| There is no precise definition for smartphone but one | | | | product with one-stop business solutions. RIM has |
| that works for everybody is a cell phone with a | | | | deserved brand loyalty and will continue to do well |
| computer operating system. More and more road | | | | within the corporate environment. A lone wolf who |
| warriors are leaving their laptop and disconnected | | | | works with Microsoft Office on his desktop may find |
| PDA behind for short trips because a smartphone can | | | | himself disadvantaged if RIM OS cannot keep up with |
| do all the same things that a PDA can and some | | | | the flow of new smart phone applications from other |
| essential things a laptop can in a smaller package. The | | | | manufacturers. |
| new Moto Q is 0.45 inches thin and weighs-in at 4.1 | | | | Palm also has a proprietary operating system but |
| ounces. | | | | appears to be positioning itself to survive in a Windows |
| If you are considering downsizing your personal mobile | | | | Mobile world as well. The new generation of Palm |
| office or want to provide some input to your IT | | | | Treos comes with Windows Mobile. Smart phone |
| manager here is one major consideration about | | | | consumers are looking for business applications |
| choosing a PDA smartphone. | | | | beyond contact information and email. GPS tracking |
| The popularity of smart phone operating systems has | | | | and GPS navigation are but two. Microsoft already |
| taken different paths in the USA and the rest of the | | | | has 20,000 applications for its smart phone platform, |
| industrialized world. Symbian OS, an open standard | | | | and an army of developers to keep new applications |
| operating system for data enabled mobile phones, is | | | | coming. |
| the top seller with a huge 76% smart phone market | | | | Perhaps you would not make a smart phone purchase |
| share worldwide. RIM, which makes Blackberry, has | | | | decision based solely on the operating system, but you |
| only a 6% worldwide market share, but dominates the | | | | do want to be sure that the smart phone OS will not |
| USA with 53% of the domestic smart phone market. | | | | prevent you from integrating with what is already on |
| Palm OS, which has been around since 1996, has | | | | your desktop. Plus, categorizing smart phones by |
| about 1/3 of the US market. | | | | operating system instead of brand will narrow the |
| Talking about operating systems is geeky but the OS | | | | choices and help un-complicate the decision making. |
| is the guts of every PDA smart phone and will, in the | | | | These are the major brands and the primary operating |
| end, determine what you can do with your smart | | | | system of recently introduced smartphones. Some |
| phone. RIM has a proprietary OS which is unbeatable | | | | brands may use Symbian OS on older models with |
| for secure email but will not allow you to easily edit a | | | | ARM processors. Some models are Java enabled. |
| Microsoft Word document. Blackberry is a first class | | | | |