Smartphones Buying Guide

Buyers' Guide to Smartphones Contents

• What is a smartphone?
• Operating system
• Palm OS
• Symbian
• Microsoft Windows Mobile Pocket PC or Smartphone
• Blackberry
• Network
• Email connectivity
• Synchronisation
• Memory
• Display
• Keyboard
• Battery
• Extras
• Accessories

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What is a smartphone?

A smartphone is a hybrid device that has all the features of a mobile phone and most of the features of a PDA such as calendar, email, web browsing and office applications. smartphones are one of the fastest growing segments in the consumer devices market with sales strongly competing with PDAs. With the dual band GSM/GPRS services, smartphones can be used to browse the web. A smartphone will also have its own email client for handset email.

smartphones offer keyboard and/or touchscreens for data input and, like PDAs, they can synchronise with a desktop computer. Screen size and resolution is designed for viewing documents, reading emails and browsing the web. Memory capacity varies between devices, but expansion cards can give up to 2GB of external storage capacity. Battery life is dependent upon the operating system, hours of use and add-ons.

Most smartphones have a VGA camera and can take still and moving images. The inclusion of MP3 and video players is not standard, but has become common in new devices. Software such as travel itinerary, games, ebooks and add-ons such as GPS receivers and cameras can be used to build the smartphone into a personalised, feature-rich device.

Operating system

The first thing you're choosing in a smartphone is an operating system. The choice is between Palm OS, Microsoft Windows Mobile Pocket PC or smartphone, BlackBerry and Symbian. The choice of operating system will affect the functionality and applications that the phone runs. Palm OS smartphones are slanted towards PDA functionality, while Symbian devices are oriented towards phone applications and Windows smartphones are intended for computing applications. BlackBerry smartphones are designed with a focus on email capabilities.

Palm OS

The Palm OS is used in Palm smartphones and PDAs. The Palm smartphone was developed from the uber-popular PDA range. Functionality includes contacts, calendar, memo, calculator, phone, SMS and MMS messaging, still and video capture, world clock, web browser, email and audio/video player. Free third-party applications are available to open Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents.

Symbian

The Symbian operating system is used in devices that are designed as a full-featured phone with the inclusion of some PDA functions. As such, the operating system is used in Nokia, Siemens and Ericsson devices that have been developed from standard mobile phones. The phone-like shape of these devices is designed for one-handed use in dialling and retrieving information. smartphones in this group tend to have a complete range of phone functions, including SMS/MMS, voice recognition and caller display. The PDA functions include office applications for viewing documents and spreadsheets, as well as calendar, internet, email and to-do lists. A licensing agreement signed by Symbian and Microsoft allows Symbian smartphones to access Microsoft email through a plug-in for Exchange Server ActiveSync.

Microsoft Windows Mobile Pocket PC or Smartphone

In the PDA market, devices based on the Microsoft operating system run Windows Mobile Pocket PC. These PDAs may also have some phone functions. In the smartphone market, devices based on the Microsoft operating system run the Windows Mobile smartphone edition which have applications such as Word and Excel that have been optimised for handsets. Typically these models have full phone and computing functionality without the need to convert documents and are intended to sync to desktop computers. Such smartphones run Pocket Outlook, a version of the desktop Outlook software which has been optimised for handsets. This means a reduced functionality for Inbox, Calendar and Tasks, as well as Pocket Internet Explorer. Microsoft Media Player is the player of choice for audio and video capture and playback, while for desktop synchronisation, Microsoft ActiveSync is the default software.

BlackBerry

BlackBerry was first launched as an email-only device. Since then, there have been a number of phone and email BlackBerry devices that has expanded the capabilities of the handsets. More handset manufacturers are expected to build devices with BlackBerry included. BlackBerry devices download email from an email server, support up to 10 email accounts, and have a range of email options such as email download to a PC.

Network

smartphones use the GSM mobile phone network for voice communication and the GPRS network for data transmission. The GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) is a wireless digital mobile phone network and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) is a wireless service that can connect to the internet. smartphones are either tri-band (900/1800/1900MHz) or quad-band (850/900/1800/1900), which ensures they can function at a variety of frequencies and allows them to operate in more than one country. A number of smartphones also offer EDGE (Enhanced Data GSM Environment) connectivity which provides for faster data transfer, particularly for web and multimedia over the GSM network. 3G smartphones offer enhanced multimedia capabilities. With the addition of a WiFi card, smartphones can surf the net at speeds faster than using GPRS, but the speed will vary depending on the network and handset. WAP-enabled smartphones use this Wireless Application Protocol for internet and email connectivity over the GSM network.

Email connectivity

One of the defining characteristics of a smartphone is email connectivity. smartphones are able to deliver email wirelessly to the handset using an email client and can operate with a variety of email applications including personal, business and IMAP web-mail. The smartphones handset uses its own email client and will connect to the email server for the account to send and receive messages over the GPRS network. For example, the Palm Treo uses VersaMail and will connect with Microsoft Exchange as well as POP3/IMAP accounts. Mobile Suite and IntelliSync can connect with Lotus Notes, Exchange and POP3/IMAP. Extended Systems can also connect with Lotus Notes, Exchange and IMAP.

Visto, Seven, Smarter, IBM Extended Systems, SyncML, SMTP, Good Technologies, IBM Websphere, Oracle Collaboration Suite are other email clients used in smartphones. Devices running Windows Mobile for smartphones run ActiveSync with POP3/IMAP for Pocket Outlook. smartphones running Symbian tend to have a greater number of email options with a focus on corporate email clients. smartphones with BlackBerry use this system for email as an adjunct to the other email applications, unless the device is BlackBerry only. The Siemens SK65 is a BlackBerry smartphones that uses the BlackBerry Web Client to communicate with Outlook and Lotus Notes, with Groupwise to be included shortly. It will also retrieve mail from up to 10 different addresses using POP3/IMAP.

