Smartphones

Smartphones are what telephone suppliers want us to use as our personal companion. Their concept is built on implementing computer functionalities in cell phones. The basic functionality provided by today’s smartphones is the PIM service (e-mail, calendar, and to-do lists). The main difference between a smartphone and a PDA—apart from the phone capability—is that smartphones have poor capability when it comes to incorporating additional applications. In short, smartphones are still more like phones than small computers. This can clearly be seen in their screens, which have relatively poor functionality. With smartphones, you predominantly make use of a browser when you’re connected to the Internet.

There is a joint initiative to provide a common platform (EPOC OS) for smartphones. The name of the initiative is Symbian and its members are, among others, Psion, Ericsson, Nokia, and Motorola. All members already have devices for EPOC; what has been missing so far is common initiatives regarding security and other similar features. Examples of devices already available are the Nokia Communicator and the Ericsson P800. The next step is to provide good Java compatibility for the EPOC OS. This means that the way in which Java applications are downloaded and executed will be the same in all devices. This is a complicated task due to the differences between the devices (screen size is one such difference).

Microsoft has now launched their smartphone, and it will probably become a success in the market due to the user experience, which is very similar to the traditional Windows interface. We have not yet seen larger
rollouts of these devices, but as a repository for all PIM, e-mail and with a limited online functionality, we expect rapid growth in market share. The biggest hurdle will be to educate the user in inserting information with a phone keyboard, as is done when sending traditional SMS with a phone.

Taken From : Enterprise Guide to Gaining Business Value from Mobile Technologies