It’s been 15 years since IBM released the Simon, the world’s first smartphone, to the public. Smartphones have since evolved into bona fide pocket computers with lots of processing power and slick user interfaces. And they’re not just for business users anymore, with recreational users flocking to Apple’s iPhone and Nokia’s recent Nseries releases.
With these shifts in the smartphone market, the terminology used to classify these phones is becoming insufficient, and possibly inaccurate. There is certainly debate about whether the iPhone is a smartphone or glorified iPod with a built-in phone. mobile technology
A similar shift is occurring in the feature phone category as the traditionally low-end phones are beefed up to appeal to consumers who want more than voice and text functionality in their handsets. There appears to be a new battleground forming, where feature phones and smartphones are competing for the same customers.
DEFINING THE SMARTPHONE
The definition of a smartphone is changing. Early models like the Simon were sold as phones with built-in PDA and modem functionality. Even now, Sprint’s Web site segregates “PDA/Smartphone” handsets. But industry analysts says it’s the smartphone’s operating system (OS), allowing users to run third-party applications, that sets it apart.
Analyst Neil Strother of Forrester Research sees the ability to access the Web and download apps, a large storage capacity and a qwerty keyboard as other features common to a lot of smartphones.
And it is exactly these features that are becoming more common in the feature phone market. The LG Voyager and Motorola Krave have Web and e-mail access, touch screens with qwerty keyboards (the Krave’s is virtual) and microSD card slots capable of storing 8 GB.
According to John Jackson, vice president of research at CCS Insight, there may be a proliferation of these types of feature phones. “Smartphones are generally more expensive and in today’s economy, when people have smaller budgets, they will look for a phone that walks like a smartphone and talks like a smartphone, but has a lower price tag.”
In fact, Jackson believes that the term smartphone is already redundant. “Do you really care [if you are buying a smartphone]? As long as you can update your Facebook status.” So what naming conventions will be used? “There may be an entirely different lexicon. Product names could reflect the utility that it supports.” Anyone for a Facebook phone?
Ira Frimere, Nseries project manager at Nokia, puts an emphasis on the need for smartphone features to be integrated with services. Nokia’s mechanism for this service is Ovi.com, which allows users to share photos, buy music, view maps and back up contacts directly from their phone. “There will always be a market for voice-only, text-only or even Web-only phones, but we think that the convergence of features with services is popular with our customers, so we’re moving in that direction.” buy cell phone
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