Synchronisation

A smartphones wouldn't live up to its name if it didn't synchronise with a desktop computer for updating contacts, emails and files. smartphones come with out-of-the-box software to be installed on the computer and then connected to the handset to initiate data transfer. Once the software is installed on the desktop, select which programs to update and start the process.

smartphones may use cable or wireless for synchronisation. Wireless synchronisation options include infra-red or Bluetooth, while a cable connection may be via serial or USB ports. It's necessary to have a Bluetooth and/or infra-red compliant desktop or laptop computer to synchronise wirelessly. If this isn't the case, then USB is the other option. Some smartphones also have their own cradle for desktop synchronisation.

One long-established synchronisation technology is Palm's HotSync, featured in all Palm PDAs, used to transfer information via cable. It's also possible to transfer wirelessly with infra-red using the Palm Treo. Devices running Windows Mobile smartphones edition (and the Treo) use ActiveSync, which seamlessly synchronises with Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. Newer Nokia smartphones run PopPort Organizer (which includes calendar, tasks and contacts) and synchronises via Nokia PC Suite software. Nokia and SonyEricsson also have SyncML for PC synchronisation. Programs such as Seven, IntelliSync and XTND Connect are used in these and other smartphones.

Memory

With an ever-increasing array of files, programs and downloads available, storage capacity in smartphones is important. Built-in memory capacity ranges between 20MB and 80MB, while external expansion cards can store up to 2GB, depending on the format. Expansion card formats include Memory Stick Pro Duo, MultiMedia Card, SD and mini SD, and TransFlash. The most common format is the SD/MM slot, which accepts both SecureDigital and MultiMedia Cards, providing more options for storage and add-ons. Whatever the choice of smartphones, it will determine the storage capacity, add-ons and price of the expansion cards so it's worth doing some research to choose the one that best suits your needs.

Display

Screen size and resolution have an impact on the experience of using the smartphones, particularly for web browsing and graphical documents. While all new models have colour screens, resolution and lighting vary. Some smartphones have 64K colour TFT screens. These are active pixel screens which are better suited for handheld devices where the screens turns on and off quickly. Most smartphones have a backlit display to illuminate the screen and can be easily switched on and off, but may not be suited to bright outdoor use. Some smartphones also have transflective screens, which use backlight for indoor use and absorb the sun's rays to ensure a readable screen when outdoors. Touchscreen smartphones use a stylus for navigating and data entry.

Screen resolution varies, in part, because it is constrained by the operating system onboard the smartphones. The Palm Treo has a 320x320 pixel resolution, whereas the Nokia 9300 has 640x200 on the internal screen and most other models sit around 176x220. Those models with dual screens have superior resolution on the larger, internal screen, which is intended to be used for most functions, while the smaller external screen is used primarily for phone functions. A number of models have a large screen that can be used in either portrait or landscape mode.

Keyboard

As a hybrid device, smartphones offer a range of data input options including keyboard, stylus and handwriting recognition. Keyboards range from full QWERTY to 12-key numeric with the shape and placement of keyboards ranging front or side to slide-out. Those models with a phone-like form factor tend to have a 12-key numeric and dialling keypad which favours phone use and one-handed operation. smartphones in the shape of a PDA often have a slide out or front keyboard with separate alpha and numeric keys. Most models have additional hot keys for quick operation of common tasks such as messaging or calling. A small number of smartphones have a unique user-programmable shortcut key for repeated operations.

Touchscreen keyboards reduce the size of the smartphone by doing away with a keyboard, but need to be used with a stylus and favour two-handed operation. The inclusion of handwriting recognition software gives another way of customising the smartphone but can be time consuming. Almost all models use T9, a predictive text input technology which completes commonly-used words.

Battery

How long the smartphone lasts between charges will be affected by the type of battery, operating system and how many programs are used. Most smartphones use Lithium-Ion batteries, rather than AAA because of the small form factor, with the power varying between 780mAh and 1200mAh of charge. Each smartphone will come with its own out-of-the-box charger for AC power and USB charging. Travel and car adaptors generally need to be purchased as an additional item. At the lower end of the spectrum, you can expect around 3 hours talk time and up to 13 hours at the high end of the spectrum of battery life. The average is around 6 hours. Standby time listed by manufacturers also varies between 140 hours and 400 hours, with the average around 200 hours.

Extras

The list of extras is growing and is another point of comparison between different smartphones. Most models, but not all, have a VGA camera for capturing stills and video. smartphones in the 3G realm will take the megapixel count of these cameras well past two. Some offer unique features such as Flight Mode that allows the device to be used in the air without interrupting the plane's radio equipment. Music and multimedia have not been neglected with many models able to play music and video. GPS receivers and Bluetooth modems for additional web access have also appeared.

Accessories

As smartphones grow in popularity, so does the range of third-party software and add-ons available. With Bluetooth featuring in all new releases, there is a growing group of wireless accessories. These include standalone keyboards, headphones, headsets, GPS receivers and specialised clothing like motorcycle helmets and jackets. Software titles continue to grow, offering everything from interactive Bluetooth dating programs and customised travel itinerary, to games and ebooks. Mobile phone carriers are also entering into agreements with content providers to offer network-specific services and downloads such as handset travel guides.

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