 Smartphones, which were pretty much a trendy toy in 2004, really took off in 2005 with more than 13 million units shipping in the third quarter alone (75% more than in the third quarter of 2004, according to research firm Canalys). Suddenly, smartphones are everywhere, and traditional cell phone users are giving the technology a closer look.
If you’re one of the interested, we can satisfy your curiosity as we’ll discuss what features are available for smartphones and explore which of those features are really important. In “Choosing A Carrier” on page 40, we detail the various carriers and the plans they offer. (You may want to narrow the field of carriers before you choose a smartphone because not all carriers offer all available models.)
 The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
Smartphones (often called converged devices) combine the best of cell phones and PDAs. They incorporate an OS and can run not only the utilities the developer installs, but also a variety of PC-like applications.
Virtually all smartphones offer enhanced Internet browsing and email capabilities. (Usually for your PC email accounts, as well as for phone-based email accounts.) You also can install additional software that performs tasks as simple as tracking appointments or as complex as creating documents, editing graphics, and more. | 
The Treo 650 nimbly combines PDA and phone features and recently became available in Symbian and Windows Mobile variants.
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On the downside, many smartphones provide a standard cell phone keypad for data input, resulting in an awkward, un-PC-like keying experience. Furthermore, because smartphone OSes let you download and install programs, they are also a target for virus writers. (Smartphones require you to confirm software installations, so if you are careful, you will not accidentally install malware on your new smartphone.)
Despite their itsy-bitsy keyboards and viral vulnerability, smartphones are the hot product of the moment. In fact, the smartphone is currently killing the PDA market; Canalys reports that PDA shipments were down 18% in Q3 2005. Third-party developers continue to make bigger keyboards and smaller smartphones, and they are also making the devices more secure so that viruses and worms have a harder time gaining entry. Therefore, more and more people are discovering the joys of these dual-purpose devices.
Smartphones vary widely in size, features, and efficiency, and they are not cheap. If you want a smartphone with all the bells and whistles, expect to pay as much as $600 retail and prepare to carry around a fairly hefty beast.
If you make a purchase from a cell phone service provider (and sign a lengthy contract), you may get a discount. However, that contract locks you in for a year or more. The company will levy a hefty penalty if you terminate the contract prematurely, so don’t settle on a less-than-attractive plan just to get a cool smartphone.
Online retailers such as Amazon.com and Deals.com, and even some traditional retailers such as Sears (as of this writing), offer amazing rebates or purchase incentives that give you a free or low-cost smartphone if you sign a service contract. Usually, the smartphones offered through these deals are less-popular or outdated models. Nevertheless, if you are on a budget, it’s worth your time to cruise the Internet looking for special offers. Smartphone Must-Haves
There are four key features (detailed here in order of importance) we believe make a smartphone purchase practical. You may decide that price outweighs some of these considerations, but it’s important you know what you are sacrificing before you take that leap of faith. | 
The Nokia N80’s lack of a QWERTY keyboard will be a problem for heavy email and Internet users, but its 3-megapixel camera will appeal to media enthusiasts.
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1. A decent keyboard. For a smartphone to be really useful, you need to be able to type with reasonable ease and speed. For most users, that means a QWERTY (standard PC layout) keyboard, no matter how small. One of our favorite phones, the Palm Treo 650 (www.palm.com) offers a full QWERTY keyboard but includes a standard numeric keypad layout for easy dialing. Some phones, such as the Hagenuk SmartPhone S 200 (www.hagenuk.de), create an alphabetical keyboard from a standard numeric keypad by putting several letters on each key and then providing software that decides what letters to use when you press a numeric key. (We’re not crazy about this scheme.)
A few smartphones have styluses you can use to tap your way across the screen or keyboard, which is easier than typing on a nonstandard keyboard layout, so consider that as a second option. Some smartphones have a great keyboard but make numeric dialing convoluted. We would opt for the better keyboard because you can put most of your phone numbers in your Address Book and almost eliminate dialing. However, if you dial more than you type, make sure the smartphone you select gives you the right combination of capabilities. | 
The Sony Ericsson P910a and P910i have nifty keyboards that flip-down to expose an oversized display.
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2. The right wireless. This may sound like a no-brainer. After all, aren’t all mobile phones wireless? The answer is yes, but not all wireless protocols are created equal. Your choice of carrier will determine which protocol your smartphone uses, so we will save the specifics of that discussion for the companion article (carriers and carrier plans) to this one.
The point for this discussion is that no cellular transmission protocol is compatible with your desktop or notebook. Consequently, if you want to synchronize the productivity applications (address book, calendar, etc.) on your smartphone with those on a PC, look for Bluetooth wireless support. There are other methods for syncing; however, don’t dismiss Bluetooth support. Providing that your smartphone supports the right profiles (check this out before you purchase), you can also use Bluetooth to connect wireless headsets, mice, and other handy stuff and even to provide an Internet connection to your laptop in a pinch.
