 Smartphones are now seeing the explosion in sales and features that many experts predicted a few years back. According to research firm IDC (International Data Corporation), worldwide smartphone shipments hit nearly 20 million in the second quarter of 2006. That's a 42.1% increase over the same quarter last year, and IDC expects shipments to reach 100 million units in 2007.
Leading the wave, says IDC research analyst Ryan Reith, is the growing availability of email solutions and the richer multimedia experiences these devices offer. In other words, the new generation of smartphones can stroke both your work side and your play side.
Smartphones are also becoming more compact and easier to use. Some models, such as the Motorola i930 (Windows Mobile OS) and the BlackBerry Black Pearl (Re- search In Motion BlackBerry OS), sport the size and form factor of a traditional cell phone. Others offer QWERTY (standard layout) keyboards, oversized screens, and other notebook-like features.
Is it time to close the lid on that notebook when you travel? The answer depends not only on your primary needs, but also on which phone and accompanying third-party programs you choose. For many users, the answer increasingly is, "Yes!"
 Dial It Up
Smartphones were once the hands-down winners over notebooks for phone calls. However, with the release of PC-based VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) programs, road warriors can now make calls from their notebooks. (Cellular-enabled notebooks may also be on the horizon.) The fly in this ointment is that VoIP coverage isn’t ubiquitous, and VoIP callers often lose 911 capabilities. (Depending on the provider, users may also give up the security of a proprietary network.) Assuming you must have a cell phone for consistent voice coverage, is a smartphone a better choice?
These devices’ enhanced features make calling really easy. You can sync them with your desktop PC, saving you the hassle of manually moving (or text messaging) numbers and other contact info from your PC to your phone. Because of their expanded storage capacities, you can usually store all your PC’s contact data on them. Most smartphones now support voice dialing, and a few (the T-Mobile MDA is one) support hands-free voice dialing over wireless (Bluetooth). Try that with your notebook.
Third-party call management utilities further expand your options. One example is Killer Mobile’s AutoPilot (www.killermobile.com ; currently Symbian S60 [Series 60] phones only, but coming soon to Windows Mobile and Series 80), which lets you record specialized greetings, reply with preset text messages, and create custom blacklists for any or every person who calls you.
Printing & Faxing
An emerging requirement among smartphone users is the ability to print and fax. Unfortunately, both can be a bit of a crapshoot, depending on your device. Printing is easy using Bluetooth, but your smartphone won’t detect the printer if it doesn’t have the necessary profile. You may also be able to print via IrDA or USB connection, depending on the capabilities of the phone’s software and the local printer.
Windows Mobile 5.0 devices, which come with built-in support for printing, do well. If you cannot print from your smartphone, numerous third-party developers offer software that can enable this function for you.
Faxing can similarly require some extra configuration. When a manufacturer says a smartphone supports sending and receiving of faxes, it may be referring to the ability to use the phone as a modem and fax from a PC (not much help when you leave your notebook at home). Many phones enable you to receive faxes as attachments to voicemails, but you must then forward the attachment to a fax machine to view it.
To use your smartphone to send or receive viewable faxes requires software that converts documents into a faxable format and vice versa. Additionally, you must have a direct data connection for this to work.
Both the Palm Treo and Nokia 9000 series phones have built-in communication software that can create faxes and send them over the cellular data connection. (You may need to contact your cellular provider to enable this feature.) Fortunately, if your smartphone cannot send or receive faxes, several companies make software or provide services that let you accomplish this function. | 
Smartphones such as the Motorola Q offer QWERTY keyboards and brightly lit, oversized screens for easy viewing.
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Battery Life
As with so many portable devices, smartphone battery life varies greatly from one model to the next. In general, smartphones with good battery life offer at least five hours of talk time and over a week of standby time. However, browsing the Web, running applications, and keeping the Wi-Fi radio active (whether or not you are browsing) are all power-intensive operations that can cut battery life substantially.
