You've got the whole world in your hands...

Whether it's a BlackBerry, iPhone, Palm Pre, or HTC Touch Smartphone, you literally have the whole world in your hand. By Wikipedia's definition, a Smartphone is a mobile phone offering advanced capabilities, often with PC-like functionality (8). These phones have been designed to do virtually anything that a computer would let you do. Check your emails? Of course, you get your email set up directly to your phone and receive notifications when you receive them. Need to surf the web? All these phones are internet capable and web accessible. Surfing the web is as easy as it would be on any computer or lap top, its simply a smaller keypad and viewing screen. Can a smart phone take a picture or record a video? Most Smartphones have better picture taking qualities than simple style phones. When viewing pictures that the iPhone takes, they look as if they are the same quality of a digital camera! Of course these Smartphones allow you to do all the same functions that a normal phone is capable of doing. Making and receiving phone calls, sending and receiving texts, etc. It's all possible with a Smartphone!

The only downfall to these amazing miniature computer/cellular phones is the price that comes with them. The first price you must pay is the one associated with your actual phone plan. Normally that includes the allotted minutes allowed per month, text messages to be sent/received, data packages, etc. The second charge is for the internet usage fee. My phone provider is Verizon Wireless and my BlackBerry Curve requires a $29.99 monthly fee for unlimited internet and such.

Smartphones began much earlier than the average person knows about or probably remembers. The first ever Smartphone was created in 1994 by IBM and distributed by BellSouth. It was called "Simon." Simon's features include a sensitive screen instead of the usual telephone keyboard, integrated PIM applications, and data communication features. Simon's built-in applications were complete telephone abilities, phone directory, mail (not i
nternet compliant), calculator, calender, fax, note pad, file manager, sketch pad, to do list, etc. Simon's competitors included the Sony Magic Link with a display screen twice the size of Simon, Nokia 9210, and the Sharp MCG-1 (9). You can see from the pictures of now outdated but then innovative 1994 Smartphones and the updated and current Smartphones just how far the technology world has really come.















peace, love & go noles!

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SOURCES:

(8) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphones

(9) http://cdecas.free.fr/computers/pocket/simon.php

PICTURES:

http://cdecas.free.fr/computers/pocket/simon.php