Another option now available from a handful of smartphone developers (one is the Samsung SCH-i730) is Wi-Fi connectivity. With Wi-Fi you can connect to the Internet via an available Wi-Fi network at a faster speed than you’ll get with current cellular protocols. However, don’t expect to sync your smartphone and notebook via Wi-Fi any time soon due to security concerns. Just around the corner (late 2006) are WiMAX mobile phones. Infrared is another nice option. With infrared you can beam data between two devices (such as a smartphone and PDA, smartphone and notebook, or a PDA and a notebook) over a line-of-sight distance of up to 3 feet. If you don’t get Bluetooth, IrDA is a decent alternative. | 
The Danger (T-Mobile) Sidekick II has a large keyboard and display, but its dismal camera quality and dearth of add-on software won’t make it a hit with many users.
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3. Good memory. Most smartphones have onboard memory chips that store all those documents, financial spreadsheets, saved games, and other files you’ll be creating. However, some use removable memory cards instead of or in addition to onboard memory. Your best bet is a smartphone with ample onboard memory (at least 32MB) that also has an expansion slot. (The Palm Treo 650 and the Nokia N80 [www.nokia.com] offer one.) That way you can archive as many images, songs, or files as you want on multiple memory cards. If you select a model without an expansion slot, make sure it has at least 64MB of onboard memory.
4. Big screen. If you plan to browse the Internet or read document files, you’ll want a lot of screen real estate. Smartphone screens vary in size, with phones that flip or twist open usually having the largest screens. Two Sony Ericsson models, the P910a and P910i (www.sonyericsson.com), have flip-down keypads with QWERTY keyboards that expand the screen size to a roomy 208 x 320 pixels. (In flipped-up position you have access to a standard phone keypad and display.) Other Considerations
In addition to the attributes on the previous page, there are many options you should evaluate before settling on a smartphone. Some you can check out before you buy; others you may have to evaluate on the fly.
1. OS and software support. The two market leaders in the smartphone OS arena are Symbian (www.symbian.com) and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile (www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile). A few other companies, such as Danger (www.danger.com), which makes the Hiptop OS used in T-Mobile’s Sidekick II, and Research In Motion (www.rim.com), which makes the BlackBerry OS, are making plays in the market but have not yet captured substantial market share. In addition, Palm is working to develop a Linux-based smartphone OS.
Your choice of OS will determine, to some extent, the applications you can run. Symbian is the oldest and most popular smartphone OS with more than 100 applications developed for it. However, Windows Mobile is gaining ground, and BlackBerry, which has been around as a Web device for several years, has decent software support. Danger’s proprietary Hiptop OS has almost no software support.
If you are a software junkie, check out the offerings at Web sites such as Smartphone.net (www.smartphone.net) and Smartphone Thoughts (www.smartphonethoughts.com; click the Downloads link), which list hundreds of applications for Symbian and Windows Mobile OSes. If there is a particular application you want, purchase a smartphone running the OS with which it is compatible.
Windows users may be more comfortable with a Windows Mobile device because its interface is closer to that of a standard PC. However, you don’t need Windows Mobile to sync with Microsoft productivity applications such as Outlook (a feature included with most Symbian OS phones), nor do you need it to open and read Microsoft Office applications.
The Nokia N92 has a standard flip-phone design, but users can twist the screen around to create a notebook style layout.
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Included applications vary from one smartphone to another, so find out what your favorites include (including the syncing program), up front. To enjoy full office productivity (word processing, spreadsheet, database) on just about any smartphone, you’ll have to pay extra. Symbian adopters can purchase third-party software from developer DataViz (www.dataviz.com). Windows Mobile users can purchase the smartphone versions of Office, which do not ship as part of Windows Mobile.
2. Bells and whistles. Many smartphones sport nifty extras, such as cameras (many with video capture capabilities), MP3 players, and other multimedia gadgets. One phone, the Nokia N92, even has a TV receiver (but no QWERTY keyboard).
Again, don’t assume that a mature technology will be well-executed in all cases. Cameras in particular vary widely in resolution. Anything from 0.3 to 1.3 megapixels is common; the new Nokia N80 sports a 3-megapixel camera. Quality can also be an issue, and not just for business-oriented phones. For example, the camera-phone quality on T-Mobile’s Sidekick II (www.t-mobile.com), which is popular with teenagers and young adults, is so bad that pictures you take are pretty much worthless.
3. Outside the box. Another issue to consider is add-on hardware. Most smartphones support a headset of some sort, and some come standard with at least an earbud. If you purchase a smartphone with a built-in media player, you’ll want decent audio headphones. (Wireless headphones are really nice.) Some smartphones support an add-on keyboard (wireless if you have Bluetooth), making it much easer to create and edit documents.
On The Road, Again
Before you sign on the dotted line, make sure you have a review period during which you can return the smartphone and cancel your contract. During that period, treat your phone like a newborn (most return policies don’t apply to damaged phones) and test every feature you can possibly think of. Other users, and even professional reviewers, might report that call quality, speakerphone volume, camera quality, or other subjective attributes are OK, but that doesn’t mean they will be good enough for you. If you discover a serious drawback to the smartphone you purchase, return it. Don’t let any amount of bullying from the representative at the phone store convince you to keep it. 
by Jennifer Farwell
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