Users report the Cingular 8125 and T-Mobile MDA (two different brands for essentially the same phone) offer exceptionally good battery life. In general, lower-megahertz processors offer the best battery life.
Going Wireless
Mobile phones of all types are the ultimate in portable convenience. However, if you are looking specifically for Wi-Fi, only a handful of smartphones include it. (T-Mobile’s SDA and MDA both do, as does the Cingular 8125 and several recent Nokia models, including the N80 and E61/E62.)
With Wi-Fi on your smartphone, you’ll enjoy better coverage than with most broadband cellular data plans, and you may also enjoy faster browsing. If you decide to bring your notebook along, you may be able to use your phone’s Wi-Fi service to connect your notebook to the Internet, as well. However, Wi-Fi on a smartphone is not as fast as on most notebooks. | 
The Nokia E61 and E62 garner kudos from users for their performance and amount of user-available storage. (The E61 is available only as an unlocked phone, but T-Mobile and Cingular both support it.)
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Store More?
For data and program storage, notebooks definitely have an edge. After all, you cannot store 60GB of data on a smartphone, right? However, if your storage needs are not significant, a smartphone may provide enough support for both data and programs.
Many smartphones offer at least 132MB of flash memory (reprogrammable storage space). The OS and manufacturer-installed programs consume some of this, leaving you half or less to use. Pay attention to the phone you purchase if storage is important; the Nokia E61/E62 and Palm Treo 700w (which runs Windows Mobile) both afford users 60MB or more.
Fortunately, most programs that come with mobile operating systems consume only a few hundred kilobytes of storage space, leaving plenty of room for programs. Additionally, most smartphones also accept flash memory cards with as much as 2GB capacity where you can store data such as photos, audio, and video.
Unless you plan to install dozens of programs, store large multimedia files, or want to eke by without add-on flash cards, a smartphone should meet most needs. In fact, processor and on-board ROM limitations are likely to cause more problems than storage space. Read on for details.
Multimedia
Many smartphones lack the oomph for top-quality video playback. That doesn’t mean you cannot save videos in a compressed format suitable for playback (assuming you can deal with the small screen). Most smartphones now offer audio players, letting you enjoy your favorite tunes on the go.
For business use, many smartphones (especially Windows Mobile 5.0 units) make it possible to beam PowerPoint and multimedia presentations directly to external devices via Bluetooth or IR (infrared). This solution can be faster than setting up a notebook.
Information Management
All smartphones let you download third-party applications. Options range from sales-force automation software to games. (Palm users have an exceptionally wide selection.) Furthermore, smartphones also offer built-in productivity support—calendars, notepads, appointment reminders, and other desktop-style utilities—without requiring the user to purchase and install additional software.
Virtually all smartphones let you sync with your desktop PC, ensuring your contacts, calendar, and other business-agenda items stay up-to-date on both devices. (Leave your laptop behind, and you won’t be spreading data over three devices.) In fact, a Frost & Sullivan survey found that smartphones (specifically Palm Treos in this survey) netted businesses an average productivity and efficiency benefit of $11,125 per employee, per year.
If you are hooked on Outlook, you may be happiest with a Windows Mobile device, although most smartphones can sync with Outlook even if they do not run the program’s pocket variant.
Send Me A Message
Mobile phones are known for their SMS (short message service) text and MMS (multimedia messaging service) capabilities, and smartphones are no exception. Even those that don’t sport cameras generally let you send and receive MMS messages, and virtually all support SMS messages. Most also support one or more instant messaging clients, so you won’t lose a beat when you leave your notebook behind.
Until recently, email has been more of a challenge for all but BlackBerry users. However, most current-generation smartphones not only assign you an internal (provider-specific) email address but also support external email. Many support both Web email and standard corporate or personal email accounts; some also support BlackBerry accounts.
Furthermore, many smartphones now offer push email, meaning the phone will retrieve your messages automatically, whether you sign on or not. (You may be able to download push email software if your device does not already have this feature installed.) If full email support is important to you, the BlackBerry, many late-model Nokias, and Windows Mobile 5.0 devices (which offer Mobile Outlook) are good bets. | 
The T-Mobile MDA is one of a handful of phones that incorporates Wi-Fi support.
