There is no industry standard definition of “smart phone”, per se, but the term is used to describe a device that allows you to make voice telephone calls, but also includes advanced features, such as email, or word processing, more often associated with a PDA (“Personal Digital Assistant”) or an ultra portable laptop. Smart phones rely on mobile, or handheld, operating systems for their operation, and there are many different variants – BlackBerry, Palm OS, Nokia Symbian, Windows Mobile, etc. – although applications are typically not interchangeable between the various platforms. Smart phone are becoming increasingly important for business, and personal, use and some analysts predict that sales could increase by anything up to 30% during 2009.
Windows Mobile Phones
To avoid any confusion, “Windows Mobile” is the brand name for the handheld operating system, and applications, developed by Microsoft. Windows Mobile devices typically include a suite of Microsoft applications, including an email application – possibly Outlook Mobile, which allows you to take your calendar, contacts and tasks with you – and a version of Internet Explorer optimised for smaller screen sizes. Microsoft originally announced, perhaps optimistically, that it expected the use of Windows Mobile to increase by 50% during 2008 and 2009, and although the Apple iPhone, and the Google Android platform, have cut into its market, it is still more widely used, globally, than tooling for other mobile platforms, with the exception of Nokia`s Symbian, and Research in Motion`s BlackBerry.
Leading Windows Mobile phones include the Samsung BlackJack II, which weighs in a just 3½ oz., and features a 2.4″ display, 3G, GPS, plus Mobile versions of Internet Explorer and Office, and the HTC Touch HD, which compares favourably with the Apple iPhone, in terms of display size, and resolution, offering 480 x 800 pixel, or WVGA, resolution on a 3.8″ display.
Increasingly, manufacturers – including HTC – are feeling the need to add a user interface layer on top of Windows Mobile, itself, to provide a unique user experience, etc.. TouchFlo 3D, for example, is a finger operated user interface for Windows Mobile designed by HTC, and allows scrolling, navigation and editing akin to the Apple iPhone. Kaleido for Windows Mobile, designed by Digital Airways is intended as turnkey user interface solution for handset manufacturers, but is, nevertheless, completely customisable. It can be used to create feature-rich handsets, to industry standards, but also allows the creation of home pages, which can deliver new user experiences and services to an exiting mobile phone.
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