Smart Phones

There are a wide variety of smart phones on the market. The Apple iPhone is up to its fourth incarnation and every mobile phone manufacturer has released at least one variant. The reason the innovation most impresses me is because of how useful they are. Many incorporate more features than a regular PDA and are essentially a hand held mobile computing device. Some of the features that are most impressive to me are things such as GPS navigation capabilities, 3D graphic acceleration, the capacity to read electronic books and on screen keyboards. All of these things coupled with 3G connectivity for mobile Internet browsing and operating systems that can run various other applications really make smart phone technology shine.

My first cell phone had a simple LCD screen that had two colors, much the same as a basic calculator. The screen size was tiny, it allowed for no more than two lines of text. Scrolling through phone numbers was a massive hassle. Many smart phones now offer fairly high screen resolutions and touch screen capabilities. This is on a screen that virtually takes up the complete area of the front of the phone. Many offer streaming video and video phone support. Smart phones are quickly becoming more advanced than a regular home phone (and in most cases are).

Because many companies who exclusively released computer components have entered the smart phone market, smart phone innovation is moving at a rapid pace. New features are being packed into a tiny handset and smart phones are becoming cheaper and cheaper. Many companies have moved their cell phone development processes strictly into the realm of smart phone development. Eventually you may have trouble finding a cell phone that only will allow you to make and receive calls on the go. This is not a bad thing.

Nokia N900

The new Nokia N900 is much more than a mobile phone, instead it is a mobile computer. Packed-in with some beastly specifications, it sure makes for an impressive next generation handset. It all starts from the Processor and 3D accelerator, which reads as TI OMAP 3430: ARM Cortex-A8 600 MHz PowerVR SGX with OpenGL ES 2.0 support. In a more layman terms, this is one of the most powerful processors available today for a mobile phone. The application memory itself is a massive 1GB, whereas internal storage runs up to 32GB. And just in case this is not enough, then expand it upto 48GB with microSD. Everything is huge in terms of Nokia N900 features. Resembling more of a pocket PC, it comes with an Integrated GPS, Assisted-GPS, and Cell-based receivers. Related features such as Pre-loaded Ovi Maps application as well as Automatic geotagging are also included. The full QWERTY keypad is available as both tactile as well as onscreen. Add to the mix a 5MP camera with numerous useful features, advanced video playing capabilities, excellent music support as well as one of the fastest and easy connection to the Internet and you have quite a gadget in your kitty. Camera: 5 MP, 2592x1944 pixels, autofocus
Data Storage: Internal 32 GB storage, 256 MB RAM
microSD (TransFlash), up to 16GB
Features: GPRS, Bluetooth, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Ringtones: Vibration; MP3 ringtones
Entertainment: MP3/WMA/WAV/eAAC+ music player
WMV/RealVideo/MP4/AVI/XviD video player
Weight: 181 g
Stand-by time: 120-300 hours
Talk time: 100-250 minutes