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Web Browsing
In the early days of Internet-connected mobile phones, Web browsing was about as satisfying as day-old, dry toast. Now, smartphone browsers are more user-friendly, and useful mobile sites abound. Assuming you consider your Web browser’s memory needs and can deal with the smaller screen, Web surfing can be quite satisfying on a smartphone. The trick is to obtain the best browser available.
Most smartphones come with a decent Web browser; Internet Explorer on Windows Mobile units offers a familiar experience, while Nokia’s proprietary S60 3rd Edition browser draws raves for its ability to render full-sized Web pages in a way that makes the pages easy to view, navigate, and search. If you’re not satisfied with the browser on your smartphone, install Opera Mobile (a free download at www.opera.com/products/mobile), a pint-sized version of the Opera Web browser. Opera Mobile uses technologies and connection management to optimize the display, page load time, and user experience.
Performance Artist
Many of today’s smartphones have processors in the 200 to 500MHz range and come equipped with 32 to 128MB worth of memory to run all the operating system’s programs. Compared to a late-model notebook, that’s nothing, but it should be enough to run your smartphone. The Palm Treo 700p, the BlackBerry 8700, and the Nokia S60 3rd Edition phones all fare well, speed-wise, in user reports.
Even more of a concern is memory capacity. In contrast to late-model Windows notebooks, many smartphones are slow (or require manual intervention) to release memory when you close a program. Additionally, closing programs can be a multistep process.
If you open more programs than your memory supports, you will see a low memory message and your smartphone may crash. Most smartphones can run four to six programs (including installed utilities like email clients and contact managers) with ease. However, Web browsers are memory hogs, consuming 2MB or more of RAM. High-tech games and high-resolution videos can suck up RAM like a Hoover.
If you are a hard-core gamer or watch videos in your off time, you might be happier with your notebook. Otherwise, if you purchase a smartphone with a reasonable post-startup RAM allowance (20MB or more) and close programs when you are finished with them, everything should run just fine.
Working With Documents
Can a smartphone replace your notebook for document creation and editing? The short answer is, “No way.” There really is no replacement for a full-sized screen when you are creating a spreadsheet or a PowerPoint presentation. Nevertheless, if you rarely do more than viewing, playing, or making minor edits while on the road, a smartphone can easily replace your notebook. As with our earlier categories, the trick lies in having the right support.
Microsoft’s Pocket and Mobile Office editions give you the capability to view, create, and edit Office documents. Not all Windows Mobile smartphones include a mobile version of Office. For example, the Cingular 8125 and T-Mobile MDA include it, while the Motorola Q does not. However, any Windows Mobile user can add Pocket Office.
Some, but not all, non-Windows smartphones include full support for documents. For those that lack support, third-party programs such as DataViz’s Documents To Go enable non-Windows Mobile users to edit Office documents. Unlike many of its competitors, Documents To Go also supports WordPerfect, Quattro Pro, and Lotus 1-2-3 formats. | 
Opera Mobile is a free add-on that provides enhanced browsing features such as auto-complete, password storage, and keyboard shortcuts.
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The Cool Factor
In the 1980s, many sales managers recommended their salespeople call prospects from a cellular phone (announcing they were in their cars) because the targets were almost certain to pick up. The fascination with the new technology was so intense that otherwise hard-to-reach prospects were hooked. While we cannot guarantee your vendors and clients will treat you with more respect if you do everything on your smartphone, it does have a certain “cool factor.” Plus, you’ll relieve yourself of pounds of excess baggage.
In this article, we’ve mentioned some specific smartphones. Other models may also have these features; we picked those that were mentioned in user reports more than others. Additionally, new players arrive weekly. If you are in the market for a smartphone to replace your notebook, decide which features matter most, do your homework (online reviews abound), and then use your cellular provider’s trial period to make sure you’ve made the right decision.  by Jennifer Farwell
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