| There's no denying that mobile phones are consistently | | | | considered a smartphone at the time but would not |
| developing in terms of technology, features, usability | | | | necessarily be today off the back of that function |
| and function. The advancement in mobile phone | | | | alone. Features which tend to render a handset |
| handsets is so drastic that a whole new breed of | | | | amongst this elite class in the modern day are more |
| phones are on the market, these cutting edge | | | | along the lines of VGA connectors, built in keyboard, |
| multi-taskers are often referred to as 'smartphones'. | | | | Wi-Fi and accelerometer technology. |
| There is no universal rule for handsets to be | | | | Amongst different communities however the definition |
| considered amongst this elite category, but the | | | | of a smartphone is more specific than just a handset |
| underlying principle behind a smartphone is that it offers | | | | which offers technologically advanced features. In the |
| functionality and applications which reside more in the | | | | realm of developers for instance to some it refers to |
| parameters of computers than conventional mobile | | | | phones which run a complete operating system whilst |
| phones. | | | | others may well grant the status only to units which |
| The origin of the smartphone can be traced back as | | | | run an autonomous operating system which provides a |
| early as 1992 to IBM's 'Simon' handset. Incredibly for a | | | | standardised interface for application developers. |
| model of its time, Simon featured a calendar, games, | | | | Due to the absence of any solid rule which officially |
| email support, fax capabilities and a touch screen. | | | | makes a phone a smartphone, the term (like many |
| Although the handset would be more at the entry level | | | | others) is most widely used for marketing purposes as |
| end of mobile phones in the modern day, 18 years ago | | | | opposed to technical descriptions. As a result of this, |
| the technology was far beyond that of any | | | | handset purchasing decisions should not be based |
| competitors. From 1996 the smartphone market was | | | | purely upon a particular phone being referred to as a |
| truly established with Nokia's entry into the arena | | | | smartphone: this is does not mean that it is superior to |
| courtesy of the Nokia Communicator line, which | | | | a handset which does not utilise the term in its |
| consisted of models which were essentially an | | | | marketing activity, or is not listed as a smartphone in a |
| amalgamation of mobile phone and PDA. Since the | | | | review or product description. |
| release of the Communicator series many other | | | | In short, 'smartphone' has that many different definitions |
| manufacturers have become involved in the market. | | | | as to mean very little to the general end consumer, not |
| The smartphone 'badge' is time subjective in that a | | | | least in that its specific meanings in different circles can |
| handset which featured email functions at the very | | | | easily lead to ambiguity. |
| beginning of the 21st Century would have been | | | | |