poor overall performance. He said Apple's iteration of
multitasking will not cause these problems.
iPhone users will have access to a dock that will appear
at the bottom of the screen, which will show all running applications. To
access the dock, you double-click the home button. From there, you just tap on
a running app in order to switch to it. The dock shows four running apps, but
you'll be able to swipe the screen in order to see more of them, should you
have more apps running.
Apple said that apps such as games will pause when you
switch apps, and then resume play when you go back to them. You'll also be able
to listen to third-party music apps like Pandora in the background, and you'll
be able to receive calls through the Skype voice-over-IP app, even if you don't
have the app running when a call comes in.
Google's Android
operating system is an open-source platform that's currently
available on a wide variety of smartphones. Android has its advantages -- it's
highly customizable, for one -- but it's also somewhat geeky software that can
seem intimidating to smartphone newbies.
Android is available on a variety of handsets, including Google's
Nexus One (which is manufactured by HTC) and Verizon's Motorola
Droid. The open nature of the Android platform allows handset
manufacturers to customize the software for use on their handsets. As a result,
the Android software can look and feel very different on different handsets.
Customizable Interface
All Android smartphones are touch-screen devices; some --
but not all -- have hardware keyboards, too. All come with a desktop that is
made up of a certain number of screens (some Android phones have 3, others have
5, while still others have 7) that you can customize to your liking. You can
populate screens with shortcuts to apps or widgets that display news headlines,
search boxes, or more. The customization is certainly a bonus; no other
smartphone platform offers as much flexibility in setting up your desktop
screens to your liking.
In addition to using shortcuts on your various screens
for accessing apps and files, Android also offers a comprehensive menu. You
access the menu in different ways on different phones, but none of them make it
difficult to find. From the menu, you can click on the small but neatly
organized icons to access apps and features like the Android Market.
The Android interface will vary slightly from phone to
phone, but, in general, the software itself has become more polished looking
over time. The first version, which I reviewed on theT-Mobile G1 more
than a year ago, was somewhat rough around the edges, appearance wise. The
latest version, 2.1, which I tested on the new Nexus One, is far sleeker
looking.
But even in its latest version, the Android interface
lacks some of the polish and pizzazz found in two of its key rivals: Apple's iPhone OS and Palm's webOS.
Both of these platforms look more elegant than Android. The iPhone OS, in
particular, is a bit more intuitive to use; getting comfortable with Android
can take more time and practice.
